Economical heaters?

Many online websites have me baffled with their sales pitch
I have to admit plain ignorance more than technical savvy.
for instance I see 2000 Watts ceramic heaters as very efficient
Where? How? At off peak/peak
2000Watts equal 2KW/h that's nearly $0.50 hour to run Is that efficient and energy saving?
I think the sales pitch is just plain ignorant.

A heat pump (rc air con) is a type of ceramic heater isn't it? I believe heat pumps are said to be the most efficient type of heating though I don't have one in my house so can't provide you with any personal opinion.

I am not sure about Vic but in Tas there are a few different "tariffs" that you pay for in your electricity bill. For example, the hot water tariff is set at one rate (we pay about 0.14 per kwh)and the residential light and power is set at another rate (we pay about 0.20 per kwh) and the off-peak electricity is set at another rate (can't tell you what the rate is because on this bill that I'm looking at we didn't use the off-peak metre for that billing period - not very helpful for you, I know, sorry). It says on this bill that our average daily cost for electricity use (all tariffs combined) was $4.67.

If you connect your heaters up to the off-peak power points in your house (our off-peak metre kicks in at our house between 2pm and 4.30pm and then again between 9pm and 7am) then you will pay a lower rate than if you're using the normal power.

Hope this kind of helps.

Efficiency doesn't consider running cost!!!!!!!!
Efficiency relates to how an appliance converts one energy source to another.
In your example of a 2Kwatt heater. Now if the unit uses 2Kwatts per hour to run however it produces 1.9Kwatts of heat per hour that could be considered very efficient. But because of electricity being fairly expensive it will still cost you a bit to run.

Gas is fairly cheap and economical to run, and you can get gas heaters with 90% or so efficiency. This means that most of the energy derived from the gas is used to heat the house.

Thank you for your replies thus far
My home we have a step flat tariff that is we pay a given rate for the first 11.1KW/h then the tariff goes up by 0.003 per Kw/h
@B STAR could the ad be misleading from the consumer's point of view?
I have also read in Choice website that there are not much difference between the different types of heating appliances . But don't quote me on that yet
Yes! gas is cheaper but it is kind of wet heat rather than dry heat produced by electricity so if one has condensation problems it is better to use electricity rather than gas.

I must admit that i havent gone that far to investigate what type of heat they produce. However in saying that I know that the modern brivis heaters take out a lot of water out of the air.
I wonder if this is still the case with modern gas heaters. With blinds down i dont think i have a problem with condensation.

A reverse cycle air conditioner (RCAC) has an efficiency of ... wait for it ... 300%! Yes, that's right, for every 1 kW of electricity you put into a RCAC you get 3 kW of heating. So, if you want to save money when heating, use a RCAC.

For reverse cycle air conditioning, the efficiency is quoted as the Coefficient of Performance (COP), which is generally about 3, which translate to 300%. With gas or electricity heating an element, the best you can get is 100% efficiency.

Have your calculations shown RCAC cheaper to ran that gas???

All I know is that my 15k aircond which also has a 300% efficiency (5K in 15K out) costs a bloody lot to run .

Gas is cheaper than electriccity for the same amount of energy. Can't remember the ratio, but gas would have to be less than one-third the price of electricty to come on top.

Gas and refrigeration are hard to compare. Efficiency varies with the load and outside ambient, higher temps gas is not generally as efficient until refrig loses its efficiency at low temps.

Obviously this depends on what systems you are comparing to what. There are high efficency and economy variants of both. Temps averaging below 6-8 celsius gas will most likely out perform. Remember refrigeration utilises heat within the outside air and transfers it inside, the colder it gets the less 'free' heat there is. Gas just powers on.

I'm with B STAR.
Whilst I am a big fan of R/C, Gas runs more for less...efficient, yes but cheaper (based a cross section of national tarriffs) - averages, I know!

How much of the house do you need to cool (and/or) heat at any one time? = unit size (you can heat more than you can cool if need be)


= not really, they use heat exchangers non ceramic.

Ampleair is correct in his last comment but there are certain loads attributed (rated) to certain areas of Oz and units should be sized based on the "minimum" standards in my opinion (R/C) . All R/C air conditioners are rated at 35 degrees ambient in Australia - check the DB/WB indoor conditions...unsatisfactory as far as I am concerned 27/19 - pfft!

EVERY system should be customised in my opinion based on A: Budget B: Design Conditions C: Expectations based on budget and D: Plain common sense.

The ever evolving argument on comfort - each to their own and what they can afford!
I have a blanket and a fan LOL!

Most of what has been said is correct but consider

1) the best way of saving heating costs is to ensure that the house is well insulated and has not air leaks especially around windows and doors (you could be losing 25% of your heat this way)

2) set the thermostat a bit lower - one degree lower might mean 10% savings.

3) try to zone heating so you aren't heating spaces unnecessarily

RCAC (heat pumps) are the most efficient means of converting electricity to heat ( 3 x more) but as mentioned before, gas is far cheaper to use (up to 1/4 of electricity). You need to check your supplier to evaluate this.

If you are relatively immobile during the day e.g. sitting at a desk. A low powered radiant heater might be sufficient to keep you warm despite being run on electricity.

As far as the merits of running different gas central heating system, the running costs more depend on the energy source rather than the mode of heating e.g. gas hydronic versus gas ducted have similar running costs.