Is a radiator or an electric fan heater cheaper
Energy myth: Is it cheaper to power one radiator or one fan
A home energy expert, from not-for-profit energy group Ebico, replies:
This is a question that’s commonly asked and really depends upon the kind of radiator being used.
Normally fan heaters will use around 1 or 2 kWh of energy, which means that for an hour of running they will probably cost between 15p to 30p.
Ascertaining if this is cheaper than the cost of running a radiator for the same amount of time will depend on whether the radiator in question is an oil-filled electric radiator or one that’s part of an existing gas central heating system.
The majority of oil-filled radiators are rated at less than 1 kWh, which makes them cheaper to operate than a fan heater on an hourly basis.
Yet, in order to fully heat a room, oil-filled radiators have to be left on for longer. So all in all, the running costs of oil-filled radiators and fan heaters work out to be very similar. If you do use a fan heater, a useful tip is to make sure you use it in short, sharp bursts to keep the running cost down.
For those who have a gas central heating system with a modern condensing boiler, the answer is simpler.
Because mains gas is about a third of the cost of electricity per unit of energy, these new boiler systems convert gas energy to heat energy extremely efficiently.
So if a gas central heating system is already installed, the best and most cost-effective option is to run the boiler and heat a room’s radiator rather than using a fan heater.
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