Electric Heaters

[TessaD21]

Hi all, my central heating is useless. I'm disabled and in a second floor flat with a 2 year old. I'm looking at buying some heaters, but so much information and types of heaters.

Can anybody please recommend an electric heater that is economic to run and quiet enough I can put in littleuns room at bedtime. Thank you so much xx

On efficiency and running costs - the short answer is that all electric heaters produce the same amount of heat for a given amount of electricity. (In other words they are 100% efficient - all the power gets converted to heat.)

So I'd base it on purchase price, what the thing looks like, controls and safety. But probably a basic Argos convector would be good, maybe with a built in timer. 2kW would be plenty, eg

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6609058

When you say "useless" what do you mean? If you have central heating it is worth making the effort to get it working properly and efficiently for you. Electric heaters are only really good for a boost to background heating or in an emergency (ie when boiler broken down). What sort of heating do you have?

A good quality (delonghi) oil filled radiator will give quiet heat and heat a room quickly. They are much better than cheap oil filled radiators.
If you want to keep costs down increasing the insulation is a good idea and can be as simple as thicker curtains and draught excluders. Also get the best electricity tariff you can I think some of the octopus ones are best

Oil filled portable radiators can make an excellent backup as unlike fan or panel heaters, they remain hot even when not consuming electricity.
You set the thermostat and after it has reached the desired temperature, all the heating element has to do is maintain the temperature by switching on/off intermittently while the exterior is radiating constant heat.
They are also lower wattage than a direct heater.

Of course nothing is a good as a properly designed & working central heating system but as a back up, they definitely have there place