How to choose a budget-friendly heater

As the days shorten and cool, it’s about the time of year when most people are looking for the best way to heat their homes.

Heating and cooling together use the largest amount of energy in the average New Zealand home – about 40 per cent of household energy use. With gas and electricity prices rising, it’s important to choose an effective way to keep the chills at bay while keeping costs down and the family happy.

There are two main forms of heating – radiant and convective. Radiant heaters heat people and objects through direct radiant heat, while convective heaters warm and circulate the air in the room. Here’s how you can choose the right heater for your home and stay warm (without breaking the bank).

Panel heaters

This type of heating is an elegant solution to providing warmth over winter, with a streamlined design and quiet operation. Especially suited to living spaces, panel heaters usually come with 24-hour timers (great to take the chill off before you arrive home from work) and have child-safety features. Choose from freestanding heaters that you can wheel around from room to room, or wall-mounted products that can be tucked away for discreet use.

Column heaters

Usually oil-filled, column heaters are often the most affordable in terms of running costs, as they use convective heat to warm rooms and, once warmed, will retain heat for a long time. You can usually warm them ahead of time and they don’t dry the air too much, unlike fan heaters. They are also less likely to overheat. They can be hot to touch, however, so they may not be the ideal choice if you have young children.

Tower heaters

These affordable and portable heaters are ideal if you need to move heaters from room to room – or if you are renting. Most tower heaters are ceramic and the ceramic heating element provides fast and powerful spot-heat, due to the self-regulating heat output. They usually swivel, too, allowing the heat to be evenly directed throughout a room.

Smart heaters

Get smart with your heating by trying a smart panel heater. These give you the best of both worlds. Innovative technology helps you reduce your electricity consumption, as they usually have timers and can be set and operated remotely. Functionality is combined with Scandinavian design that can blend in with your interior.

Fan heaters

Fan heaters heat the air and provide convective heat. These are the cheapest heaters on the market and are a great solution for small spaces, such as offices. Modern products have lots of safety features and they also provide instant heat, which means they can warm a room quickly and effectively.

How to save more with your heating

No matter which heater you choose, there are a few tips you can use that will make your money go further and still keep it comfortable at home:

• Set the temperature to between 18 and 20 degrees. There’s no need to ramp up the heat to make everyone feel like it is still summer! Each degree of extra heating in winter or cooling in summer increases energy consumption by about 5 to 10 per cent. Make your home comfortable, but encourage family members to dress for winter and throw on a blanket or jumper occasionally instead of turning up the temperature.
• Use timers. Don’t leave heaters on during the night or all day – try setting the timer for 5-10 minutes before you get up, or get home, to take the chill off and make the room pleasant.
• Keep doors closed on unused spaces. Most families just live in one or two rooms at a time. It is expensive to heat an entire house, so concentrate your efforts on the spaces where you spend most of your time and close off the areas of your home, such as spare bedrooms, the laundry, bathrooms, or formal living spaces when they aren’t being used.
• Use a fan to distribute heat through the room. Make your heater work for you by spreading the warm air as much as possible, whether through a fan attached to the heater, or a ceiling fan. Most fans are much more efficient energy-wise than heating alone.
• Block draughts to prevent heat escaping. Many houses, especially older homes, are full of gaps that allow the heat to escape and cold air to come in. Try door snakes, or some of the very affordable door seals and draught stoppers. And don’t forget a good floor rug, especially if you have hard floors. They can warm up a room underfoot and cover gaps in the floorboards.

Looking to boost your heating this winter?

We’ve got a heater to suit different budgets and homes – browse our wide range of indoor heaters today.