Energy bills

The advantage of a halogen heater is that it heats the object the “rays” fall on not the air in between. They are used a lot in churches that are only occupied for a few hours a week, years ago we had one in the bathroom before central heating.

So if you sit in front of a modern halogen heater it will keep you warm but won’t heat the room.

I had a halogen heater 2 years ago and it was not my idea of cosy. Too directional and too bright..
It is fine in a church as it’s fast.

Electric heaters are very expensive to run. Storage heaters used correctly work very well, but the input has to be on maximum and then control the output, modern storage heaters are very good. Many people do not put enough heat in to last all day and then feel that they are not good enough but used correctly they are more than enough. Might be worth looking into, also having economy 7 so that most of the input is in the cheaper time. It makes a big difference.

It doesn't matter. The prices given are for the output of the standard appliance you buy in the shops. This differs from appliance to appliance.

If someone has a fan heater, it is likely to be a 2kw output, if its an oil-filled radiator, 1.5 kw and so on.

It is giving the cost of running the standard appliance you will buy in Currys (for exampe) so that you can balance the appliance you choose against the cost of running it.

hamster58.

Rather looking at the monthly direct debit amount, have you looked at the monthly/quarterly bills to see how many kw/hrs of electricity are actually being used, and how this differs throughout the year?

You would expect to see that your mum is using far, far less electricity in the summer months, when those electric radiators should rarely be on.
If that's not the case, there is something strange going on that needs looking into.

In fact, if you want to confirm that the radiators are the problem, might it be possible for you to take actual meter readings both morning and evening on a day when the radiators are in use, then do the same the next day (perhaps taking her out for the whole day so she needn't be too cold?) so you can get a rough idea of how much they use each day?

I realise that this might not be practical unless you live close to your mum, and would also have been most 'telling' if done in the cold winter months when the radiators are using most energy, but even done now, it might shed more light on the problem.

You are right of course M0nica - I was still thinking of the actual heat output though.

I think really this post is becoming circular in that now people are talking about economy7 and storage heaters again.

The OP says she's changed her tariff so I think that's about it to be honest.
I think you and I agree M0nica that it's largely the temperature that the OP's mother likes (and the length of time the heating is on) that's the issue here. At least the OP can see where the big bills come from now.

I’m not sure than any company is offering “economy 7” these days, I’m getting quotes to renew now and most offer a “night” rate but it’s only a few pence lower than full rate and that only for 4 hours.

Storage heaters are better than they used to be but heat in the evenings is asking a lot when they stop heating at 5am.

I have found some Economy 7 contracts around 20p day units and 15p night units compared with 16p all day price from my best price so far.
So you do pay dearly for day units.