Are all portable electric heaters very expensive to run?

[suiledonne]

We are in a rented house and it is very cold. We have oil heating but can't afford to have it on a lot.

Instead of turning on and off radiators around the house I was thinking of getting some sort of heater I could use in whatever room we are in during the day and just put the heating on for a short time morning and evening.

Are all electric heaters very heavy on electricity though as no point in saving on oil but running up a huge electricity bill.

Does anyone use portable heaters and can recommend one?

Thanks

My house is heated by electric storage heaters, panel heaters and one convector heater.
The convector heater kicks out the most amount of heat when it's on and you can pick them up for around £20-40 from Argos. When buying look at the kWh as ths will give you an idea of the electric it uses (the hgher the kwh the higher the cost).
If your going to buy a heater I would recommend you buy one that has a thermost on it so that it clicks off when at desired temp and saving on the electric. You can also get ones with a timer too so that you can set it to come on at certain times (or just buy a timer plug).

Look at halogen heaters. They give off a lot of heat but are supposed to be very economical to run.

I agree with Nicola these are also a good option. They are however VERY bright and can dazzle your eyes a little but on the plus you'd save on your lighting as you would not need the light on in the room your using it in!
The average convector heater is a 2kwh where as you can et halogen for 1.6kwh. Halogen are a tiny bit more expensive but you can still pick one up for under £40.
My suggestion is buy a halogen from Argos try it out and if your unhappy with it after a day and a night return and exchange for a convector.

Choose Halogen Heaters...
It is very economic and energy saving...

And portable enough to use in any place...

We have gas central heating but we've had some problems with it over the winter and mostly have been relying on electric oil filled radiators, which I thought would send the electric bill sky high.

We've had the coldest winter ever and I refuse to suffer to save a few quid - so they've been on pretty much constantly. I was slightly dreading this quarter's bill but pleasantly surprised to find that it's less than the estimated use so we're due a refund of £200.

The oil fired ones are well worth looking at as IME they heat the rooms up quicker so you don't use as much electricity. Argos have some really good ones.

I have a halogen one, bought at robert dyas. Gives off good heat but have not had bill yet! I think on the leaflet it said that it cost 3p per hour to run with one bar on and 5p per hour with two bars on. It heats my kitchen easily and I tend to stay put in there for most of the day if it's cold. Saves heating rest of house

I think I read a Which report somewhere that the oil-filled radiators are very economical to run. I'll see if I can find it....

Handy calculator for kWh here