Is it cheaper to have a radiator on for an hour or use an electric heater?

Is it cheaper to use radiators?

According to John Lawless, a heating expert at BestHeating, using a radiator is more cost-effective than smaller, portable electric heaters.

He said: “Remember that central heating is a lot cheaper to run than an electric heater. For every unit of heat put out by an electric heater, it will cost around three times as much as a unit of heat from one of your radiators.”

Even under the new energy price cap charge of 34p per kWh for electricity, the cost of running a 500W (0.5kW) radiator is much cheaper than an electric heater – at just 17p per hour.

An 800W equivalent (0.8kW) costs just over 27p per hour and a 1000W (1kW) just 34p.