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How to calculate cost of a heater ?

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    #2
    Electric Ireland: David
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,457 ✭✭✭Electric Ireland: David


    Hi masculinist,

    Thanks for your post.

    In general, electric heaters of any kind are amongst the most energy-intensive of household appliances. A 2kW heater will use approximately 2 units of electricity for every hour it's on. The heater you've linked is thermostatically-controlled, so each time it reaches the target temperature it should switch off, until it detects the temperature has fallen below it, in which case it will switch itself back on again (and so on).

    Electric heaters can however be an efficient way to quickly heat a single room (see our blog entry about this), but if you leave them on for hours on end you will see the impact on your bill. Our Appliance Calculator is a handy app you can use to see how all this would add up.

    If you've any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.

    Regards,
    David


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    #3
    masculinist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,616 ✭✭✭masculinist


    Thanks for a quick response. I have someone staying in my spare room from a hot country who is perpetually freezing even when I am feeling just normal.

    The spare room is quite small. It is only something like  7 metres by 3 metres. I am considering the best way for him to heat a small room.

    The whole house is gas heated with radiators but to warm my guest up would mean turning on the heat for the whole house with its controlling thermostat being in the sitting room.

    The most obvious solution seems to be either 1) a SuperSer which was ruled out because the room is so small that he would lose oxygen fast.

    or 2) a small 2 Kw heater or so.

    So the solution seems to be an electrical one. We just need to decide on a heater and figure out the cheapest way to run it. I am thinking if it is thermostatically controlled then it will warm up the very small room very quickly and then switch off which would save money.

    If you have any suggestions to make about which type of heater to choose that would be great. I think the bloglink already says a few good things. Maybe an oil filled heater would stay warmed for longer ? I am not sure about its advantages and disadvantages. I am guessing it must cost the same if it has the same Kw output. Advantages such as safety cut off or less risk of fire would also give me some peace of mind. I am mindful that an electric heater is a new thing in my household and while my guest is very intelligent and well qualified , this is no guarantee that he might not forget to switch the heater off and it could potentially cause a fire.
    My guest will be working from his room for about 2 hours per day after he works for most of the day.

    He also would have an electric blanket on all night. Are they cheap to run or are there any things to be careful about when choosing one of those ?


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    #4
    Electric Ireland: David
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,457 ✭✭✭Electric Ireland: David


    Hi masculinist,
    masculinist wrote:
    If you have any suggestions to make about which type of heater to choose that would be great. I think the bloglink already says a few good things. Maybe an oil filled heater would stay warmed for longer ? I am not sure about its advantages and disadvantages.

    An oil-filled heater would stay warmer for longer, and in general is a more gradual and safer heating method. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options, and these are well-covered by the below eHow article.

    Oil-Filled Heater Vs. Convection Heater
    masculinist wrote:
    He also would have an electric blanket on all night. Are they cheap to run or are there any things to be careful about when choosing one of those ?

    The typical usage of an electric blanket would vary depending on whether it covers a single or double duvet, and whether it is an 'over' or 'under' blanket. These options are available to choose in our Appliance Calculator so as to work out the usage. In general they're not too expensive to use, especially if at night only and with a nightsaver tariff.

    ESB Networks have some good information on the safety of electric blankets here which I would encourage you or your room-mate to read through.

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks,
    David


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