What is the most economic yet effective indoor hetaer?

[pitstopbunny]

My house (small 2 bedroom) doesn't have any heating but I am having guests round for Xmas dinner so rather than them sitting here freezing I need to get a heater. Which type heater is the cheapest to run (& buy) yet effective in warming up the room etc?

[jomifl]

If only there was one. The cheapest and safest to buy is an electric heater . Radiant heaters (with a glowing bar) heat up anything in front of them quickly, but only the side facing the heater until the room has warmed up and they can be difficult to site. Fan heaters work quite well but the fans can be noisy and eventually seize up. Convector heaters are simplest and heat gently without hotspots. They are cheap to run if they are only used occasionally. Cost to run for the biggest (2KW) would be no more than 15 pence per hour. Get one with a thermostat temperature control, a timer is also a useful feature.You don't get the condensation that comes with portable gas or paraffin heaters.

[gingejbee]

A friend of mine got a cheap (about £20) convector heater from Argos last year and is very pleased with it.

[AlBags]

Best value heat is a radiant gas heater .. Like the old super-ser!

[jomifl]

Hi albags..you are right in that if you have a main gas supply and a flue and are going to use it for background heating then it would be cheapest in the long run. For occasional use with cheapest installation cost the electric convector wins by a mile.

[AlBags]

Although Ser's are portable, so no flue. They use ceramic radiants.

Radiant is best tho, whether gas or electric. It is direct reflected heat. It does not have to heat much else like convectors, which have to heat an air stream.

[lucca]

Electric heaters, particularly, fan heaters are ultra expensive to run. I'd recommend an oil-filled heater - cheaper, safe, moveable, and heat up quickly.

[boxtops]

Yes me too, I have two oil filled heaters which I can move from room to room.