Wibo electric heaters - good or crap?

You haven't missed anything. They are no better than the electric panel heaters in toolstation for about £50 or any cheaper to run than a £10 fan heater.

If you want cheap to run (and you don't own your own wood) then its mains gas, ground sourced heat pumps, air sourced heat pumps, off peak electricity, oil, mains electricity, lpg. in roughly that order (it depends on time of year and how much bulk fuel you can store).

They can not pretend to be cheaper than mains gas, report them to trading standards as they are lying.

discussed at length here

I don't think you're missing something.

Owain

They are shysters trying to rob an old lady.

It would be so much fun to let them go ahead, and secretly record it, if your relative was willing/able to play along. Almost certainly something worth of YouTube and/or local trading standards would result.

The latter... (IIRC their claims were taken apart piece by piece in this group some years back.

Also:

Also #9 "In comparison to other energy sources, electricity costs are declining." ?????

Anyone else remember

"the rate of increase of prices is decreasing"

from the early 70's

In Germany.

Well read what it says "In comparison to other energy sources" ie electricty simply hasn't gone up as much as other energy sources.

Lecky: Oct 2006 7.191p/unit, Mar 2011 11.176p/unit from the same supplier. I then jumped ship to 8.3p/unit/

Oil: Jun 2006 33.62p/l, (Jan 2007 28.12p/l), Mar 2011 56.52p/l

The same increase in lecky as oil should mean lecky being

They are a bunch of fraudsters. Look at their 10 !advantages".

"1. You have selected a sturdy and maintenance free heating system without follow-up expenses for service and maintenance. There will be no additional charges for the burner, unit, pumps or pipes. Your electrical heating devices do not have any moving parts and will keep you comfortable for decades to come."

Electric heaters also fail. Joints carrying high currents are amongst the most common failures and a significant source of household fires compared with other heating systems.

" 2. Thanks to thermostat-controlled consumption, you will fare as well as or better with our electrical system than you would with other energy sources."

OK - so it is no better than any other heating system designed in the last 30 years.

" In the long-term you will find that electrical heat is significantly less expensive than oil, gas or coal, "

Nonsense.

"especially if you take the procurement costs for purchasing, maintenance and replacement of parts into account."

This is rubbish if you already have a perfectly adequate gas system

"3. You will not have to pay a base rate. All you pay for is the actual consumption in kW/h. With your electricity bill for light, household appliances and other electrical devices you have already paid the base rate."

If you already have a gas cooker the same idiotic "logic" applies.

"4. You will save a lot of room. No need for an oil tank, heating unit or pipes. Your power comes straight from the electrical wall socket."

Pipes are well known for taking up vast amounts of room.

"5. You have the most reliable energy source at your disposal. In terms of supply interruptions, electrical power averages availability rates of 99.98 %."

I suspect many more people have had electricity outages than gas outages.

"6. Your heating system is easy to operate. Your electrical heaters are self-controlled through modern thermostats and will deliver the personal comfort level you select"

OK - so just the same as any 20 year old or less gas system.

"7. You have clean technology in your house ? no embers, smoke, dust or bad odours. Your units are simply set up in convenient locations and connected to the nearest wall socket."

OK - so just the same as any 20 year old or less gas system.

"8. By choosing electrical heaters you are helping the environment."

By buying a system run off burning coal?

"9. In comparison to other energy sources, electricity costs are declining (as a result of the April 1998 liberalization of the German electricity market, prices have gone down depending on the amount consumed). "

Unfortunately that has meant prices in the UK have gone up as the French and German power companies try to milk us.

"10. (Etc., etc., etc.)"

Now that is the bit they are honest about -put your fingers in your ears and shout "lalala" while the white socked cretin of a salesdroid tries to fleece you for his commission.

This is the Ratner of heating systems.

What seems to be missing from their web page is the cost of equipment and fitting, thermostats etc. It's impossible to believe it's cheap and could cost =A31,000's. A floor standing convector from Argos would do a similar job at low capital cost ~=A350. Assuming she has convenient 13A sockets that is.

rusty

Thanks for all the replies, chaps. It's heartening to know they haven't changed the laws of physics without telling me.

Yes, by spome cretinous sleazeball who's USP was that his plain ohmic heaters were fitted to new build "Luxury", "Executive" apartments, AKA Flats. (Over half of which are still unfinished/unsold to this day).

Derek G.

This Looks like Finito Ruperto.

And that's one of the reasons they put forward as to why people in the UK should buy their heaters.

Yes, and not just slightly. I know of one case where the old dear paid £800 for a 2 kW portable convector heater.

That would my vote. They're trying to pretend that a simple 'lectric heater is some kind of special miracle product.

As Private Eye would say "Er, that's it"

1kWhr E7 Night is 4.9p inc VAT. Plus lower capital + 25yr heater replacement cost.

Portable convector is =A320-30 (depending on size). Wall mounted designer dimplex convector is =A3100-180. Wall mounted designer electric aluminium convector is =A3125-180 B&Q. Hyped up designer whatever radiator is =A3125-499 Calortec Rointe.

The Calortec Rointe Whatever are ideal when a) you want aluminium radiator aesthetics + b) have a lot of money to spend for a designer apartment + c) have 2010 levels of insulation where very little annual kWhr is required and the capital cost of such "designer things" is still less than a GCH system. Alternatively for Spain & Southern France which only require minimal heating and the controllability via remote controls and such like is attractive - where an unattended wet system for holiday houses is less desirable in fact.

A relative has no heating in their bedroom, because they do not want it. However for 2009 & 2010 winters I fitted a wall mounted panel heater styled like a radiator for =A397 - but it was ugly "side-on", so changed it for a =A3114 electric aluminium unit which was actually more narrow and much more attractive "side on". A small price premium. It cost =A332 in total to run for both winters (far less than the huge increase in cost over a portable convector however I discounted that solution).

Electric heating is a) E7 storage heaters or b) E7 thermal store or c) a lot of insulation and people out during the day. Remember Germany has very high insulation levels so they can "make work" electric systems which would be cost hideous in an uninsulated 1920-1970 house in the UK.

It is like selling electric beds at 2.5k and banging a pen on the clipboard.