cost of plug in heater

rupert7

Registered User
Messages
82
I live in a rented house with gas and electric. (Electric Ireland & flo gas)
I have a little 2 year old who never keeps her blankets on over her at night so need to keep her room warm.
I figure that it's cheaper to use a plug in heater rather than the gas but want to double check that.

The plug in heater is a 2kwh one and I use it on medium power for 12 hours at night. It uses 12 units on the meter per hour.

Can anyone help we calculate how much this costs me and advise me if this is the most cost effective method.
Thanks in advance
 
I live in a rented house with gas and electric. (Electric Ireland & flo gas)
I have a little 2 year old who never keeps her blankets on over her at night so need to keep her room warm.
I figure that it's cheaper to use a plug in heater rather than the gas but want to double check that.

The plug in heater is a 2kwh one and I use it on medium power for 12 hours at night. It uses 12 units on the meter per hour.

Can anyone help we calculate how much this costs me and advise me if this is the most cost effective method.
Thanks in advance
 
My confusion stems from the fact that I assumed one unit on a meter is 1kwh so that the plug in heater should only add on 2 units per hour not 12?
All other appliance are turned off.
 
Your doubts are well-founded - A kw/h = a unit. A 2kw/h heater (at max output) should consume 2 units per hour.
Maybe you are mis-reading the meter. The right-most digit (the one in red) measures tenths of a unit. Maybe the heater is consuming 1.2 units per hour?

At 12 units per hour, 8 hours per night, this yoke would be costing you €450 per month and the drug squad would be breaking down your door :D
 
For comparison: I keep 250W of computing switched on overnight in a mid-sized bedroom, and the place gets pretty balmy if I don't keep a door or window open.
 
As Trasneoir has stated I also reckon you are mis-reading the meter.

Basically disregard the number(s) in red, unless you want a more accurate reading of the heater usage, but then you would also have to make sure that EVERYTHING electrical in the house is unplugged/disconnected ie. fridge, freezer, Tv's, door bell trafo, etc. so as you can see, not very practical.

Take a reading over a few nights to get a fairly reliable average usage, as some nights are colder than others.
 
What about those bodysuits all in one that you can get in Dunnes, that should do the trick. Bedrooms don't have to be fully warm at night. Not for 2 year olds. It's different for babies.
 
I 2nd the gro-bag option....we currently have our 2.5yr old in 1 of them for the winter as he kicks the blankets off every night
 
Many thanks for all the replies.
Yes I was misreading the meter by one tenth.
Will definately consider the gro bag.
Thanks again
 
Back
Top