price of running electric rads

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buster mammy

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I am building a log cabin 9m by 13m, in the main living area im putting wood burning stove, the builder has suggested putting thermostat controlled electric radiators in as well as additional means of heating especially when wont have time to light stove and just need to flick switch ie when i come home late from work 11pm etc am i mad? i have been reading old post and it says its the most expensive form of heating, would i be better to go with oil/gas or with all the hikes does it make a difference now, i have the night saver electricity and when off will just use stove, any advice appreciated before plans go ahead , they are doing the wiring for free and im just paying for rads which will cost 2200 for 7 which will come from latavia thanks in advance
 
See page two of this document for comparison of energy sources... they have gone up a lot since the 2009 version I have!
[broken link removed]

If you are putting electric heaters in then I personally would get a couple of electric oil radiators or electric convection heaters... a lot cheaper than 2200 euro and the exact same efficiency.
 
buster mammy said:
I am building a log cabin 9m by 13m, in the main living area im putting wood burning stove, the builder has suggested putting thermostat controlled electric radiators in as well as additional means of heating especially when wont have time to light stove and just need to flick switch ie when i come home late from work 11pm etc am i mad? i have been reading old post and it says its the most expensive form of heating, would i be better to go with oil/gas or with all the hikes does it make a difference now, i have the night saver electricity and when off will just use stove, any advice appreciated before plans go ahead , they are doing the wiring for free and im just paying for rads which will cost 2200 for 7 which will come from latavia thanks in advance
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It really depends on what type of heaters you install. Storage heaters are a disaster. We recently installed Farho heaters in a whole house and they worked out brilliantly. Very cheap to run, heat up in minutes and are thermostatically controlled. The 500w one would cost 10cents to run for 1 hour if the thermostat never kicked in.
To put in a wet system as an occasional back up would be a very expensive option and over-kill if the stove is going to be the main heating.
 
Shane007 said:
It really depends on what type of heaters you install. Storage heaters are a disaster. We recently installed Farho heaters in a whole house and they worked out brilliantly. Very cheap to run, heat up in minutes and are thermostatically controlled. The 500w one would cost 10cents to run for 1 hour if the thermostat never kicked in.
To put in a wet system as an occasional back up would be a very expensive option and over-kill if the stove is going to be the main heating.
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Agreed, storage heaters would take far too long to heat up.
 
thanks very much for replys have got back to builder to see exactly what he is putting in ,shane007 what do you mean by wet system ,is it oil?
 
thanks shane007 for replying how do these farho rads work? the rads im getting from latvia works on spirals are the farho more advanced again
 
buster mammy said:
thanks shane007 for replying how do these farho rads work? the rads im getting from latvia works on spirals are the farho more advanced again
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Do you have a manufacturer/ product name? 'Works on spirals' doesn't really reveal anything aout how they operate.
 
buster mammy said:
thanks shane007 for replying how do these farho rads work? the rads im getting from latvia works on spirals are the farho more advanced again
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As Leo says!

Farho are on demand electric thermostatically controlled heaters. They are excellent at heating and very cheap to run.
www.farho.es

They are Spanish but I bought the through my local electrical wholesaler in Kilkenny. You can change language in their site to English.
 
buster mammy said:
thanks shane007 for replying how do these farho rads work? the rads im getting from latvia works on spirals are the farho more advanced again
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Hi, the efficiency will be exactly the same as a small convection heater or a hairdryer... i.e. 100%. All the energy is being converted to heat with the exception of the small amount if you have a fan. If you have any documentation that shows otherwise I'll have a look.
 
Molli said:
Do the farho heaters have to be installed or are they plug in?
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They should be installed with a switched fused spur for each one with each fuse sized to suit the output of the unit.
Depending on where the supply is taken from, this must be taken into account.
 
Shane007 said:
They should be installed with a switched fused spur for each one with each fuse sized to suit the output of the unit.
Depending on where the supply is taken from, this must be taken into account.
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Just a word of warning here.........

NEVER EVER size a fuse to suit the rated current of a unit but ALWAYS size a fuse to suit the "current carrying capacity" ( CCC ) of the supply cable, which incidentally should be of ample cross sectional area ( CSA ) to handle the demanded current.

Remember, in domestic installations, a fuse is NOT there to protect the electrical device but rather to protect the cable.
 
SparkRite said:
Just a word of warning here.........


Remember, in domestic installations, a fuse is NOT there to protect the electrical device but rather to protect the cable.
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To bring this down to an idiots guide then, is it ok to say that on all

2.5mm cable runs, always use a 13amp fuse.

And on 1.5mm cable runs, use ....... 5amp fuse??
 
pudds said:
To bring this down to an idiots guide then, is it ok to say that on all

2.5mm cable runs, always use a 13amp fuse.

And on 1.5mm cable runs, use ....... 5amp fuse??
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Without getting into too much detail/depth, yes you are more or less correct if you are referring to plug top fuses.
However you will often find devices wired to a plug top with 1.5mm flex employing a 10/13 Amp fuse, which is fine.

Remember standard domestic sockets are rated at 13Amps.
 
Are you 100% sure about that?
Gas boilers are always rated with 3amp fuses, that is regulation and they are there to protect the appliance. Oil boilers are rated with 5amp fuses, again to protect the appliance.
What you are saying, then if there is a heavier cable running to the boiler than required, a larger amp fuse must be used!
 
The fuse or mcb at the consumer unit protects the fixed cables in the house.
Spur unit or plug top fuses protect the appliance they are connected to and the flexible cable leading to the appliance.
 
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