Cheapest form of electric heating

[Sadie]

I'm calling on folks experience regarding electric heaters
We have a log burner in main living area which keeps things nice in there but in the bedrooms it's freezing
What in people's experience is the cheapest form of electric heating oil filled radiators etc?
Thanks in advance

[Wee Stumpy]

According to Devil it is Air Con in heating mode - I believe the new style Inverter models are much more efficient and economical to run.

[surreyboy]

It's a scientific fact that hot air rises, so in theory the lower to the ground that the heating source is the greater will be the overall operating efficiency, since natural convection will propel the heat around the room.

Air-con units are usually mounted high up on walls and force the warm air downwards by means of a fan, which itself uses energy. On top of this the forced movement of the air is naturally cooling, so you end up with cool air at floor level, which is not what you want!

If all that you are seeking is background warmth in the bedrooms, probably the best option is low profile slimline oil-filled radiators which are fairly cheap to buy and relatively inexpensive to run.

[Devil]

Modern inverter aircon units (heat pumps) will give you 3½-4 times the calories, BTU, therms, whatever, per kW consumed, compared with any other form of electric heating

[surreyboy]

Perhaps so Devil, but if you do not already have them, what is the cost of installation?

Probably several tens (hundreds?) of the cost of simple oil filled radiators?

So weigh up the overall cost over your expected life usage. What answer do you arrive at?

[cyprusmax47]

Topic was: cheapest form of electric heating!!!!

There are no doubts it is the newest technology of inverter aircon units which work like a heat pump,
so about 80% of the energy used to heat your home comes from the outside air, a free and infinitely
renewable resource. As in Cyprus the outside temp. in Winter are not too low which is positive.
Further it takes away the humidity in the house which is one of the most important things to feel
more comfortable.

Max
Renewable Energy Consultant

[surreyboy]

OK. I'll ask the same question again.
What is the cost of installation?
What is the payback period?
And who is in the business of trying to sell it?

[ApusApus]

OK. I'll ask the same question again.
What is the cost of installation?
What is the payback period?
And who is in the business of trying to sell it?

I don't think the calculation is as simple as that! If most people are like us then you install AC units to keep you cool in the hot summer months here in Cyprus so the fact that you can use them to heat your rooms in winter could be considered a bonus! We changed 2 of our 3 units last year because they had broken and it wasn't economical to repair them but we did it to keep cool in summer!

Shane

[Streets]

Should you chose to use the heat exchange settings of your AC, have high ceilings, and ceiling fans fitted, it is worth reversing the fans rotation using the switch on the unit to provide upwards thrust. Thus moving the hot air pocket at high level to a lower level for more efficient use. A low rotation is generally all that is needed.

[olly]

Ceramic slimline panel eletric radiators use 400 watts , 2 in a room will heat it like a c/h radiator, they cost around 60 euros to buy and fix easily to the wall .
Petrides sent mine COD to Akis I phoned Petros and then followed up with an email 25 363347 [email protected]
http://www.apmpetrides.com/index.php?ac ... ductId=627

[mouse]

A properly installed A++ air con.

[lion]

We have an inverter AC unit. Cannot believe how quiet it is and how effective it is. Had the old type units in the past and didn't like them.

The inverter units are so much cheaper to use.

[ferret]

Sadie. I have a log burner also and found like you the heat gets localised. I put a pedalstall fan on the lowest setting a few feet away. The change in temperature through the house was quite marked. The fan does distribute the heat very well. It may help until you install something else.

[surreyboy]

I do not disagree that an A++ inverter ac unit is a wonderfully efficient beast. Would have them myself if I could afford them!
Cheapest (smallest) unit in Cyprus would appear to be upwards of 450 euros, plus installation costs. Let's say 500 euros all up?
Compare with decent oil filled or ceramic heater for less than 100 euros. You will have to save 400euros on running costs before you break even. How long will that take?

[cyprusmax47]

@surreyboy

The efficiency of an Inverter Air con is much higher than any electric heater, oil filled or not,
as one can use it in Winter for heating and Summer for cooling. Also the fan is moving the air
around the area you want to heat or cool.
Small Inverter units with 9000 BTU you can find in Paphos for less than 400 Euro plus installation.
On setting 2000 Watts one will need many hours to heat up a medium sized room with radiators and running it
p.e. 10 hours you are using 20 kW/h per day @ 17c per unit at the moment but rising....

[Wee Stumpy]

Don't forget Surrey Boy at least 90% of us require Air Con in the Summer anyway so for most of us the installation is a must and for many of us now the old style Air Con units are coming to the end of their life and the outside units are rusty - ours were 13 years old and the ones here in the Villa we rent are 14 years old and really past their best. The new type we had installed in the very large living room is 24000 btu and is excellent both in heating and cooling mode and very reasonable to run - I would say it heats this room to a very comfortable level in 10 - 15 minutes and maintains that temp - we set it to 24 whilst it has been cold - certainly much better than the gas central heating we had in the other bungalow and much cheaper to run!!

We also have a log burner which we use some days but as we are leaving we don't want to buy any more logs - again this gives out good heat but logs are not cheap to buy - our last full load from Irene was €120 last year and probably lasts for about 4 - 6 weeks lighting it at about 4.30 and putting the last log on about 7.00 maintains the warmth in the room until gone 10.00pm.

[mouse]

Sadie, agreed an aircon is expensive, the next best would be a simple fan heater with thermostat, avoid the halogen heaters as they are less efficient as some of the power goes to producing light and not heat.