All summer I've been getting web ads about so-called "portable air conditioners" which will "cool a room in minutes". A little fan which you can put water or ice in is NOT an air conditioner, whilst it might help cool you if it's pointing at you, it will not cool a room.
Now we have the energy crisis and are heading into winter all the ads about so-called mini heaters are appearing . "Turn off your central heating" they proclaim. "This little heater will warm a room to 20 degrees in minutes!" "It's 100% efficient!" All electric heaters are 100% (ish) efficient. These plug in heaters probably will save you money, but you'll be flippin' cold! Probably got a little 200w heat element. As I'm sure most of you know, electric heaters and even central heating rads are rated in KW and usually start at a minimum 500 watt. Saying that, I've got a little Dimplex 250 watt mini heater under my desk. I bought it during lockdown and working from home. I suffer cold feet and under my desk can be a cold spot, even with the heating on. This little heater is great for warming my feet up without using a lot of electricity . No way though would I expect it to replace the central heating and warm my whole living room. It was an informed purchase from a reputable retailer and made by a decent manufaturer, and didn't cost me £50+ as a lot of the snakeoil units are price. It depresses me slightly that those less knowledgeable about electrics will buy these overpriced "mini heaters" thinking it is their saviour from energy costs.
Also other plug-in "energy savers" you can buy are "AC waveform correctors" to improve your supply efficiency. There are stripdowns of these things on Youtube. They are usually little more than a capacitor. In one case, only one of the capacitor legs was connected to the board, basically doing nothing!
I suppose if I get one of these and use in conjunction with the above, I could save enough for a couple of weeks in Barbabados by next year!
Now we have the energy crisis and are heading into winter all the ads about so-called mini heaters are appearing . "Turn off your central heating" they proclaim. "This little heater will warm a room to 20 degrees in minutes!" "It's 100% efficient!" All electric heaters are 100% (ish) efficient. These plug in heaters probably will save you money, but you'll be flippin' cold! Probably got a little 200w heat element. As I'm sure most of you know, electric heaters and even central heating rads are rated in KW and usually start at a minimum 500 watt. Saying that, I've got a little Dimplex 250 watt mini heater under my desk. I bought it during lockdown and working from home. I suffer cold feet and under my desk can be a cold spot, even with the heating on. This little heater is great for warming my feet up without using a lot of electricity . No way though would I expect it to replace the central heating and warm my whole living room. It was an informed purchase from a reputable retailer and made by a decent manufaturer, and didn't cost me £50+ as a lot of the snakeoil units are price. It depresses me slightly that those less knowledgeable about electrics will buy these overpriced "mini heaters" thinking it is their saviour from energy costs.
Also other plug-in "energy savers" you can buy are "AC waveform correctors" to improve your supply efficiency. There are stripdowns of these things on Youtube. They are usually little more than a capacitor. In one case, only one of the capacitor legs was connected to the board, basically doing nothing!
I suppose if I get one of these and use in conjunction with the above, I could save enough for a couple of weeks in Barbabados by next year!