Heating Costs?

V

VladKinder

Well-known member
I work from home and I'm trying to work out ways of keeping the energy prices down.

Obviously I try to keep the central heating off as long as possible.
No point in heating the house when it's just me working on my laptop in the living room.

So it's either the gas fire or a couple of electric heaters I have.

I have no idea how much the gas fire costs to run.
It was here when we bought the house, doesn't have a brand on it.
Has 4 setting on that goes from very low to very high.
Anyone have an estimate on what it costs on the two lowest settings per hour?

I have two electric heaters.

A Dimplex 250w Personal Heater. Useless if I'm more than 2 feet away from it but when I'm on the sofa working or watching the football
I have it less than a foot away from me and it knocks out a decent amount of heat.
At current rates it works out 8.5p an hour.

I also have a fan heater with two settings: 1000w or 2000w.
This heats the full room on max setting, but thats something like 68p an hour.
I figure the gas fire on fairly low must cost less than that?

Kinda sad I have to look at all these options but we all known the situation with energy prices.
I've even ordered an electric throw which should be coming soon and should cost no more than 3p an hour.
 
Think I can help a bit here. It's previously always been a lot cheaper to heat with gas than electric , like 4 or 5 times cheaper , but let's see what holds today.
My gas fire like you has a couple of settings, it's 3 radiants, but can run the middle 1 on it's own which is pretty much what I do
It burns 0.170 m cubed gas an hour , times by 11.47 ish to turn to Kw which equals 2Kw which makes sense as they wouldn't design a bizarre number into the system.

So costs, 2kw x 10.2p capped costs = 20.4p per hour

compare electric = 2kw x 34p = 68p per hour

so heating by gas is 30 percent of the costs for the same heat through electric, or 3.33 times more expensive to heat with electric

Real world costs though
gas 2kw x 15.2p uncapped , 30.4 p
elec 2kw x 52p uncapped , 104 p

= 3.44 times more expensive on leccy than gas
 
Shut the door of the room you are in, and keep curtains closed, if you're dressed remotely warm you should be fine. I work from home and between hear produced by me and my laptop the room stays warm all day. Fan heaters will get expensive fast, you'd be better off heating you and not the room - heated throws and blankets are safe now and cost about a quid a week to run for 7 hours a day
 
Boro_Interlinked said:
Think I can help a bit here. It's previously always been a lot cheaper to heat with gas than electric , like 4 or 5 times cheaper , but let's see what holds today.
My gas fire like you has a couple of settings, it's 3 radiants, but can run the middle 1 on it's own which is pretty much what I do
It burns 0.170 m cubed gas an hour , times by 11.47 ish to turn to Kw which equals 2Kw which makes sense as they wouldn't design a bizarre number into the system.

So costs, 2kw x 10.2p capped costs = 20.4p per hour

compare electric = 2kw x 34p = 68p per hour

so heating by gas is 30 percent of the costs for the same heat through electric, or 3.33 times more expensive to heat with electric

Real world costs though
gas 2kw x 15.2p uncapped , 30.4 p
elec 2kw x 52p uncapped , 104 p

= 3.44 times more expensive on leccy than gas
Click to expand...
Some of that saving is lost through inefficiency, as the gas heater will vent warm air outside via the chimney/flue, so the difference to heat the room won't be that big, but gas will still win.

Heating the person will always be a cheaper option though, if suitable.
 
I am working from home and it feels bloody cold today so i ve put the gas fire on, i tend to turn the central heating on for a hour or so on the morning but it still feels cold today
 
2 week forecast shows similar weather lingering.
Going to use log stove starting at the week end.
 
I use the CH, but during the day i turn off every rad in the house, other than the trv in my home office. Works out cheaper than a leccy heater.
 
Priv said:
Have you tried turning the thermostat down a degree or 2
Click to expand...
No but I will be. Just back from Tenerife lads night and house was freezing. Wish I had stayed there. Probably work out cheaper than being at home with heating on with me being retired.
 
Current config on the CH is this
Upstairs all off
Hall way downstairs off
Dining room 1 large double panel
Sitting room 1 normal double panel, 1 bay half height but long
That's it 2 rooms downstairs heating, kitchen has no radiator or heating source ( that's another story)

WBosch combi put in 16 years ago, CH flow turned to 2 on the dial ( its not digital) handbook says that about 53 degrees
Put it on , watch the clock. Thermostat in hall but that's as it cant send the signal from the rooms, anyway I just use it as an on off switch as the rooms are not going to get anywhere near 18/21 like the rest of this forum enjoy, and the boiler will just do it's own on off firing processing anyway

First 30 mins is 40p ( don't have a smart meter , happy just working it all out )
Every hour after that is 30p ( these are capped prices)

So what do I get for that? Rooms go from 11.5 to 15 after about 2hrs and then longer hours of use can go to 16 degrees, doesn't go above that , due to the flow setting. All doors kept shut as much as I can with 2.5 cats wanting to see whats going on everywhere. the .5 is the neighbour cat that comes in for the daylight hours as its boring round his coz all his people go out to work

Going to run with that for December until xmas eve. 5 hours on 8am to 1pm, switch off , on again at 5pm til 10. 10 hours heating/warming at a cost of , roughly £3.50 a day , although these temps not for everybody, it suits my pocket and I'm also layered up , plus a hat
 
BiggEggo said:
I use the CH, but during the day i turn off every rad in the house, other than the trv in my home office. Works out cheaper than a leccy heater.
Click to expand...
Heated blanket even cheaper still if it's just you and no need to mess around with TRV's, unless digital.
asredastheycome said:
Should we have to do that in the 21st century. It's mental and an absolute disgrace.
Click to expand...
Definitely not but we are where we are.
 
I'm WFH and my heated throw is making a huge difference. Only maxes out at 160w, and that's still too hot so I have it on about half power.

I was in a Teams call before and one of the people had cycling mitts on to keep his hands warm but still let him type. I just don't know how people on low incomes are going to see out the winter.
 
I bought a plug in elec meter to measure how much household appliances cost to run.

The cheapest way to keep warm is an electric blanket, it beats everything else imo. You can get those throw over ones for about £50, they'll save you in the long run as you don't need to heat the whole house via the central heating etc(for example). You only need it on for about 10 mins at a time too, and they stay warm for quite a while.

The rate we pay is about 48p/KWh, so depending on what your tariff is, the table should give you a rough idea...

Kettle1 boil0.037 KWh< 2p each boil
Toaster 2.5 minutes0.050 KWh< 3p for 2.5 mins
Microwave 10 mins on full power0.200 KWh10p for 10 mins
TV 30" 1 hour0.210 KWh10p per hour
TV (on standby) 1 hour0.012 KWh1p per hour
Electric Blanket1 hour0.105 KWh5p per hour
Plug-In Wall Heater1 hour0.426 KWh19p per hour
Small Oil Heater1 hour0.180 KWh9p per hour
Air Fryer20 minutes on full power0.314 KWh15p for 20 mins
Freezer 1 day0.340 KWh16p per day
PC (Browsing Only)1 hour0.117 KWh6p per hour
PC (Gaming + Browsing) 1 hour0.200 KWh10p per hour
Recharging Phone1 hour0.001 KWh< 1p for 3 hours
Lamp1 hour0.001 KWh< 1p for 3 hours
 
VladKinder said:
I work from home and I'm trying to work out ways of keeping the energy prices down.

Obviously I try to keep the central heating off as long as possible.
No point in heating the house when it's just me working on my laptop in the living room.

So it's either the gas fire or a couple of electric heaters I have.

I have no idea how much the gas fire costs to run.
It was here when we bought the house, doesn't have a brand on it.
Has 4 setting on that goes from very low to very high.
Anyone have an estimate on what it costs on the two lowest settings per hour?

I have two electric heaters.

A Dimplex 250w Personal Heater. Useless if I'm more than 2 feet away from it but when I'm on the sofa working or watching the football
I have it less than a foot away from me and it knocks out a decent amount of heat.
At current rates it works out 8.5p an hour.

I also have a fan heater with two settings: 1000w or 2000w.
This heats the full room on max setting, but thats something like 68p an hour.
I figure the gas fire on fairly low must cost less than that?

Kinda sad I have to look at all these options but we all known the situation with energy prices.
I've even ordered an electric throw which should be coming soon and should cost no more than 3p an hour.
Click to expand...
The money your saving on fuel/travel/vehicle costs will help towards the extra heating bill
 
I work from home a bit & tend to be fine most days with doors shut & heat from ambient electronics on in the room - computer & monitors when upstairs & on weekends main room, computer, monitor & TV.

Obviously I'm wearing layers & warm stuff though not had heating on much ATM & kept low.

Like others, I try & heat a room if I can - two portable electric oil heaters that seem to warm the place better than my central heating :-D

Bought some long, thick, hiking socks, which work a treat, toes don't get cold, even if I'm sat - far too long - in one place working. As I'm also a baldy a little woollen hat works a treat.

I've always been frugal with my heating (tight git / Yorkshire born) so this is just a continuation for me, though obviously the cost has shot up - massively. Before it all kicked off my DD was about £36 a month (small house) now it's more than doubled & I'm waiting for them to put it up again.

I've stopped using the oven & hob months ago - air fryer, crock pot & microwave - for all hot foods, all lighting is LED... just trying to use as little as I can so there is more available for all - rather than pure cost saving for me.
 
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