Daewoo Oil Filled 800W Portable Radiator with Thermostat and Temperature Control - Ideal for Home, Garage or Office - White

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The big question —how much do these radiators cost to run? While this will obviously vary depending on the size and type of your oil-filled radiator, there are ways of calculating the running costs of the models you are interested in. Adjustable thermostat Using this function, a portable heater will heat the room and when the desired temperature is reached, it will try to maintain the room at that temperature. Most of the cheaper, simpler heaters we tested have a dial thermostat that doesn't let you choose specific temperatures in °C. You'll likely need to buy a more expensive model for that. Our tests also found that they're rarely 100% accurate and will probably think the room is a couple of °C warmer or cooler than it is.

Although the comparison might make your electric heater look cheaper to run, bear in mind that it will only be heating a much smaller area, whereas your central heating will be aiming to heat your whole home. On the downside, this type can be quite noisy and they don't have some of the more advanced features you can get with convector heaters. Oil-filled radiators can be cheaper than turning the central heating on if you are only heating one room. (Image credit: Getty) Are oil heaters cheap to run? These can still be bought, but they aren't as popular or widely available as fan or convector heaters. If you’re looking for energy efficient heaters to warm up your home, or if you’re doing some research ahead of purchasing a new electric heater, here is a breakdown of each type of electric heater. We’ll run through what they’re good for, and how much they will cost you to run.

Start by converting the watts into kilowatts and then multiply by your electricity cost per kWh. You can do this by dividing the watts by 1,000 and then multiplying by the current electricity cost. Due to the long list of factors that come into play to calculate your central heating costs, the only way you can confidently compare a heater to your central heating is to install a smart meter. You then divide your weekly heating cost by the number of hours you have it switched on and compare that figure to the cost of running your heater. Pinning down an exact comparison of how much central heating and electric heaters cost to run is nigh-on impossible, as the factors below are just some of the variables that play a part: In general, oil-filled radiators are more economical to run than many other types of heater due to the fact that oil retains the heat well. This makes it more efficient than an electric convection heater, according to Qbic Heating.

In our tests, we set every heater to run at full blast so you can see the maximum amount it cost to heat our medium-sized test room. If you have the thermostat of your heater set to a desired temperature, the heater will toggle on and off once it reaches that temperature – depending on what's needed to maintain it. The heater won't operate continuously, so won't cost you as much to run. Are electric heaters cheaper to use than central heating? They can be installed on a wall just like standard types of radiator or can be freestanding units that can be moved to different rooms. The ability to heat just one room is the reason many advise that homeworkers give them a go. The nature of convection heaters mean they usually take a little longer until you feel the heat (compared to a halogen heater for example), but it will heat the whole room evenly. Typically, convection heaters are around 2000W in power output which does make them more expensive to run. On top of this, you might tend to leave a convection heater on for longer periods of time too (compared to radiant heaters). Oil-filled heaters tend to take longer to heat up than other electrical convection heaters, but keep heating the room longer after they are switched off. Oil filled radiators are a great way to heat small to medium sized rooms. Perfect for bedrooms, garages, conservatories or offices, our oil filled radiators come with an adjustable thermostat so you can control the heat of the room.Some portable heaters have useful extras, such as an LCD screen that displays the current temperature or a remote control for turning the heater on from across the room. These features may come in handy: We buy all the electric heaters we test. We put the bestselling heaters from popular UK retailers through these tests: Heating speed, evenness, and accuracy Halogen Heaters are great for instant heat. They get their name from the halogen element inside the bulb or lamp of the heater which, when combined with electricity, heats up and provides a radiant heat. They are also designed with wheels to allow for easy portability, meaning you can easily move the radiator between rooms in your home or office. On top of this, to ensure extra safety, they come with built-in tip over cut out technology, which automatically switches the heater off should it tip over. Depending on what sized room you're wanting to heat, our oil filled heaters range from our mini radiator which is 800W in power right up to our larger 2500W oil filled radiator, meaning you’ll be able to find something to suit your requirements. Oil-filled radiators are great for a long lasting heat. They work by heating thermodynamic oil inside the body of the radiator. When switched on, a heating element submerged in the oil heats up. This in-turn heats the oil, which transfers heat to the body of the radiator. As the radiator gets hot, the room is warmed via both convection and heat radiation.

Programmable timer Useful for setting a heater to turn on just before you get home or wake up, so there's no waiting around for the heater to warm up. In addition, oil-filled heaters are up to 99% energy-efficient because they directly convert all the electric energy into heat energy with barely any losses. Their thermostats, timers and adjustable heating modes consume less than one percent of the heater’s energy needs. What are the disadvantages of oil-filled radiators? Central heating is much more effective at maintaining a stable temperature over a longer period, whereas the heat from an electric heater will soon dissipate if the rest of your home is cold. We assess how easily each electric heater can be set up and how easily understandable the controls and settings are. We used any handles to lift the heater and move it around. While some heaters can be used straight out of the box, others have complicated program and timer settings.

You will have to allow for enough time for the heater to warm up before the space reaches a comfortable temperature, maybe 20-30 minutes. Some are equipped with a timer that you can use to preheat the room prior to use. If the heater is equipped with a thermostat, it can be set to switch off when the oil reaches the desired temperature. However, many of the other (more high-watt) heaters come with built-in thermostat controls and sometimes timers, which will allow you to regulate their power output and how long you have them on for. This will help to reduce running costs. Really, it all depends what kind of heater you’re looking for and more importantly how you use it. The average wattage on an oil-filled radiator can vary quite a lot, which therefore means how costly they are can vary. However, many oil-filled radiators will come equipped with a built-in thermostatic control, which therefore allows you to control the power and heat output of the radiator. For this reason, they can be considered one of the most energy efficient types of heaters. We use a force meter to record how much is needed to topple each heater over and a decibel meter to measure how much noise each one makes while running.