I daren't use my home's central heating during the day — instead a £150 oil-filled radiator is my lifeline for keeping warm
(Image credit: Getty)
We’re all looking for ways to save money on our energy bills, especially when it comes to heating our homes as the temperature drops. The Black Friday deals are a prime opportunity to invest in an oil-filled radiator.
As many of us work from home, trying to keep warm without having the heating on all day is a challenge. How much an oil-filled radiator costs to run is worth calculating as it will depend on the wattage, however using one can make a difference, heating just the room you are in.
I work from home all week and it’s not viable to have the central heating on all day so I’ve recently wheeled out my trusty DeLonghi oil-filled radiator to keep the room I work in warm. And it works a treat, here's why I highly recommend doing the same.
Why I use an oil-filled radiator
The model I have has a fairly slim profile and sits neatly next to me, emanating a nice constant heat. Although it’s a little heavy, it is on wheels, which means I can wheel it around easily enough to where I need it to be. My only gripe is that the cable isn’t that long so although you can position it, it’s a little restricted by where your plug socket is, unless you plug it into an extension lead.
I like the fact that it’s got a dual switch so I can choose to have it on a minimum or maximum heat when both switches are on. A simple dial can be turned up or down depending on the temperature output I need. And if you do the calculations, it costs me around 51p an hour to run my 1500W oil-filled radiator. While central heating can be cheaper to heat the entire house, just heating one room means I don't need to have the heating running for long periods of time. If I keep the doors closed it’ll heat the room up in around 20-30 minutes, depending on how cold it is, and will retain the heat for a while before clicking back on again.
The oil-filled radiator is quiet when turned on too — I can occasionally hear the oil crackling to heat up and a click when it turns itself back on, but other than that there’s no noise at all.
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My trusty oil-filled radiator in my home office (Image credit: Future / Michelle Guy)
This digital oil-filled radiator has a 2300W output and is said to be able to heat rooms up to 20m2. It has a digital display, timer, thermostat and three different heat settings 1000W/1300W/2300W.
Michelle was Homebuilding & Renovating magazine's Deputy Editor. With an editorial career spanning more than 18 years, Michelle spent time working on educational magazines and websites until her career took an exciting turn into the world of homes and interiors. Working on sister titles Real Homes and Period Living, she then joined the Homebuilding team in November 2018.
She’s just completed her second kitchen renovation project and bathroom renovation, armed with an ever-growing knowledge of homebuilding advice and design inspo (and a Pinterest board or two, of course).
