Is Electric Heating Worth It?

Are you someone who would consider themselves to be a conscious shopper? While it’s common for many people to put a good bit of thought into sourcing food locally, weighing up which clothing brands they choose, and opting for the quality of products over quantity, it can be hard to put such ideas in action when looking at how we take care of our homes

One particular area which you may have thought about in this regard would be home heating.

For many people, it’s still the one area that is highly reliant on the use of traditional fuel (gas/oil) to heat homes and keep us warm.

But, just like how electric and hybrid cars are now commonplace for many people, the same goes for home heating. It’s all down to electric heating options.

It’s now possible to heat your home/office solely with electric radiators.

I’m not talking about electric plug-in heaters you can move around the room that love to use as much electricity as possible, but new designs of traditional radiators that use electricity to heat a room, as opposed to hot water generated from your boiler.

Replacing all your radiators for electric counterparts can be daunting, especially if you’re unsure whether it is worth investing your money, so let’s see if it is a viable and conscious choice to move to electric heating at home.

Consider Your Reliance on Heating

Do you have the heating on, give or take, most of the year? And do you have the heating on across your house at the same time?

If so, a traditional heating system may be preferable for the time being as long as everything is in good working order.

On the flip side, if you have radiators you only use seasonally, and you rarely need to top up fuel, think about whether it would be better to get a simple electric radiator in one or two rooms, as opposed to having a system which needs to heat the whole house to work properly.

Consider the Cost of Heating

This is the real crux of the issue for people. Saying you’ll switch to electric heating is all too easy, but weighing up the costs is very important.

Oil and gas, for the price it is, can still be cheaper than switching to a fully electric heating system.

It helps if you can calculate how much you pay for heating a month, and then compare that with what it would cost to run radiators for the same amount of time.

You can do this by finding out the kWh your provider charges and multiplying that by how much time radiators need to be on for.

It is common to find that regular heating can be cheaper if you’re something of a heavy user.

Consider Efficiency

Water in a traditional home heating system has to travel through all the pipes to heat radiators.

As it moves around, you’re always going to lose heat, and your boiler will compensate by continually heating more water.

Electric radiators don’t do this. They’re independent because they use a special fluid which heats and expands when the radiator is turned on. It creates the effect of no heat being lost anywhere else and means the radiators take longer (compared to standard radiators) to cool down.

That’s why I think electric is ideal when you have one or two rooms at home, which would benefit from their own heating system.

Consider Location and Limitations

Practicality is very important too.

When you buy a traditional radiator for a new space, you also have to factor in the possibility of pipework, flooring, and plumbing. Conversely, all an electric radiator needs is somewhere to plug or wire into.

Consider Designs and Styles

Don’t think of electric radiators as bulky old things, like those portable heaters are. You can get pretty much any radiator design in an electric option.

Just look at some of the designs available here from Trade Radiators, which cover everything from designer radiators to towel rails and even cast-iron electric radiators.

There’s now enough versatility in design to help you find an electric option which will fit right in.

Find DIY Inspiration around the Home

I hope you found this article on electric heating helpful. For more advice on transforming your home, read new articles from the DIY section and get inspired.