Fan heater

obi604

just a silly sanity check here.

My electricity rates are roughly 20 cent per kilowatt

I have a 2 Kw fan heater

Lets say I was to use the fan heater for 1 hour at 2Kw , would this cost

1 hour x 2 Kw x 20 cent = 40 cent per hour ?

kingstevii

yes

cruizer101

Yep,

I will add for a fan heater it will afaik output 2kw constantly.

Other types of electrical heaters will cycle on/off based on a thermostat (maybe some fan ones do also) meaning they won't use their full power rating.

Convection heaters will do it a bit, oil rads more so. This doesn't mean they are more efficient just that they will actually put out less heat.

bigmac3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118431779#Comment_118431779

I’ve never seen a fan heater without a thermostat

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118431779#Comment_118431779

it has a 1kw and 2kw setting and a thermostat.

wonder would teh 2kw setting make much of a difference in regard to actual heat.

KildareP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118431812#Comment_118431812

Well, yes, you'll get double the heat compared to 1KW :)

If the room is small and well insulated, then 2KW will heat the room twice as fast as 1KW and the fan heater will cycle on/off twice as often as on 1KW to maintain it at temperature.

Practically, the room requires a certain amount of energy to get it up to your desired temperature and maintain it there.

This means 1KW will either take longer to get it up to the initial temperature compared to 2KW, and will then be on twice as often to maintain it compared to 2KW or, if the room needs more than 1KW of heat it will never reach your desired temperature and the room will always be cold.

In the case of the former, your electricity costs will be the same as the heater will be on 1KW for double the length of time as it would compared to 2KW, whereas in the case of the later yes you'll save on your electricity only using 1KW compared to 2KW but the room will never be fully warm either.

JimmyVik

Get a thermostat and plug that ytou can place away from the fan somewhere else in the room. That way it will be more accurate switching on and off.

And the best electricity plan ive seen at the moment is night = 9c (inc Vat) and Day = 18c (inc vat) per unit from electric Ireland.

Or Electric Ireland 17.75c inc vat all day and night.

Stay away from smart meters. The choice of plans you get on them are shocking expensive.

waynescales1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118431965#Comment_118431965

I noticed this. What is the actual appeal of a smart meter? The price plans are way more expensive.

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118431910#Comment_118431910

Thanks, yeah on paper, I know it should give twice the heat etc

But just wondering in the real world, does it actually apply

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118431983#Comment_118431983

As far as I can tell they brought them is so as to confuse people about how much their plan will cost them with all the different levels and complications to it. Kinda like health insurance has gone. IT definitely isnt going to lead to cheaper bills for sure.

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118432251#Comment_118432251

Yes it does with electric heating. There is no loss of the electricity. 100% goes to the heat output.

cruizer101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118433336#Comment_118433336

The concept of Smart Meters makes sense, allow for more variable pricing to encourage use of electricity and lower demand times and discourage it at higher demand times. Also allows for better analysis of power usage.

The problem is the electricity providers have created plans which are all stick and no carrot. Increase the rates at peak times but give very little options for saving money. The prices don't reflect he wholesale price of electricity.

The other annoying thing is to get access to the usage details you have to sign up to one of their new plans. I don't understand that. The meters were provided by ESB networks I thought, why do I have to go through provider to access the data.

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118434048#Comment_118434048

Its criminal what they have done here with smart meters.

But thats what I expect in Ireland to be honest.