Dimplex Low Wattage Panel Heaters

The amount of energy required to heat a room would differ depending on the type of room that it is. A normal household room, that is well insulated, approximately 2M in height, with doubled glazed windows would generally require at least 90 watts per square metre. So for a room that is 10 m2 you would need at least 900 watts (10m2 x 90 watts). There are not too many heaters made in that particular ‘size’ so you would round the figure up and go for a heater a minimum of 1000 watts, or 1kW.

A room that is not particularly well insulated and rooms like garages or conservatories would require more like 120 watts per square metre, so for a less well insulated room that was 10 m2 you would need at least 1200 watts, or 1.2kW (10m2 x 120watts), again, there are not too many heaters made in 1.2kw outputs, so you would need to round up to either 1.25kW or 1.5kW.

As a general rule it is better to over estimate the size of the heater than to under estimate, having a heater with thermostatic control will allow you to turn the heater down should you find that it makes your room too hot. If you use your heater with a timer, or a plug in thermostat this can help to avoid excess running costs.

You can use the CNM Online heat calculator by clicking on the link below;
http://www.cnmonline.co.uk/Heat-Calculator-p-1.html

If you are still unsure, or if you would like any more information, you can contact our technical support team by email

It is very difficult to give an actual running cost for every heater since the running cost depends on the price you pay per kilowatt hour (kW/hr) from your electricity provider (which can vary a lot depending on your provider and tariff) and also the kilowatt rating of the heater in question. If for example you were using a 1kW heater, with one heat setting and no thermostat (i.e. you could not turn it up or down, whilst the heater was on it would be running on full power and use 1kW of electricity for every full hour that it was running) and the average price you paid per kW/hr was 10p, the heater would cost you on average 10p per hour.

The calculation becomes much more complicated when heaters have thermostatic controls, heat levels and timers because such functions effect the power consumption and the length of time the heater runs for, so we can only calculate a ‘worst case scenario’ running cost figure. The running costs are subject to change, as changes in electricity prices will change the cost of running the heater.

Based on the theory above, you may be tempted to go for a less powerful heater as it will cost you less to run, but if the heater is not powerful enough to heat the room as a whole, you are likely to be paying the maximum running costs for the heater and not feeling the heat around the whole of the room, so it is a case of trying to find the right size heater for your room.

If you are still unsure, or if you would like any more information, you can contact our technical support team by emailing

There are lots of different types of electric heaters on the market and it can be difficult knowing exactly where to start. We have a few main categories of heaters available on the website and below are brief descriptions of them all.

Panel Heaters
Panel heaters are generally quite compact in their design. The most basic designs tend to come with fitted plugs and leads, with wall mounting brackets and/or feet so they can literally be plugged in and turned on. Most of the basic models will have thermostatic control and/or heat settings.

The more complicated designs generally do not come with fitted plug and leads and require installation by an electrician. With the more complicated designs, you usually have a ‘climate control’ or ‘room thermostat’ function, which means the heater will automatically respond to changes in room temperature, saving on running costs. The ‘hard-wired’ or non-plug in models are generally preferred by landlords etc as a lot of them comply with the part L building regulations.

Most panel heaters, due to their simplistic design, usually look quite nice, and you can now find glass panel heaters on the market for customers who require a more contemporary looking heater.

Panel heaters are generally available from 500w up to 3kW, so there is usually a panel heater available to suit most requirements.

Oil Filled Radiators
The majority of oil filled radiators are portable and set on wheels, so they are easily moved around which makes them a popular choice for ‘top up’ heating. They are quite easy to pack away during the summer and bring out in the winter to supplement your ordinary household heating. There are a few models of oil filled radiators that come with wall brackets, so they are also suitable to mount on the wall and use as your permanent source of heating. Because oil filled radiators are filled with a solution they tend to be heavier than panel heaters, convector heaters and halogen heaters, and can take a little longer to heat up. When the heaters do heat up, the temperature does remain quite consistent, as the heat is retained for a while in the solution inside the radiator. The portable oil filled radiators tend to have the ‘fin’ design- this is to increase the surface area of the heater so the heat can be more readily released.
Oil filled radiators are usually between 1kW and 2.5kW, although these are some less powerful models available too, so there is usually an oil filled radiator available to suit most requirements.

Convector Heaters
Convector heaters are typically the cheapest type of heaters on the market. The design is simply and outer casing with an element inside and a control panel. Most of them come with feet and/or wall brackets. Convector heaters are designed to warm the surrounding air, which then circulates around your room. Convector heaters are pretty quick to heat up, and they also cool down pretty quickly too. Convector heaters may not be suitable for customers with allergies as they create convection currents in the air and as a result, they can also circulate particles and allergens. While they are a cheap, fast heating heater, they are not always suitable for everyone. Convector heaters are generally made in 2kw-3kw out puts.

Radiant Panel Heaters
Radiant panel heaters use relatively new technology, for this reason, there are not so many of them on the market. Radiant panel heaters have been targeted towards conservatories, as this type of room will benefit from the technology of this type of heater. Radiant panel heaters send the heat out in rays and the heat is absorbed by the solid things in the room; things like people and furniture. This is a benefit because you do not have the uncomfortable stuffy feeling that some other heaters create, and as these heaters do not rely on convection currents in the air to transfer the heat. This means less particles and allergens are circulated around the room and less heat is lost as warm air rises and is lost from the roof in rooms like conservatories.

For more information on radiant panel heaters, please click on the link below;
http://www.cnmonline.co.uk/Radiant-Heat-p-4.html


Halogen Heaters
Halogen heaters are often used for ‘on the spot’ heating, we also hear them referred to as ‘3 bar fires’. Halogen heaters are quite light and compact and very easily moved around. Depending on the kW rating of the heater, you may have 2, 3, or 4 halogen elements that glow orangey- red and give off infrared light, which heats you up. The heaters come with fitted plug and leads, so you would just need to plug it in to a socket. We find that due to the design of the heaters, the heat is quite ‘directional’ so that if you are sat in front of it, you will feel nice and warm, but if you are sat behind it, you may not feel as much. Most halogen heaters have a casing that remains cool to touch and are equipped with several safety features, so that if the tip over for example, they will automatically switch off.

Electric Towel Rails
Electric towel rails are a safe and useful way of contributing to the heating in your bathroom. Most electric towel rails come filled with an inhibitor solution and contain a heating element, which when it is switched on, heats the solution inside the towel rail, which in turn warms the towel rail itself. The exceptions to this are called ‘dry-technology’ towel rails, in which the electrical heating element is fitted into a vacuum, so when the heating element is switched on it warms the towel rail itself. Electric towel rails are generally installed in bathrooms, so generally do not have a fitted plug and will be given an ‘IP rating’ which indicated which zone in the bathroom the appliance can be installed. Electric towel rails are generally quite low powered, they may sufficient as the only source of heat in a small bathroom, but larger bathrooms may require additional heat, which could be supplied by an IP rated panel heater, or a down flow fan heater.

Fan Heaters
Fan heaters are available for both domestic and commercial applications and come in a variety of different sizes and kW ratings. The heaters generally consist of a heating element and a fan- the fan blows out the warm air generated by the heating element. Down flow fan heaters are typically used in bathrooms, commercial fan heaters can be used in buildings like gyms, garages and warehouses and another variation is the air curtain which is typically used over doorways in retail outlets.

Storage Heaters
Storage heaters, also known as nighttime storage heaters, take advantage of low price electricity by ‘charging up’ when electricity prices are low, typically between 12am and 7am. The electricity is stored as heat in the ‘bricks’ inside the heater and released gradually throughout the day. Storage heaters comprise of dense blocks surrounding heating elements that are well insulated to prevent unnecessary heat loss. On top there is a control that can be adjusted to let the heat out. We have manual and automatic storage heaters, it is generally accepted that automatic storage heaters can save up to 15% in running costs compared with manual storage heaters, and are only slightly more expensive to buy.

Combined storage heaters are storage heater with a built in convector heater, which can be used to top up the heat that you get from the storage part of the heater, or if for example in the summer you have the storage heaters turned off, the convection part of the heater can be used on its own as the sole source of heat. Combined storage heaters are generally used in rooms where a large percentage of time is spent, like the living room, for example.

The most advanced storage heater is the fan assisted storage heater, which incorporates a low speed silent fan that draws air through the core of the heater and discharges through the vent at the base of the heater at a time that suits you. Until then the heat is stored inside the insulated unit. The insulation used on the fan assisted storage heaters is more than double the normal thickness of the standard storage heaters.

To take advantage of the off peak electricity prices, you need to make sure your home is able to receive an Economy 7 (or off-peak) electricity supply, and be fitted with an Economy 7 meter. Each storage heater would need to be wired independently to a separate consumer unit and connected to the off peak supply by a qualified electrician.

If you need any more help or advice on storage heaters please email your enquiry.

A heater with thermostatic control can be turned up or down, usually via a thermostat dial or digital controls.

Some types of thermostat will respond automatically to changes in room temperature and maintain the desired room temperature by adjusting the heat omitted in response to the rise or fall in the room temperature. This advanced function is also referred to as ‘climate control’.

The dimensions of all of our heaters can be found on the detailed description of the item in question. If there are a lot of different sizes of a heater available (like a towel rail for example) the dimensions will usually be displayed in a table underneath the descriptive text. For items with no options, the dimensions will usually be displayed just underneath the price on the detailed description of the item.

For a heater to be safe to use in a bathroom it will need to have an IP rating (ingress protection rating). The letters IP are usually followed by 2 digits, the second digit indicated how ‘waterproof’ an item is. If an electric heater does not have an IP rating, it is not suitable for use in bathrooms. The second digit can also give an indication as to whereabouts in the bathroom (which zone) the item is safe to be installed in (see below). We advise you to consult a qualified electrician for the installation of electrical appliances within your bathroom.

The lead-time of each item on our website is indicated in the detailed description of the item, just underneath where the price is. We always aim to deliver items within the normal lead-time and should any delays occur, we will contact you as soon as possible.

We would advise you to check your instruction manual to ensure your heater is on the correct setting, check the wires to your heater, and check that the fuse in the plug has now blown. For more information on what you should do, please visit the Faulty Products section on our ‘Contact Us’ page.

If for any reason you would like to return the item you purchased from us less than 30 days ago please visit the ‘Return Item’ section on our contact us page. For details on our returns policy, individual consumers can click here to view our terms and conditions and business users can click here

All of our heaters differ in complexity, and factors like their size and weight may need to be taken in to consideration before it is possible to determine if a heater can be installed single handed by a non- qualified person or not. Generally speaking a heater with a fitted plug and lead can be installed by a non qualified person. It is usually just a case of mounting the wall brackets and fitting the heater on to them. Items without a fitted plug and lead generally require installation by a qualified person. Details of how any item is to be installed can be found on the ‘technical information’ download available in the product description.

You may also view the instruction manual for your item by searching out online instruction manual catalogue.

Regardless of the kW rating of your heater, most heaters do get hot to touch, so care should be taken when outing electrical heaters in rooms with children, animals, elderly or disabled people. There are ‘low surface temperature’ heaters, where the surface temperature will not exceed a certain ‘safe’ temperature, on the website which will be safer to use for such groups of people.

Any essential accessories will be suggested in the ‘related products and accessories’ section underneath the item you are looking at on the detailed description page.

We have manual and automatic storage heaters, it is generally accepted that automatic storage heaters can save up to 15% in running costs compared with manual storage heaters, and are only slightly more expensive to buy.

Combined storage heaters are storage heater with a built in convector heater, which can be used to top up the heat that you get from the storage part of the heater, or if for example in the summer you have the storage heaters turned off, the convection part of the heater can be used on its own as the sole source of heat. Combined storage heaters are generally used in rooms where a large percentage of time is spent, like the living room, for example.

The most advanced storage heater is the fan assisted storage heater, which incorporates a low speed silent fan that draws air through the core of the heater and discharges through the vent at the base of the heater at a time that suits you. Until then the heat is stored inside the insulated unit. The insulation used on the fan assisted storage heaters is more than double the normal thickness of the standard storage heaters.

Tubular heaters have a wide variety of uses. They are typically used to prevent frost or condensation. They have been used successfully in barges and caravans to prevent pipes from freezing; in sheds to prevent the windows from freezing and also underneath snooker tables to improve table speed. Tubular heaters are designed to be mounted low down, horizontally, as the heat rises from them, they create a ‘blanket of warmth’ that travels up the surface and protects it. Tubular heaters are available in lengths ranging from 1ft to 6ft in length, and as a general rule, the longer the tube, the greater area it protects. The heaters are relatively low powered, btu do get very hot to touch, so if they are being used in an area where they could be brushed up against, or anything could fall on them, they should be used with a tubular heater guard.

Certain types of heaters are more expensive than others, and this is usually due to the amount of technology, or material that is required to produce them.

Differences in prices on the same type of heater can be down to a difference of brand, or the length of warranty that the item is provided with.

If you have not found the answer to your question in the FAQ’s section, or on the website then you can contact our support team by emailing your enquiry to us at we will endeavour to find the information you require and get back to you as soon as possible.