Skip to main content
Ecofrenzy logo

Electric portable heaters

electric portable heating costs

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.