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| Running Costs & CO2 |
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Running Costs
There are many misleading claims being made by companies who have little or no experience in Electric Heating, many of which who have jumped on the bandwagon to make a fast buck. These claims are designed to get you to buy a product which cannot be any more efficient because of the laws of physics. We will be absolutely straight here and dispel any of the myths that many other companies are claiming!
To say that a radiator is saving 60% below other products is absolute rubbish and these companies are not to be trusted. They might have very fancy web sites and have all sorts of graphs and claimed test data but none are independently tested head to head in an identical room. As the saying goes buyer beware!
When you are considering replacing an old Dimplex Storage Heater, you need to consider how your system works now, if it suits your lifestyle (are you out at work whilst you home is being heated?) This factor alone should make you consider new more efficient Electric Radiator Heaters. As you will have seen by look around the internet, there are many differing systems, including Panel Electric Heaters, Dimplex radiators, Oil filled radiators, Gel Electrical Heaters, Ceramic Electric Heaters and other types, so please make sure you do your homework and plese don't just buy a cheap electric heater, your electric bills will be huge.
An electric heater of any type by any manufacturer is measured by its output, which is in direct relation to the size and number of heater elements inside. So if it says it is a 1.5Kw heater it will produce 1.5Kw of heat, and as all electric heaters are 100% efficient it also means that it will consume 1.5Kw! These are facts that cannot be changed no matter what the make is.
The following are facts:
A 1Kw heater, will consume 1Kw of electricity to produce 1Kw of heat.
This same 1Kw heater will consume the above 1Kw at whatever price you are paying per one hour of use (Kw/hour).
Therefore if you are being charged 13p per Kw/hour the radiator will cost you 13p for one hour of use, or 15p if thats what you are paying
What differs between makes and therefore the running costs is how they are controlled, how the heat is dissipated, and whether they have a storage capacity, and below is a quick summary of what to look for if you want the lowest running costs.:-
Good Air flow - drawing air from the bottom through the radiator and therefore picking up the heat produced quickly and using both radiant heat (from the front and sides) and convected (through the top) will get the room up to temperature as fast as possible.
A storage capacity - unlike a storage heater which can only build up a store heat over a long period overnight, a radiator that has multiple elements that heat up multiple special ceramic or fire clay cores that have a shorter storage capacity but with fast warm up means that once the room temperature has been reached, the radiator will stop consuming electricity and use the stored heat to maintain the room temperature for up to 40 minutes means that this is the most efficient way of using electricity to heat efficiently.
So taking the same 1Kw radiator above, once the room is up to temperature it will stop consuming electricity for approximately 40 minutes and will then use the stored heat to maintain the room temperature and will only switch back on again once the room temperature drops. Therefore once up to temperature the calculation becomes 13p divided by 60 (minutes) multiplied by 20 (60 minutes less 40 minutes stored heat) = 20 multiples by 0.13 = 0.43p for the 1 hour consumed.*
* Obviously the length of time that the radiator uses stored heat is dependant upon a variety of factors such as direction the room faces and levels of insulation, age of property etc all of which can affect the running costs. The above is an example only and your own property details should be factored into the picture.
Programmable thermostats - want to be able to manage individual rooms or zones on both time and temperature? Being able to to control when and how you use each room or area by means of switching them on/off at times that you programme and that you control the temperature to within 0.5C based on external conditions all without the need to install special cabling.
Warranties - Obviously the longer the warranty the more confident the manufacturer is that there radiators will stand the test of time
Aluminium vs Steel - The style and design of the radiators will have an impact on their performance, as the chances are that the aluminium radiators will have been either die cast or extruded meaning that they can be more creative with looks and functionality. Also Aluminium warms up quicker and cools down faster, however very good comparable performance tests can be achieved with steel designs too.
Ceramic types vs Oil/Gel filled types - As mentioned above by using a mixture of stored and instant heat the ceramic types have major advantages over the Gel/Oil filled types, and this is normally reflected in the purchase prices and warranty. Gel/Oil filled types will have a single heater element that will always switch on its full capacity (i.e. 1.5Kw of consumption if it is a 1.5Kw output radiator) just to top the room temperature up. Oil has a limited capacity to hold heat and is therefore switching on/off more frequently to maintain the room temperature. The in-built thermostat normally overshoots the desired temperature to allow it to cool down later.
Hopefully by comparing these features that will enable you to make up your mind a little easier and to help you to avoid being a victim of false hopes and claims
How to conserve Energy and reduce CO2 emissions.
Old electric storage heater systems are inefficient have little or no control, and you have to worry about the running costs. Electric heating systems and in particular Night Storage Heaters have always been perceived as expensive to run and with little or no control, and rightly so when you look at the lack of control and costs of running electric storage heating working on Economy 7.
We only supply highly Energy Efficient Thermapanel electric radiators, that are tried and tested with excellent reliability. and are slim in size and have similar operation of 'wet' radiators, and with even more full control, which is vital when wanting to keep a check on one of the largest outlays.
Gas and Oil prices continue to rise, and the government has committed the long term future for electricity using Nuclear Power. This means having to buy in gas supplies from foreign countries for the foreseeable future. Many properties are in areas where there is no mains gas, and therefore the options for heating the home are limited, can be expensive, unsightly and have poor control.
To minimise running costs we recommend that the radiators are used sensibly and by completing the form below you can receive a free full independent report with a wide range of energy saving recommendations and tips.
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