Electric heating vs open fire

murphthesmurf · 17-10-2019 6:50pm #1

We live in a rented 4 bed house with oil fired heating and open fire.
Instead of lighting fire I was thinking of getting an oil filled electric radiator or similar. I'm wondering what the cost difference will be as 40kg bags of cosy glow nuggets now cost €20 and only last maybe 4-5 days. How expensive is it to run an electric alternative?
We've asked land lord previously about fitting a stove or similar but he wasn't keen, said he'd pay half. The house is 10-15 yrs old. Insulation? What insulation! It's terrible. When sitting in living room you can feel the cold air being drawn through whole house and up the chimney.
I could block the chimney somehow.
Thanks

serox_21 · 18-10-2019 1:29pm

buy one of this for blocking the chimney.

headtheball14 · 20-10-2019 11:54pm

I found the balloon useless but I got a chimney sheep and find it great. https://www.chimneysheep.co.uk/
I had draughts coming straight down from upstairs with all my hot air going out the chimney until I got it.
Also I got fleece lined curtains on done deal, made a massive difference along with 60 quid on insulation for attic

Idbatterim · 21-10-2019 1:23am

There was a open fire insert in Irish dragons den. Kept a lot more heat in room than going up chimney. Might be worth checking out ...

murphthesmurf · 22-10-2019 12:30am

Thanks for the replies. What about cost wise, is an electric heater such as the oil filled portable radiators cheaper than an open fire?

blackbox · 22-10-2019 12:14pm

Your oil fired heating should be cheaper than either of those, and give more comfort.

Whether using oil or electric, you still need to stop all the heat going uo the chimney.

Accidentally · 22-10-2019 12:21pm

An old pillow or cushion will do the same job for free

K.Flyer · 23-10-2019 10:02am

Accidentally wrote: »

An old pillow or cushion will do the same job for free

This is what I did to our chimney, you noticed the difference almost immediately.

Why are you not using the Oil Central Heating?

murphthesmurf · 23-10-2019 9:04pm

K.Flyer wrote: »

This is what I did to our chimney, you noticed the difference almost immediately.

Why are you not using the Oil Central Heating?

We could, but I was under the impression that having the oil heating on, heating whole house would be expensive. Bags of coal/nuggets are €20 now and only last maybe 5 days.
I suppose I could fill up a drum of oil once a week for around €25 Euro instead of buying coal. Just trying to cut costs.

ercork · 23-10-2019 9:51pm

murphthesmurf wrote: »

We could, but I was under the impression that having the oil heating on, heating whole house would be expensive. Bags of coal/nuggets are €20 now and only last maybe 5 days.
I suppose I could fill up a drum of oil once a week for around €25 Euro instead of buying coal. Just trying to cut costs.

The SEAI have done some good work comparing the costs of the different heating systems - see p2 in the link below. Oil is one of the more competitive options regarding costs. Do you have the ability to zone it - to just heat one floor at a time?

https://www.seai.ie/publications/Domestic-Fuel-Cost-Comparison.pdf

stockshares · 29-10-2019 7:03pm

headtheball14 wrote: »

I found the balloon useless but I got a chimney sheep and find it great. https://www.chimneysheep.co.uk/
I had draughts coming straight down from upstairs with all my hot air going out the chimney until I got it.
Also I got fleece lined curtains on done deal, made a massive difference along with 60 quid on insulation for attic

We have the same problem but we have Gas heating with a wrap around boiler.
I think you're not allowed to block off the chimney if you have Gas heating and a wrap around boiler but I'm not sure.

Once we turn off the heating the heat escapes up the chimney and the room is cold an hour later.

We were thinking of getting an Electric Fire Insert to take the bare look off of the fireplace but if the open chimney is the main problem there is not much point.

The stove might s better option if we're allowed block off the chimney.

If anyone knows if a chimney can be blocked off while using gas and a wrap around boiler please let me know.

Thanks

K.Flyer · 30-10-2019 10:23am

Is your gas boiler located in the Fireplace?

stockshares · 31-10-2019 12:33am

Sorry, my mistake.

The Gas Boiler is in the Kitchen.

The wrap around boiler was used previously to heat the radiators and water but it's disconnected now.

I've blocked the chimney with a cushion, so the options now are to either get a fuel burning stove or an electric heater.

Idbatterim · 31-10-2019 1:52am

stockshares wrote: »

Sorry, my mistake.

The Gas Boiler is in the Kitchen.

The wrap around boiler was used previously to heat the radiators and water but it's disconnected now.

I've blocked the chimney with a cushion, so the options now are to either get a fuel burning stove or an electric heater.

http://ecograte.ie

This is what I meant op ...stop all the draughts you can !

stockshares · 31-10-2019 10:22am

Idbatterim wrote: »

http://ecograte.ie

This is what I meant op ...stop all the draughts you can !

Was looking through their site just now.
It looks a good product but it's costly although they say it pays for itself after 8 months.

In the Customer Tips section it says this
"Down Draughts
If your chimney has an existing down draught problem please consult with a HETAS approved chimney sweep. Having an “H” cowl fitted on the chimney might solve this problem."

Have you had a H cowl fitted? I've never heard of these before.

Idbatterim · 31-10-2019 10:26am

You mention the property is heated by oil. If you block the chimney, why do you then need an electric rad?

stockshares · 31-10-2019 10:33am

Idbatterim wrote: »

You mention the property is heated by oil. If you block the chimney, why do you then need an electric rad?

I presume your talking to me and not the OP.

I made a mistake in my first post. We have Gas Heating but our old system was a wrap around boiler.

Electric heating vs open fire

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