Boiler died permanently. What temporary emergency heat can I get? Oil filled rads?

The whole heating system has died. It was oil fired, it's suffered multiple troubles this winter, there's no spares available. The whole thing's getting replaced later this year.

So, how to get the rooms and house warm meantime?

I think my electricity is something around 11p/unit, 5.5p overnight.

I've got one storage heater on white meter(?) economy 7.

I was thinking: Get 3 1.5kW oil-filled heaters from Argos at £25 each, put them on timers in the bedrooms so they come on all night, and also for a burst in the evening. For the living room, get a radiant or fan heater because people tend to sit and watch 30 minutes of telly, then go to their rooms.

For 3 heaters - £75

50p/hour for 4 hours in the day = £2 25p/hour for 6 hours at night = £1.48

for the next 60 days = 3.48*60 = £208. Blimey. That's not good.

For the bathroom...hmmm....

Bother. This is looking rather expensive. Any ideas??

Reply to
Jonathan
Loading thread data ...

Calor gas heaters? Compare costs here:

formatting link

Reply to
Mary Pegg

formatting link
local DIY superstore were selling them for

Reply to
Palindrome

Probably not worth having E7 then, you might do better to change to a more competitive tariff.

You can get convector heaters cheaper than that.

You shouldn't really need heating on all night - and if you stagger bedtimes you can move one heater around.

Buy one heater for the living room, and electric blankets for the beds.

Or just tell the family you're toughening them up ^W^W^W adopting a greener more ethical lifestyle.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

I this isn't a daft idea why don't you just replace the boiler now?

Reply to
AK

Could anyone clarify whether the 1.5KW figure quoted for the heater is a _maximum_ figure - ie with the output turned up to maximum?

Regds,

Reply to
Trust No One®

Could anyone clarify whether the 1.5KW figure quoted for the heater is a

sure is. Heating electric is a pricey way to go.

If you buy a cheap a/c unit you can run it the other way round so it pumps heat into the house and runs at the equivalent of 200-300% efficiency.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Reply to
Tim Downie

Not when it's near zero outside. It spends most of its time doing defrost cycles and shooting clouds of mist across the garden.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

I like wall mounted downflow fan heaters in bathrooms (even when there is central heating). You can stand under it and use it as a hairdrier, or even a whole body drier. If mounted over a mirror, it will also prevent it misting up, or quickly clear it if it has.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Oil filled radiators are slow to heat up. Fan heaters would be the cheapest to buy and usually have a built-in thermostat, but are not suitable for a bathroom for obvious reasons, and you would have to use an extension lead. If you buy separate timers make sure that they are suitable for the power demands of the heaters, at least 1 to 2 kW. Whatever you buy should be resalable after you have got the heating fixed.

Reply to
Bargains

Make sure they are on thermostats. The AVERAGE draw of an electric heater in a medium room is probably only

300W or so..

No open fires? Aga? Wood burning stove?

>
Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Yup. I have little non oil filled convectors for emergency use, and in one room that isn't normally heated it ticks away occasionaly coming on and soon heats it up

They are very cheap..a few quid only. Thermostat on the side/

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Hire shop calor heaters are not expensive

Reply to
DCA

Is it necessary to have the heating on at all overnight? I just put thicker duvets on the beds around about November. Heating the place when I'm asleep seems a wild extravagance, but then I feel the same way about tumble driers used at any time ;-)

Electric blankets? If you can't help being a big girl's blouse what's wrong with hotwater bottles??

Reply to
Martin Pentreath

If you warm the fabric of the house well overnight at less than half price, you're not going to need the heating on so much during the day.

Me too - I hate tumble dryers! Especially when there's a 1600 spin washing machine and they STILL put stuff on for an hour!

Reply to
Jonathan

Bah! I spent twenty quid on a 3000rpm dedicated spin drier off Ebay, extracts over a pint of water from the average load even after the washing machine has done its job.

Getting a bit off topic here into a grumpy/stingy old man rant, so I'll go back to hanging my tea bags out to dry.

Reply to
Martin Pentreath

Tell you what annoyed me - brand new heaters in B&Q saying "cost a maximum of Xp/hour to run (based on 7p/unit)"

Can anyone remember 7p/unit in recent history??? Surely that's not legal?

Reply to
Jonathan

PLEASE TAKE NOTE!

If you decide to go down the gas/oil room heater route PLEASE take note of the warnings on this site

formatting link
many people eah year forget about the provision of air to prevent carnon moxide formation. Air provision means draughts and hence the mistake that cost lives!!

Also in house heaters non flued, give high lelels of humidity and possibly condensation within the house; again because there is not enough ventilaton to remove the excess moisture in the air.

Reply to
rdd

I agree; bottle gas heaters are great for emergencies, but not for anything else. And I wouldn't have an oil heater in the house.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.