Which is better on the electricity...and which heats better? I need a wee electric heater as a top up to save on the oil during the day now it is getting colder. I was wondering which is better value for heat out vs electricity usage?  I have an oil filled one but it seems to eat the elec. Would a halogen one be better?

Cheers
Julie

It's like anything electrical really, it depends on the kilowatt (kWh) rating.  The higher the value, the more it'll cost to run, as it uses more electricity.  So, if you've got a 1.5kW heater, and your electricity unit rate is say 16p per kWh, the heater will use 1.5 kilowatts for each hour it's on - that's 24p for that hour. 

Re which is better, it really depends on what you want to heat.  Halogens produce a direct heat, pretty much heating only what it's near, and they heat up quickly.  The plus side to halogens, is that if you're sat near them, you feel the benefits quickly, and you'd probably be more inclined to turn it off if you get too hot.  Chances are, by doing this, you'd be using less electricity.  Oil filled radiators are slower to heat up (so they take longer to cool down, so you get a bit more residual heat for a longer period of time), but do better at heating the air, therefore the room - you don't really get this with halogens.  If you want a heater to heat the room or large area, i'd say go with oil filled :)

Oil filled for good low level background heating, but if you need a quick blast when coming in from the cold especially if you are wet, you can't beat a little fan heater, which you can also raise up onto a counter and/or angle to blow warm air at you.

Mother's kitchen is unheated and it's like the arctic, after last year when she refused a fan heater from Freecycle point blank, and THEN we got months of snow which was unheard of in this area, I'm not freezing my posterior off out there again, I do all the cooking and at times I could barely feel my fingers enough to make a cup of tea.... Never again!

I bought Halogen ones for my mum and dad last winter when our gas ran out in the worst of the snow! They were cheap, Ok but not brilliant heat wise and safe to leave on overnight which was what worried me but I prefer a quick blast from a fan heater I have to say. Had the oil ones a long time ago and wasn't particularly impressed but the newer ones might be better.

> Oil filled for good low level background heating, but if you need a quick blast when coming in from the cold especially if you are wet, you can't beat a little fan heater, which you can also raise up onto a counter and/or angle to blow warm air at you.
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A lot of the modern oil filled heaters have a fan heater as a booster, that can be turned on and off independently.

Halogen heaters are EXTREMELY expensive to run, and do not throw out much heat. You have to have them right next to you. They also break quickly. At one point when we foolishly thought we could save on oil we used halogen heaters -we had four in total and the electricity cost for 24 hours was over over £10 just for them! In the end what saved us MASSES of money was a new boiler, as the oil lasts much longer than before with the old one. (The old one was nearly 40 years old.) We bought 500 l of oil in March, used the heating in March and probably a bit in April, then since September on and off, in October pretty much all the time, and of course it also heats the hot water for 14 hours a day. We have STILL not run out -with the old one we'd have run out about July when the main use was for water, with heating on 500 l lasted 4 weeks max.

Oil filled radiators also cost more to run in electricity costs than using the oil central heating.

Unfortunately we rent so boiler replacement is probably not on the cards. We have single glazed leaky windows so the house even with the radiators on is quite chilly. Over the winter I block the bedroom windows with thick blankets and use oil filled radiators just to top up if needs be. We have a gas heater in the sitting room as it is quite large and slight opening of the windows for ventilation. The gas for the bedroom isn't going to work since the windows are covered over.
I am thinking of the best alternate heating for the cheapest drain on the electric.  The bedroom is large so plan to also use it for my sewing space. I've seen  small fan heaters but not too sure about larger ones. I think we had one once and it didn't seem to last very long.
Any more ideas I would appreciate....since I REALLY hate being cold. I always ask before I agree to a property if it is easy to heat or even if it is a warm house and the last two places said OH yes..but they forgot to tell us it all goes out the windows and therefore costs a bomb. Can't afford to move again...and if the winter is going to be very bad  we will need the most economical top up heating.

Thanks for the help so far.
Julie

Depending on the area you want to heat I used to have a calor gas heater in my flat it was cheap to run and
produced alot of heat very quickly. The other advantage is no suprise bills you buy the calor and use it  simples !   oops just noticed about the bedroom not such a good idea

Don't forget to wrap up warm yourself, lots of layers, thermal long sleeved t-shirt & long johns for a start and top off with fleece(s) & fingerless gloves keep you warm & toasty.

Good old Freecycle - have a fan heater coming tomorrow for the polar kitchen :)

If its for your bedroom I really wouldnt go for a halogen heater, its too much of a fire risk imo.  If you can be there/awake to make sure nothing falls on it, it falls over, the duvet falls off the bed knocking the heater over etc..

Id go for an oil filled radiator with a thermostat so you can regulate it, perhaps put it on a timer so you can have it going an hour before you go to bed then turn off about two hours after you go to bed (so you will be asleep).  Then you could always have it coming on an hour before you wake up perhaps?

>We have single glazed leaky windows so the house even with the radiators on is quite chilly.

Have you not tried to install secondary glazing? These are not permanently attached like double glazing but are 'attached' using clips of some sort. I can't remember exactly how it was done, but do remember my father putting this up on my brothers bedroom window when we were kids.