economy radiator company

A question about : economy radiator company

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone has heard of 'the economy radiator company', the reason I ask is that our two bedroom house has two storage heaters downstairs and nothing upstairs so they are next to useless. What this company offers is electric heating that is a cheap alternative to gas installations but with a similar running cost. Now calll me a cynic but it all seems to be a bit too good to be true, and you know what they say if it appears too good to be true it probably is. So has anyone ever heard of these guys or used them and can anyone tell me if there claims are true?

Thanks

Jimmy

Best answers:

• You be right is saying its too good to be true. Gas heating is always cheaper, there no way it can be cheaper than gas. A gas boiler would have to waste 77% of the gas it uses to be more expensive than eleci.
  Just found there website his number don't make any sense. There no more than glorified Oil radiators there running cost should be on par with them if you want a comparison.
• Loads of firms are getting in on this [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM].
  Electrical heaters marketed by implying that they 'only cost xp per hour to run' and are somehow cheaper to run - they ain't.
  A Ј20 oil filled radiator or fan heater gives out exactly the same amount of heat for the same running cost as any other electrical heater.
• Thanks for the reply folks, I didn't think it sounded right! Suppose i'll just have to look at getting gas again!
• Ive also been looking at these gel filled electric radiators,i have a property with one ancient storage heater and two panel heaters which ive ripped out and need to replace,these gel filled heaters seemed a good alternative to storage heaters although i am of the same opinion that if it seems too good to be true then it probably is.
  I like the look of them etc but they do seem very expensive for what they are - a pimped up oil filled radiator.
  I could just install a Dimplex DUOHEAT storage heater and two EPX panel heaters but would prefer something other than storage.
  Another company ive been looking into is Heat Electric which are also known as Easy heat,they manufacture water filled electric radiators which look identical to standard wet system radiators but are electric,they look and seem rather good to me,anyone had previous experience of the Easy Heat range ?
  Cheers
• The only thing you need to check on ANY electric heating is the kWh rating of the appliance. Any talk of efficiency, less power more heat etc is complete nonsense.
  It doesn't matter if it is filled with gel, water, oil, gold or rare earth metals, if its rated at 2kWh it will burn two kW of electricity every hour.
• Thanks for your input. Really helpful. I did look at heat pumps but the price was way out of my budget with the install. I'm now confused though! My friend says that his heating bills are definitely a lot less than they were last winter when he was using some cheap heaters. The literature that I have says that the Economiser radiators are far more efficient than convector heaters because they have ceramic cells inside that store heat, and that each cell charges up separately at different times. It's not a storage heater though. I now have someone bringing me a radiator to try out for a week with a power consumption meter which seems fair. If it's too good to be true I'll soon find out I guess!
• HappyMJ is absolutely correct.
  As said so many times on this forum you will get EXACTLY the same amount of heat, for the same running cost, from a Ј10 fan heater, a Ј30 oil filled radiator, a Ј50 panel heater or Granny's old 1/2/3 bar fire. The reason? all electrical heating is 100% efficient.
  Those heaters are just a joke in price and their claims.
  You can buy wireless, remote controlled, variable timed devices that will control the thermostatically controlled heaters for very little money.
• "The literature that I have says that the Economiser radiators are far more efficient than convector heaters because they have ceramic cells inside that store heat"
  Where does this heat come from? The tooth fairy? Never believe the sale brochures from these people, basic physics destroys any sales patter they have.
• Whilst I agree with posters on here who have mentioned on more than one occasion that all eletric heaters are 100% efficient, there is a significant difference when it comes to the type of heater, how effective it is at heating the space, the quality of the heat produced and the lifecycle cost.
  I believe that cheap convection and fan heaters or oil filled radiators are not worth buying even at tuppence ha'penny as they are inefficient at heating space. Consider the principle of a convection heater, it method of heating is to heat the air which then by convection (rising of warm air being replaced by cooler air which is then heated) is an expensive to make a room feel warm.
  I have done research in this area and found that panel heaters which use infrared are far more effective and provide a better quality of warmth. These panels ARE more effiecient at providing heat than cheap elctectric convection or fan heaters as well as oil filled radiators. Infrared is a natural warming principle (same as the sun without the damaging UV) as our bodies are able to absorb IR which makes us feel warm.
  As infrared does not heat the air there is no convection of air ciruclation meaning that dust and germs are not stirred up around the living environment. Another benefit is that infrared is more effective at heating the fabric of your building which lowers the U value of the walls and re-radiates heat back into the room. This also helps eliminate dampness and mould.
  Yes it is right to say that all electric fed heater are 100% efficient in their conversion of elctricty to heat but there is a big difference in how effective they are to meet your heating requirement.
• Perhaps you would care to produce independant evidence of your theory? Not the masses of advertising blurb on the web that tries to maket their products - independant evidence on Quality of heat?(whatever that is) reduced Lifecycle cost?
  Perhaps you might care to publish your research?
  We are all aware that infrared heating has its uses - for instance someone sitting in a large cold room by themselves can 'direct' heat from a infrared heater toward their sitting position; rather in the manner that a desklamp will provide sufficient illumination for the person at the desk but not light the room.
  Why are 'cheap' convection and fan heaters or oil filled radiators not worth buying?
  The vast majority of homes in UK are heated by radiators heated by gas/oil/lpg Central Heating others have electrically heated radiators/storage heaters.
  The USA tend to have far more warm air heating - i.e. heat produced in a central source and the warm air fed by ducting to individual rooms.
  If they have all got it wrong - why aren't the Governments of UK, USA and every other country in the world telling us to get infrared heating?
  P.S.
  Are you connected with sales of infrared heaters?
  I ask as we do tend to get wary of first time posters, trotting out the content of dubious advertising websites.
• Perhaps Garry Hart is involved with a heating company - but he is certainly right in much of what he says. Although the notion of all electric heating being 100% efficient is fact - but it does not give the full picture in any way whatsoever.
  I would would not EVER go and buy a Ј20 convector heater because I know for a fact that it will not give any decent quality warmth, in fact, it will literally burn the air around it, and not put any warmth further than a couple of meters. It will also cost a fortune to use while not performing. I can say this as somebody who has installed various types of electric heating systems over many years. I no longer work, but I think I have enough experience to speak with some actual working knowledge and I have seen very different levels of consumption and performance in different electrical heating methods.
  I have posted the following before in response to others saying "it's all the same and all electric heating gives out the same amount of heat"
  here we go;
  "all electric heating is 100% efficient - therefore all the same"
  not quite true though - all electrical heaters are 100% energy efficient - at the point of energy useage - so what this means is that no electricity goes to waste whereas a gas boiler system wastes a lot of the generated heat energy through the flu and also the associated pipework etc.
  All electrical heating does not cost the same to run though. A bar heater, convector heater, or other cheap panel or bulb heater may often consume it's full output capacity all of the time that it's used, other more sophisticated electric radiators can maintain the same level of heat but only use about a third of the electricity.
  This is largely down to the accuracy of the controls, the thermostat, the programmability, and the heat-up times as well as the partial storage capability of the material used inside the heater if any.
  There is also then the physical design of the heat exchange surface - how the equipment actually transfers the heat energy - whether it's radiant, convected, combined, fan assist convected or even infrared - and furthermore the surface area of the equipment. Electrical heating is defintitely more complex than a simple case of 100% energy efficient. This is the reason that some 2kw heaters cost four or five times as much as others. As an ex heating engineer i fitted lots of systems which gave very diferent results. Hope this makes sense.
• To add to my post, I think that Davyjp's signature sums up this discussion very well
  "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."
• Moneysaver, could you expand on how some heaters 'burn the air'? Perhaps with the formula of the chemical reaction going on.
  Also, you say all electric heating is 100% efficient, yet later you say
  It (a fan heater) will also cost a fortune to use while not performing and
  All electrical heating does not cost the same to run though
  which directly contradicts your 100% efficient statemnent. So which is correct? Are all electric heaters 100% efficient, or does a fan heater cost more to produce the same amount of heat as other heaters?
  Perversly, having said all heaters are 100% efficient, you then also go on to say this
  All electrical heating does not cost the same to run though. A bar heater, convector heater, or other cheap panel or bulb heater may often consume it's full output capacity all of the time that it's used, other more sophisticated electric radiators can maintain the same level of heat but only use about a third of the electricity.
  which appears to say some electric heaters use 3 times the energy for the same heat, meaning you think all electric heaters are not 100% efficient - and indeed think the efficiency varies massively.
  Did you realise your post is self-contradictory?
• I was thinking about this statement:
  Quote:
• I have been looking into putting a new heating system into my new place, currently with two storage heaters upstairs and a woodburner in the sitting room. I have to admit I have been looking at these electric heaters for the following reason:
  We both work in the day and we use different rooms at different times of the day. We also have a plentiful supply of free wood. I have looked into having central heating put in (no gas in the area) but what puts me off is the lack of control over oil ch. Our wood burner will heat the downstairs of the house, but it is cold in the morning and when we first get in - so we need extra heat in the morning and late afternoon but not in the evening. On the otherhand, we'd like more heat in the bedroom & bathroom in the evening when we dont need it downstairs.
  I do have some simpathy with defensive comments above as it strikes me that ch is the best way of heating the whole house at the same time but by using the extra control of the radiators you can target the heat more efficiently, thereby using less energy to heating the right rooms at the right times.