pete wrote:

On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:15:36 +0000, MM wrote:
Not including residual heat from cooking, vacuum cleaner, kiddies etc.
I've just bought an Argos mini oil-filled heater for £24.99 (800W)
because I don't like leaving my little computer room (to go and get
food etc) with the fan heater left switched on.

The oil-filled one is heating the room nicely, although more slowly
than with the fan heater. But I reckon the heated oil will maintain
the desired room temperature for longer between times when the
thermostat switches off. It's been on now (on thermostat) for approx
40 minutes and my Tschibo usage meter says it's used 4½ pence worth so
far (11.5 pence per unit here). Room is approx 2.8m x 2.4m.

MM

A few years ago (as you'll see from the prices) I analysed a year's
worth of gas bills. What it came down to was from a total cost of
£475 for the year and having the heating on for 6 months: Oct - Mar
the cost of heating during those months was about the same as the
cost of hot water + cooking for the whole year.
So, CH for 6 months came out at about £240 and 12 months HW and
cooking was another £240-ish, for the sake of round numbers.
This is for a 3 bed semi, with occupants at work 8-6, 5 days a week.

(smarm: It also turns out that our energy use has dropped from 20,600kWH
a year in 1981-2 to 13,500kWH in 2007-8 - there! I've saved us all from
climate change :-)

In tghe old days (one youngster and another on the way) we used 26000
kWh of gas and 5500 kWh of electricity. The lounge staggered up to 20
deg C on cold nights.

Thirty years later, it's down to 14000 kWh gas and 3000 kWh
electricity, with the same house, back boiler and rads. The lounge is
currently at 23.5 deg C and it's -4.5 outside.

The difference, apart from the kids leaving home, is a now
fully-insulated, double-glazed house and care taken to deal with
draughts.

If you want to save the planet, don't have kids - which raises the
question of why you'd want to save it as there wouldn't be any people
to inherit it.