Modern central heating systems are usually efficient and cost effective, but there are times when you may need to boost heating in a room, or heat a room which is not often used. This can best be achieved with a small secondary heater, but beware, this can be expensive!

Make sure you pick the correct sized heater for the room you intend to heat.​

If you heat a room of 14m² with a heater of 1200W it will cost around

67p for 4 hours

If you heated the same room with a heater of 1600W it will cost about

89p for 4 hours​

Over 3 winter months that could cost​

you an extra £20​ (= 67kg of CO₂)

If you are the only person in a room that needs heat, use a low wattage radiant heater of 750W rather than a 1200W convection heater. That could save you 25p in a 4 hour day (or around £23 = 77kg of CO₂ if that heater was on for the 3 winter months).

Carefully control the time you have the heater on and use a timer if it has one. If not, buy a timer switch for the plug. A 1200W heater left on even when you are out still costs about 17p per hour – what a waste! If you did this for 1 hour per day over the 3 winter months, that adds up to £15 = 51kg of CO₂.