How much to heat a home with electricity

Kookygirl · 14 July 2017 at 10:32PM

Good evening,

I'm potentially moving into a new property in a month or so and starting to worry about how much the energy bills are going to increase. The new home is electricity only as there is no gas in the area. I've read it can be 3-4 more expensive than gas. I live alone and it's a 3 bed mid-terrace 17-18th century house. Can anyone living alone tell me how much they spend on electricity a month in a similar sized property?

Thanks,

Nathalie

Cardew · 15 July 2017 at 8:39AM

Do you have Night storage Heaters? and are you on an Economy 7 tariff?

Many electrically heated properties do have storage heating/Economy7/10 as it is the cheapest form of electrical heating* and you can heat hot water overnight.

* some might argue that a heat pump is cheaper; other would disagree.

coffeehound · 15 July 2017 at 10:27AM

Also does it have double glazing? I guess something that old may be Listed.

Kookygirl · 15 July 2017 at 11:53AM

Thanks for the replies. It is listed, but has secondary glazing on most windows. I checked with the supplier yesterday and it is currently on economy 7 and the property description says that the heaters are storage heaters. However, I don't think Economy 7 will be cost effective for me, because as I'm a freelancer that works from home, i'll probably be using most of my electricity during the day when it is more expensive on Economy 7. Furthermore, I'm not a fan of storage heaters, I remember 10-15 years ago when I was at uni having these, and you didn't have any control of when the heating came on and I remember being cold a lot!

I've not heard of Economy 10 though, it looks like something that could work for me if I can get the right off peak hours during the day.

There is also a wood burner, not sure how cost effective this will be to use but could potentially heat the house reasonably well.

coffeehound · 15 July 2017 at 12:38PM

Dimplex heating quote the following numbers for a 3-bedroom flat built to 1960s standards of insulation, glazing and draughtproofing:

So around 16,000 kWh ('Units') of electricity which they price at about £1500.

If you are at home during the day then night-storage radiators would actually suit you well since they give out heat throughout the day. You might find that you need to supplement the heating in evenings, though.

.

Kookygirl · 15 July 2017 at 1:03PM

oh my god £1500, I could weep. Thanks for the info though. I spend £56 a month on my current dual fuel in a 3 bed terrace. E7 doesn't seem feasible unfortunately. I may stick with the existing storage heaters and see how I get on though I was hoping to replace them as they are an eye sore.

I read about infrared heating which seems to be more efficient than convector panel heaters but they are relatively expensive to buy... Does anyone have any experience of infrared hearers and whether they really do save a lot of money in bills?

frugalmacdugal · 15 July 2017 at 1:14PM

Hi,

well, as you work from home during the day you will get the benefit of the E7 heating that is at it's warmest in the morning pumping out, after the overnight charge.

Folks out working all day complain it's getting cold by the time they get home.

During the summer months if you need heat, you could use a halogen heater on one bar for direct heat.

Kookygirl · 15 July 2017 at 1:45PM

You may be right, I'll keep the E7 in place to begin with and see how my bills stack up. It's going to be trying to get used to a different approach of living. I am used to being able to use heating whenever I want (and switch it off when I don't want it) and use appliances etc at any time of day.

Do you know if all the suppliers use the same economy 7 hours (e.g. midnight to 7am) or do they vary slightly from supplier to supplier?

frugalmacdugal · 15 July 2017 at 1:51PM

Hi,

here's a map, though not sure how accurate the times might be, and depends if your clock is at right time.

Richie-from-the-Boro · 15 July 2017 at 3:33PM

Kookygirl wrote: »

Good evening,

I'm potentially moving into a new property in a month or so and starting to worry about how much the energy bills are going to increase. The new home is electricity only as there is no gas in the area. I've read it can be 3-4 more expensive than gas. I live alone and it's a 3 bed mid-terrace 17-18th century house. Can anyone living alone tell me how much they spend on electricity a month in a similar sized property?

Thanks,

Nathalie

- £800-1000pa
- you can not compare gas v electric heating, you do not have gas
- E7 night store is by far the cheapest option
- E10 [x10] hours E7 [x7] hours, obviously 10 is more than 7 you decide
- timings are an unnecessary distracting hang up at this point
- a kWh is a kWh, all electric heating costs the same
- day heating [core] is 2-3 times more expensive than [nightstore]
- you will always need and instant 'on demand' other heater
- input, the total amount you store is important. output [IMO] should be slammed shut and left alone

Timings and tariff costs are determined by the [supplier] area code you live in. The more cheap stuff you store overnight the less expensive day rate you will use. E10 is the luxury end of E7, you get x3 more hours than E7 delivered and day as well as night top up. The monthly cost is the worst way to think, [CAC] annual costs ÷ 12 monthly payments, plus I]your own[/I meter reads supplied and the best tariff and discounts you can get is your starting point. If you have the maximum input and are still cold you do not have enough 'stored cheap heat'. Best of luck.

frugalmacdugal · 15 July 2017 at 3:57PM

Hi,

wouldn't bother changing to E10, might cost you more to change.

Instead, make sure that you use the heaters correctly.

Keep output shut, and adjust input according to weather forecast for next day, you'll get used to it.

How much to heat a home with electricity

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free