Plug in room heater

[Slim]

Hi all. I have seen a number of ads for plug in heaters, some ceramic, some 'turbine'. On a thread on FB, one company, Cork based, claims that the running cost per hr is ~ €.0003, that's for an 800W unit.

Could this be correct? If so, it would be much cheaper for heating the living room than running the oil which heats the entire ground floor.

Any experience or views? Too good to be true?

 

[odyssey06]

I'd also be surprised if an 800W heater would heat a living room.
That's more typically the size people use under their desks.

 

[Leo]

Could this be correct? If so, it would be much cheaper for heating the living room than running the oil which heats the entire ground floor.

Probably. The SEAI puts electricity at approx twice the cost of oil per kWh of heat energy delivered. Assuming your living room is less than half the floor area of downstairs and you're not leaving doors open allowing heat to escape, then it would be cheaper to heat just that space with an electric heater.

On a thread on FB, one company, Cork based, claims that the running cost per hr is ~ €.0003, that's for an 800W unit.

That's clearly nonsense, unless they're just referring to the standby energy use while it's not providing heat!! €0.0003 or 0.03c would run an 800W heating element for less than 5 seconds.

 

[clinteastwood]

Slim,

its simply the pro-rata percentage of your utility rate which each unit is a kWh...e.g. if your price is 0.40E per kWh then ..viz (800W/1000W)*0.40E/hr= 0.32E / hr.

Domestic Elec heaters are almost 100% efficient....=>1kWh elec = 1kWth . So the FB claims are bogus.

 

[odyssey06]

I had something this to heat an apartment living room.

When it gets very cold you have the oil, but for times (e.g. chilly autumn evenings) where you just need some heat in the room you are in, this would fit the bill.

One with a timer option suited me, I could set it for mornings also, or coming in from work.

9 Fin Oil Filled Radiator 2000w With Timer

This 9 Fin Oil-Filled Radiator makes the perfect addition to your seasonal appliances. It delivers steady heat to keep you comfortable in the cold seasons.

www.smythshomevalue.ie

 

[Slim]

Slim,

its simply the pro-rata percentage of your utility rate which each unit is a kWh...e.g. if your price is 0.40E per kWh then ..viz (800W/1000W)*0.40E/hr= 0.32E / hr.

Domestic Elec heaters are almost 100% efficient....=>1kWh elec = 1kWth . So the FB claims are bogus.

I don't understand why they would use such a formula! I understand the maths but the result is some 100x what they quoted, not that I believed that, though!!

 

[Slim]

I had something this to heat an apartment living room.

When it gets very cold you have the oil, but for times (e.g. chilly autumn evenings) where you just need some heat in the room you are in, this would fit the bill.

One with a timer option suited me, I could set it for mornings also, or coming in from work.

9 Fin Oil Filled Radiator 2000w With Timer

This 9 Fin Oil-Filled Radiator makes the perfect addition to your seasonal appliances. It delivers steady heat to keep you comfortable in the cold seasons.

www.smythshomevalue.ie

I've got a couple of those but thought they were sore on electricity. I do understand that there's no 'free' energy so maybe I'll stick with the electric stove or the oil filled rad. Thanks

 

[AJAM]

I've used Electric Fan heaters (1KW or 2KW) to heat small or medium sized rooms before.
As electricity is expensive, they are not a good option to heat your entire property, all day.

However, if you are only heating one room, for 1-2 hours, they are very convenient, relatively fast and compared to the cost of heating your whole property, relatively cheap.

 

[Leo]

've used Electric Fan heaters (1KW or 2KW) to heat small or medium sized rooms before.
As electricity is expensive, they are not a good option to heat your entire property, all day.

Yeah, I've a ceramic fan heater that can run at 900, 1100, or 1800W. A few minutes at the lowest setting every now and then is all I need to heat the office when I'm WFH.

 

[hazelgreen]

I have fan heater for quick blast of direct heat but it is noisy. I prefer a convection heater. for gentle heat of full room. You can have a timer plug on it or some come with incorporated. I found one for a good price in Home Store and More last week.

 

[lff12]

Hi all. I have seen a number of ads for plug in heaters, some ceramic, some 'turbine'. On a thread on FB, one company, Cork based, claims that the running cost per hr is ~ €.0003, that's for an 800W unit.

Could this be correct? If so, it would be much cheaper for heating the living room than running the oil which heats the entire ground floor.

Any experience or views? Too good to be true?

Its not correct. All these ceramic heater ads are not giving you a full picture. This is a false claim. If the heater has 500w power, then it will consume that per hour - which is 0.5kw units of electricity or about 20c per hour. This is basically enough heat to adequately heat a 4m2 bathroom at best.
Basically if you run a 1000w heater 24 hours a day thats 1kw x 16 hours peak plus 1kw x 8 hours off peak if you are on night meter - typically around 8hrs a day - and at best that will just about heat a 10m2 room. If its got a working thermostat this can be somewhat reduced but unless your rooms are small and you only switch it on for a couple of hours when you need it this can get very expensive very fast.

Alternative is get a gas fire running on a cylinder and a 45 euro cylinder will give you 1400w for around 130-150 hrs per month which is a bit cheaper if you just heat the room for a couple of hours at peak electric times - but you do need adequate ventilation and usually those kind of heaters require a minimum room size of around 25m2 so you don't pollute your own air wit all kinds of fumes since these are not vented out.

 

[lff12]

I've got a couple of those but thought they were sore on electricity. I do understand that there's no 'free' energy so maybe I'll stick with the electric stove or the oil filled rad. Thanks

I did survive some of last winter on a couple of these 2kw heaters and a portable gas fire for the living room and my electricity bill soared to scary proportions - I think one of my bills was well over 300 euros for 1 month. They are ok for 1 or 2 hours but if you leave them on all day unless there is a thermostat they'll guzzle a lot of units of electricity.