October 18th, 2022 by Sarah Miles

If you are looking for a way to reduce your heating bills (and who isn’t these days?), we ask you the following questions:

• Have you considered using electric heaters instead of gas central heating?
• Did you know that you can buy smart-enabled electric heaters?

Electric heaters as an alternative to gas central heating

If you think that electric heaters are power-guzzling appliances that you only use in an emergency when the boiler breaks down, that’s really not the case anymore. Modern electric heaters are really energy efficient these days, especially those that are Lot 20 compliant as these have met rigorous standards on consumption. Electricity is both a greener and cheaper energy source than gas at the moment.

Why they are so efficient

They’re efficient because they heat up quickly and they also store heat effectively, which they use to heat the room without continuing to draw power. They also have really accurate thermostats (not all radiators have their own thermostat, many rely on the central thermostat which is often in another room or even on another floor where the ambient temperature could be very different).

Additional benefits

They also have other advantages, including the flexibility to locate them anywhere with an electric socket so you can place them close to you, put them in any room, move them from room to room, and give them space (many radiators tend to get blocked by furniture. This also makes it easy to put them in ‘new’ rooms such as conservatories, extensions, and lofts as it’s much simpler than adding a radiator onto the central heating system.

You also have the option to only turn them on in rooms that you’re using, unlike central heating where it tends to be the whole house or nothing. Plus, many have open window detection that forces them to shut off when they detect that a window is open, to ensure that heat (and, therefore, energy) is not wasted.

How do smart heaters work?

You may be familiar with smart heating in terms of your central heating. It’s a WiFi-enabled system that allows you to manage and control your heating via an app on your phone (Nest or Hive are popular systems). The beauty of this is how easy it is to tailor your heating to your schedule and needs. From anywhere, you can turn the heating on or off and adjust the temperature. If using thermostatic radiator valves, you can control the radiators in each room individually. It can be a great tool for using your heating more intelligently.

But did you know that you can buy electric heaters that are smartly enabled too? Smart electric heaters have all the same smart technology capabilities that smart central heating has: delay the heating if you’re going to be late home, switch it on if you’re going to be early, check that you’ve not left it on while out etc. Plus, all the advantages of an electric heater, as described above.

You can see, then, that electric heaters have been transformed from the ‘second best’ emergency option to the attractive alternative heating choice that could simultaneously work better for you and save you money.

MYLEK App Controlled Electric Panel Heater 1KW - Lot 20 Compliant

Price: £109.99

Buy Now