Which.

[excoriator]

The latest copy of 'Which' magazine I received had a long article comparing electric heaters, dividing them into two types - fan heaters and convector heaters. I am prepared to accept that fan heaters may blow the air about more or less effectively, but I was baffled at the differences in convector heaters, which they ranked by how quickly they could heat up a room. There were quite big differences.

This is inexplicable. A 2 kW resistance heater (which is what these things are) gives you 2kWh of heat from 2kWhs of electricity. With 100% efficiency. ALL convector heaters with the same rating provide exactly the same amount of heat. They are all 100% efficient in their conversion of electricity to heat. I can only conclude the differences are due to sloppy experimental methods and wonder how good their tests are for other things. It is possible that there are manufacturing tolerances of course, but they would probably be minor. There was no information given about the numbers of each models used and I suspect it was only one.

I've had my doubts about some of their casual methods, for example how well a dishwasher works with little or no control or information on how dirty the dishes were and what foodstuff remains were on them, but this really exposed their sloppiness.

I have no compunction therefore in declaring the magazine a Poor Buy!

[aubrey]

We've just got a heater for using in here. I usually put it on for 30 mins if it's cold. I wouldn't want to get used to having it on all the time.

[skylark]

We ought to buy one in case the boiler breaks down. If there is no difference in the economy of running them, buy the cheapest?

[excoriator]

Yes, provided its safe. You get the heat according to the rating you buy. Cheaper ones - if they have a thermostat - may be a bit more inaccurate than expensive ones, but is that going to worry you?

The more expensive ones link to the internet to allow you to switch them on and off from Denver of Mogadishu. God knows why but the world is full of clowns who see this as 'progress'.

Personally, I prefer fan heaters, as they can be directed to warming you rather than the surroundings, but they are a bit noisy. I used one under my desk for years in work. I like a warm atmosphere. One of my friends constructed a little gadget which sat on my desk at work. When the temperature dropped below 23C it burst into action and bellowed the words "Open Window detected! Energise fan heater!" I still have it.

[skylark]

We have a little fan heater which I use when getting dressed, and it is ideal for that. A convector heater sounds a better option for the boiler malfunction situation.
We have an open fire but coal has been banned from sale.

While I am here - can Which? recommend a quiet shredder? Mine packed up at the start of lockdown and the documents are piling up.

[jonjel]

I have a small fan heater under the desk/table in what has become my office. It is a cold room for some reason, and I hate it but that is another matter.

I did have a small caravan heater in here which was great, other than it melted my slippers!

[excoriator]

Here we go Skylark:

Fellowes AutoMax 130C £263
Fellowes Powershred 62MC £98.91
DURONIC Paper Shredder PS410 micro cut 14L £70

These are the only three that got four stars for quietness in Which (Out of 15 best buys). As to noise, by their nature they are noisy devices, but I keep a can of WD40 with ours and give it a squirt when it sounds like it labouring which keeps the noise down a bit as well as stopping it jamming. I have never counted but its probably every 50 or 100 sheets.

It depends too if you want to chew up paper clips, credit cards etc. Ours is a Staples I think. It will eat a CD but only just.

If you have a model in mind I'll have a gander in Which and if they've reviewed it, I'll get further details of their review for you if that helps. Let me know.

[skylark]

Thanks. I am pretty careful about removing paper clips and even staples but shredding in bulk is certainly useful. I don't want to spend more than £100 so the last two are possibilities; I will check them out on line, though have no access to Which? so any help there would be most welcome.

My shredder was a reject from work, which was replaced when the box began to fall apart. We stuck it together with tape and it worked brilliantly until last summer when the whole thing packed in. I now have a great many documents to dispose of. I suppose if I'd got rid of them all in the garden on November 5th no-one could have touched me for it, but it was flippin' cold and wet and windy that week. And of course settling light to a great wad of paper just results in charred edges, and scrunching everything up to burn seemed like more effort than it was worth.

[excoriator]

Which has the Duronic, £70, one with the following:

Pros
High levels of security
Shreds paperclips and staples and credit cards
Easy to use and empty
Safety lock
Not prone to jams

Cons
Doesn’t shred CDs
Slow
Only just fits eight pages at once


For the Fellowes, £98.91, it has:

Pros
Super security
Easy to empty and clear
Quiet

Cons
Slow
Fewer sheets at a time than claimed
Quite expensive


I don't know if the Fellowes one eats CDs. The article I'm looking at reviews 48 in all, so if you see one you fancy it might well have a review for it. Let me know if you want me to look.

[aubrey]

There are a few people I wouldn't trust with one that eats cds.

[skylark]

I don't want to destroy any CDs, just paper. 'Slow' doesn't sound great and I might have to sacrifice quietness for speed. It would be nice to be able to listen to something while feeding the thing, but there is a limit to how long I can sit there. Anyway their idea of 'quiet' might not run to hearing my audiobook through it, even if I use earpods.

Thank you for all that research, which is very helpful!

[excoriator]

If that was directed at me, Aubrey, it is entirely justified.