Whats Best Form Heating For House, Gas, Coal,electric , Oil ?

[beezaneez]

big 4 bed house here, we have dual gas and coal open fire. what is cheapest form of heating to heat our living room gas or coal ?

what is cheapest form heating for our bedroom when we go to bed oil filled radiator ? gas radiator ? convector heater ?

[woofgang]

I use an oil filled radiator with a timer and a thermostat. Its the safest option and doesn't cost a lot to run.

[jomifl]

The cheapest is an electric air source heat pump or reversible aircon unit. you get 3x the heat for the same cost as an electric convector.

[beezaneez]

jomfifi thanks but is that one of them small blow heaters ? heard they were expensive to run.

[jomifl]

No it is not a 'small blow heater' it is an air sourced heat pump. a 1kw blow heater gives you 1 kw of heat, a 1kw heat pump gives 3kw of heat for the same cost. You have an internal part fixed to a wall and an external part with a heat pump. One big enough to heat your room would cost about £400, The modern ones have infra red controllers so that you can programme temperatures and on off times. Plus it can cool the room if you ever get a hot summer:o)

[boxtops]

It depends entirely where you live, too, surely - different suppliers will charge different amounts for your fuel.

[woofgang]

wow, my oil filled radiator cost 50 quid, i'd have to keep the bedroom tropical to get the money back on one of those!

[jomifl]

For a bedroom an oil filled rad is probably more cost effective but for a room that is heated for most of the day for six months of the year a heat pump can pay for itself in as little as a year.

[beezaneez]

JOMFI thats very good info there, i would definately buy one of those if i owned my own home. just wondering why most homes havent allready got them installed if they are so easy on electric for the amount of heat they can produce ?

[whiskeryron]

http://www.which.co.uk/energy/creating-an-energy-saving-home/guides/air-source-heat-pumps-explained/

WR.

[jomifl]

Beez, OK I can see why it would not be a goer for you. Any other kind of electric heater produces exactly the same amount of heat for your bucks as any other no matter how 'high tech' it is . What is important is how the heat is delivered. I rate underfloor heating as the best as it is gentle heat, low down where your feet are, produces minimum draughts and because of that you can have the room a couple of degrees cooler for the same comfort level, so you save on electricity.

[bob561941]

With all the trees that have been blown down you might consider investing in a petrol chainsaw and forage for logs you might be able to contact someone that wants a treet taken down for which you could charge a sustantial amount