I’m about to move into a one bed apartment with my partner in a few weeks. It seems like a fairly well insulated apartment, but I quickly feel the cold.
I swear by my hot water bottle, but it isn’t enough when it gets really cold. I’m not sure how much our energy bill will be, but I want to try to keep it as low as possible.
My partner works from home most days, but he is never cold, so we only really need to heat the flat when I get home.
I’ve read that electric heaters can be a cost-effective way to heat a room and since we only really need them when I’m home, it can be a good alternative to heating.
I’m also thinking about getting an electric blanket and I’m wondering if this might be a better option for me. It saves my partner from complaining about how hot he is.
Blankets are slightly more expensive than heaters. Does this mean they use more electricity? I’m not sure what the best option is, or to vacuum it up and turn on the heat.
My partner is never cold. Should I buy an electric blanket to stay warm this winter?
Angharad Carrick from This Is Money replies: The energy market has calmed in recent weeks, with Ofgem’s price cap falling to £1,843 per year for a typical home from early October.
However, the weather is starting to change, which means you may be faced with higher bills.
Our analysis of figures from comparison website Uswitch even shows that a household with low consumption – usually a flat or a one-bedroom house – will pay more this winter.
> Why some households will have to pay more for their energy this winter
This year these properties will pay £300.02, an increase of £80.71, or £26.90 more per month, since last year.
With this in mind, it is good to think about your energy consumption in the colder months. If your apartment is well insulated, this will help keep bills low, but you can also take other precautions.
Since your partner isn’t cold and you are, you might want to consider warming yourself instead of the entire room.
Many consumers have used electric heaters to heat a room, rather than an entire apartment or house.
However, since this does not solve the problem of your partner overheating and you feeling cold, an electric blanket is a good option.
There are many blankets available for purchase, starting from as little as $40, which could be a good investment to reduce your bills and save arguments with your partner!
With a quick calculation you can calculate how much it costs to use an electric heater and blanket.
How much do electric blankets cost to use?
Each appliance has a rated power, usually expressed in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW), where 1,000 W is equal to 1 kW.
This rating indicates how much electricity an appliance uses and how much it will cost you depending on how long the appliance is on.
Electricity is sold per kWh, which appears as units on your bill.
You can calculate how much an electrical appliance costs to run by multiplying the wattage of the appliance by the number of hours you use it and then by the electricity costs.
Electricity is currently capped at an average of 27.35 pence per kWh under Ofgem’s price cap. This means that using a 2 kW fan heater will cost you 54.7 cents per hour.
If you leave this running for a few hours in the evening it could cost you £1.64 per night.
A Dreamland electric blanket, which costs between £70 and £75 to buy, uses 150W of energy, or 0.15 kWh. This means it costs 4.1p for one hour or 12.3p for three hours.
Joanna O’Loan at Energy Saving Trust say: It’s good news if your apartment seems reasonably well insulated.
Joanna O’Loan from Energy Saving Trust says it is important to have central heating on to prevent damp
Don’t forget that you can also consult the home’s energy performance certificate to see how well insulated the home is and what improvements the home could benefit from. Your real estate agent or landlord can provide this, but you can also consult it online.
Everyone reacts differently to cold temperatures, but as well as personal comfort, it’s also important to have central heating on regularly during the colder months to keep your walls warm as this helps prevent condensation, which can lead to problems such as damp and mould.
Opening the windows occasionally to let in fresh, drier air will also help prevent these problems.
If your apartment has gas central heating, it will generally be cheaper to use this instead of an electric heater, even if you only want to heat one room. This is because gas is almost four times cheaper than electricity per unit.
If you don’t want to heat your entire apartment, you can save some money by turning the radiator valves on a lower setting in the rooms you don’t use, and on a higher setting in the rooms you do use. Keep doors closed between heated and unheated areas.
You can also save money and energy by setting your room thermostat to the lowest comfortable temperature for your partner. For example, the heating only turns on when the indoor temperature drops below that point and turns off again when the rooms are comfortably warm.
If you’re concerned about feeling comfortable without your partner getting too hot, using a hot water bottle or electric blanket may be a good idea. Electric blankets are often energy efficient and some have multiple settings so you can control how much heat they produce. Using lower settings will reduce your running costs.
In general, an electric blanket usually uses less power than an electric heater. This is because it is only designed to heat one person (or a very small space, such as your bed), while a heater is designed to heat all the air in a room.
If you do need an electric heater, there are some heaters with a thermostat and a timer that you can set to prevent you from using more energy than you need.’
Angharad Carrick says: Please note that even if you do not use your central heating or keep it to a minimum, you will still have to pay a standing charge.
This is currently limited to an average of 53 cents per day for electricity and 30 cents per day for gas.
If you are concerned about the size of your energy bill, you may want to consider a fixed rate.
Currently, fixed rates won’t give you a better deal than a rate capped by the Ofgem price cap, but you can rest easy if energy prices rise again.
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