Most economical, least stuffy plug in heater for regular use?

cormie

I'm looking to heat a room approx 4x18m with absolutely shocking insulation. There's a stove and storage heater there already but as soon as the stove dies down, the heat goes within an hour or so. The storage heater doesn't do a good enough job and even in the morning after it's been on nightsaver all night, the place is still an ice box.

I'm looking for a high quality heater that I can have on as required (thermostat?) that will be economical to run and won't stuff up the room at the same time with that heavy hot air feeling. I've heard oil heaters (dimplex type) are the best for this but just thought I'd put the question up here as I've heard that convector heaters are meant to be economical too? From what I know, fan heaters are the most expensive and least efficient and won't keep warm once they are off?

I don't mind investing in a high quality one if it's going to cut the bills down, the room warm and the air still somewhat fresh.

Any suggestions appreciated

sandin

Hi Cormie - try a Lucht Heater from Smart electrics in Parkwest. - They are located on the Killeen road side.

www.smartelectrics.ie

The heater itself is not cheap, but it is economical and you can keep the temp constant (thermostat) and boost it when needed. It also has a 7 day timer.

The other option is to get a basic oil filled rad and attach it to a plug in timer and leave it on a low setting.

and the final option is to get decent insulation

unklerosco

I do what Sandin recommends with oil rad, a 1.5-2kw Oil rad on a timer plug would be a good bed. Some of the higher end oil rads have timers etc. built in but save urself the cash and get a basic one with a thermostat and a plug in timer. We use one for the daughters bedroom as it's much easier to regulate the heat with it instead of the central heating rad. I just have it set on half power on low, set the timer and leave it be.. keeps her room at a constant temp.. Works a treat.

I wouldn't recommend the mini, small or half size oil rads as they'll be useless for your size room.. http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4150499/Trail/searchtext%3EOIL+RADIATOR.htm Something along the lines of that should do the trick. Or try Homebase this weekend, they've 15/20% off I think, thread on BA about it.

gctest50

http://www.jhmcloughlin.com/inverter_5007_nf.html

GottaGetGatt

cormie wrote: »

I'm looking to heat a room approx 4x18m with absolutely shocking insulation. There's a stove and storage heater there already but as soon as the stove dies down, the heat goes within an hour or so. The storage heater doesn't do a good enough job and even in the morning after it's been on nightsaver all night, the place is still an ice box.

I'm looking for a high quality heater that I can have on as required (thermostat?) that will be economical to run and won't stuff up the room at the same time with that heavy hot air feeling. I've heard oil heaters (dimplex type) are the best for this but just thought I'd put the question up here as I've heard that convector heaters are meant to be economical too? From what I know, fan heaters are the most expensive and least efficient and won't keep warm once they are off?

I don't mind investing in a high quality one if it's going to cut the bills down, the room warm and the air still somewhat fresh.

Any suggestions appreciated

It doesnt matter what stove you get if the heat is going to escape in an hour.You'd be better of asking for advice in the Construction and Planning thread

cormie

Thanks a lot for the feedback folks.

I'm a bit confused as to the timer part of it, so the timer would be to have it switched off if I was out every day between 9 and 5 for example? If I wanted it constantly on and giving a constant temperature of 20 degrees throughout the day and night, would the termostat take care of this? So say if I come in and have had it plugged out for a day of non use, when I plug it in and the place is freezing, the first hour or two will cost me the most, but once the room has reached 20 degrees, then it might only come on for a few minutes every hour to keep the temperature at 20 so would cost less the longer its on?

And then if I happen to light the stove then it mightn't come on at all, is that how it should work? I wouldn't mind spending an extra bit to get a decent one that's going to last. The Lucht would be a bit too pricey but the oil filled ones look affordable and seem to have great reviews. Would a 3KW one for 200eur be worth the extra or would I not need a 3KW?

Unfortunately this is rented accomm and I can't see the landlady doing anything about insulation. Would like to have it portable if I decide to move so I still have my investment.

MadsL

Cormie, cheaper to move to decent accommodation than throw money through the walls to stay warm. Just a thought.

cormie

Have been thinking about it alright, where I am is ideal location wise at a reasonable cost and given the house hunting I've assisted with over the last year for friends in the same area, there's not a lot of choice. Might have to keep an eye on daft and sign up to any alerts incase any gems pop up. Landlady is decent too, doesn't bother me at all but I'm probably an ideal tenant too in that I don't request much at all but when I do, it's dealt with pretty quick. I'm not sure how much it'd be to insulate it. I've exterior walls along the side, front and back and then pretty thin walls the other side and ceiling seems thin too (I can hear neighbours to the side and above sneezing and stuff ).

cormie

Here's another one available from argos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy7rN1AnUPQ, rated very well too from reviews but I'm not sure how it would compare to oil in terms of economy and efficiency? Maybe better given it's called "eco?" and is promoting "oil free?".

One thing to note too is I have a house dust allergy so it's best not to have air being blown around.

I wonder is the Dimplex eco using the same technology as micathermic explained here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF1ejiVb5oQ

cormie

So being sick you end up in bed wasting all kinda of time looking up crap.

That Dimplex 3KW for €250 on argos and for £205 on amazon is actually available for €179 from EXPERT hardware in IRE or €189 from Power City. I think Amazon used to sell it themselves for <£99, pixmania.co.uk have it for £98.

It's being boasted as being better than oil filled radiators and the reviews seem good if a few cons to it.

If it's a 3kw heater, but on a thermostat, then it won't be costing me 3kw ph I guess? It should only cost me 3kw/ph on it's maximum output I'm guessing but once the room hit's the desired temperature and the heater is simply maintaining this, it should be using a lot less than 3kw, yea?

I saw this review which seems to confirm this:

Several people have remarked they wondered how much it costs to run.
It all depends on your tarriff of course, but on ours, (12.36 per unit), set an average of 20 degrees, it averages 12/13p per hour.
Last week it was quite cold, and from 9am to 11pm, it cost just over £12 the week.
We brought another one for the farmhouse kitchen, 17' x 12', with a second kitchen off 12 x 8, plus an door open to the hall, set at 16 degrees, it cost 14p per hour last week in the cold.
You can feel a slight difference upstairs from this heater.
The farm house s also very high, exposed and cold.
compaired to other fuel I do think this is bad at all, the fire looks god and is silent.
I hope this help, have already recommended this to others."

It's just hard to know what kind of other heaters these folks would have been using when it's saying it's saving them money, I wonder how it would compare to the delonghi oil one unkelrosco linked to for example. I might give it a go...