Daewoo Free Standing Bedroom/Kitchen 2000W Convector Heater with 3 Heat Settings, Safety Cut-Out Function with Thermostat Dial - White

Product Information

If you were to try replacing the use of your central heating by putting an electric heater in each room, it will definitely end up costing much more. We buy all the electric heaters we test. We put the bestselling heaters from popular UK retailers through these tests: Heating speed, evenness, and accuracy

Convector heaters are usually taller than fan heaters, but thin and light – making them larger, but still relatively easy to move between rooms. Although the comparison might make your electric heater look cheaper to run, bear in mind that it will only be heating a much smaller area, whereas your central heating will be aiming to heat your whole home. However, many of the other (more high-watt) heaters come with built-in thermostat controls and sometimes timers, which will allow you to regulate their power output and how long you have them on for. This will help to reduce running costs. Really, it all depends what kind of heater you’re looking for and more importantly how you use it. Pinning down an exact comparison of how much central heating and electric heaters cost to run is nigh-on impossible, as the factors below are just some of the variables that play a part: The average wattage on an oil-filled radiator can vary quite a lot, which therefore means how costly they are can vary. However, many oil-filled radiators will come equipped with a built-in thermostatic control, which therefore allows you to control the power and heat output of the radiator. For this reason, they can be considered one of the most energy efficient types of heaters.

These can still be bought, but they aren't as popular or widely available as fan or convector heaters. We assess how easily each electric heater can be set up and how easily understandable the controls and settings are. We used any handles to lift the heater and move it around. While some heaters can be used straight out of the box, others have complicated program and timer settings.

Central heating is much more effective at maintaining a stable temperature over a longer period, whereas the heat from an electric heater will soon dissipate if the rest of your home is cold. Read our full story on illegal and dangerous plug-in mini heaters for sale on online marketplaces to see those we identified as having serious safety risks. Electric heaters (or space heaters) are a great way to heat individual rooms in your home. This means you don’t always have to fire up the central heating if you’re feeling chilly, which often ends up wasting energy by heating up rooms that you’re not using!

They tend to be cheap to run, but some can be really slow to heat up. Most oil-filled heaters are also fairly heavy and cumbersome, so look out for models that come with wheels. However, there are a number of different types of electric heaters on the market, which makes it difficult to know which type of electric heater is best suited to your requirements and which are more energy efficient than others.