Electric radiator - insanely expensive?

[Coldweatherwarrior]

So I’ve finally renovated a lovely room in my flat to be main sitting room (it’s been an au pair’s room for a decade) and it means that instead of having a cramped dining table in kitchen, really close to cooker etc I can move sofa, tv etc into sitting room and have a proper dining table on same floor as kitchen with enough space . Only I ordered a posh radiator colour matched to paintwork and got rid of old radiator (I know, possibly mad, own fault etc) - and it’s stuck in Europe until late November. I really really want to move everything round for Christmas but it’s going to mean heating sitting room with an oil filled electric radiator and a flame effect gas fire. Will this a. produce the biggest energy bill ever and b. leave us freezing cold? Am I mad not to want to wait until after Christmas?

You can google Costa by brand or rough type. I’ve in the past used oil filled radiators (de longhi) in A couple of rooms with central heating not possible (granite). Got good and quite accurate estimates of cost online. Not cheap but cheaper than eg fan heater.

Just looked at my 1.5 kw de longhi. From Feb 2021 a review of a lot of brands puts it at 21-28 pence per hours (assuming that it is on constant due to room size and thermostat settting on it mean it’s constantly on). Obvs electricity costs have gone up since February a bit.

Oil filled radiator is not as bad as an electric fan heater. If you keep the door and curtains shut once the room has heated up you shouldn't have to run it that long. Blankets and hot water bottles are your friend.

If the piping is still there why not buy a white radiator from b&q approx £60 get it fitted and swap it over when the new one comes?

Use the fire if you need to, provided it's in good working order. Don't use electricity if you can help it. Electricity costs about four times as much as gas for the same heat.

But if other rooms in the flat have heating, just leave the inside doors open and the living room will probably be warm enough.

Thank you - all really helpful. The fire is new and safe - chimney newly lined etc. I think I assumed it would be more expensive than electric radiator but obviously not. Good idea about the cheap b&q radiator. Again, hadn’t occurred to me.