Which Electric heaters most efficient

Gerry1995

I'm trying to heat a one bedroom apartment which has no gas or oil facility, so only option is Electric. So looking for some advice here. I am currently using a standard 1.5KW dimplex panel heater in the hallway and bedroom, both on timers. But it is the sitting room I need to sort now. I see three options
1) storage heater
2) Panel heater, as in bedroom
3) Oilfilled 2KW heater
4) Panel heater with ceramic plate inside 2KW (bit like storage)

Not in apartment usally between 08.00 and 19.00 Mon to Friday

Any suggestions much appreciated

FoxT

All electric heaters have the same efficiency - 100% of the electricity consumed is converted to heat.

The storage heater will be cheapest to run, you will need a separate meter (day/night) to get the value of it. If yo do not have this already then you will need an electrician for this job.

Also storage heaters take about 12 hours to heat up so you will need some other source of heat that you can draw on at short notice.

Convectors are quite good, they heat up quickly. I prefer them to halogen heaters or electric fires because I think they are much less of a fire hazard in the event of an accident etc.

The oil-filled heaters are good too, but come up to temp a bit more slowly than convectors.

Gerry1995

Foxt, thanks for reply. Given that the apartment is empty between 08.00and 19.00 will all the stored heat be used in storage heaters and therefore need to use the boos facility in the evenings at peak rate. Also have tou come across the heaters I mentioned in opt 4. Two or three companies are now selling these, Luht LHZ is one at www.smartelectrics.ie . They are supposed to heat up like an oil filled rad except quicker and with the ceramic plate they cool slower.

Buford T Justice

FoxT wrote: »

Convectors are quite good, they heat up quickly. I prefer them to halogen heaters or electric fires because I think they are much less of a fire hazard in the event of an accident etc.

I fired up a panel heater in a room of a flat i was working in yesterday which hadn't been used in a while. It set the fire alarm off as it was burning the dust that sat on the element,

Nice eh?

FoxT

Gerry1995 wrote: »

Foxt, thanks for reply. Given that the apartment is empty between 08.00and 19.00 will all the stored heat be used in storage heaters and therefore need to use the boos facility in the evenings at peak rate. Also have tou come across the heaters I mentioned in opt 4. Two or three companies are now selling these, Luht LHZ is one at www.smartelectrics.ie . They are supposed to heat up like an oil filled rad except quicker and with the ceramic plate they cool slower.

Hi Gerry, modern storage heaters have 2 controls, 1 for input & 1 for output. (Check when you buy).
Input controls how much electrical energy it absorbs at night & converts into heat.
Output controls the airflow through the heater - ie how much heat it will give off.

In your situation , in cold weather when you leave the apartment turn the output to 'off'. That will keep most of the heat stored in the heater till you get back. Some heaters may have a timer function for the output control, I have not seen one of these but technically there is no reason why not. So that might be worth checking too.

Note also - you can get combined storage heaters. This is 2 heaters in 1 - a convector & a storage heater. Haven't used one myself but looks neat.
Here is an example:

http://www.thegascompany.ie/iopen24/electric-storage-heater-dimplex-xmc718n-radiator-upto-kilowatt-output-with-added-electric-convection-heater-p-968669.html?cPath=1338_1575

I am not familiar with the Lucht heaters you mention above, so I dont know how they would compare.

Also there is a good article on storage heaters in Wikipedia, and another here;
http://www.nef.org.uk/energysaving/storageheating.htm

Note "Many people like to take advantage of storage heaters for background heat, but find that in the middle of winter they still need to supplement the heating by a direct electric heater, such as a fan heater."

nauds

Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1
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I currently have storage heaters which I find completely useless in a mid terrace house. Im desperate to get rid of them and have been told upgrading them (cos they are at least 15yrs old) would show no great improvement. I cant get gas as its not on my road. I heard about these new lucht heaters and went out to the company in clondalkin to view them. They look good but I wonder do they really heat up the place and if so at what cost. Its only costing 2000euros to get 5 heaters into the house which seems a decent price but Im wondering will my heating bills go through the roof??? Also i cant find anyone who actually has them in houses. Im wondering if they are so good why have people not replaced their storage heaters in houses or apartments with these????

maxer68

Not sure if its too late for a reply, but I have lucht in offices and showrooms and organising another 2 of their 2.8 kw heaters for a new location we're opening.

In a showroom situation we set temp at 19 degrees and find them super efficient. They did replace standard over door and oil plug in heaters, but the electricity bill dropped substantially after they were installed.

Bainne Boss

All electric heating is 100% efficient converting electricity to heat. But... the use of this heat produced is different dependant on heater.

Efficient systems will maintain set temperature, say 21c very accurately, without the usual waste heating above the required temp to compensate for off switching during charging intervals.

Also, most heaters are convector heaters, some combine radiant heat to improve heat distribution in the room.

Good controls can also help manage the heat better.

Heaters with elements enclosed in ceramic or oil will produce a heat that isn't stuffy, like heaters where the element comes in direct contact with the air.

Lifespan varies greatly between heaters.

Night storage heaters work on half rate night tariff electricity, but waste massive amounts of heat. They are expensive to run, with minimal control.