Economy 7 - Can I change our heating sytem cheaply?

Greenr

Hi

I have a one bedroom flat with two large economy 7 night storage heaters. As I'm out at work all day, I find it quite chillly in the evenings (in the winter months) as the heat stops at about 4pm (with the output setting on it's lowest). Is there anyway I can change these heaters and replace them with some sort of manually operated radiator that I could turn on when I finished work?? I end up plugging oil filled radiators in during the evenings so there really isn't much point in me turning the storage heaters on during the week...

Thanks!

knightstyle

It sounds as if the storage heaters are old and have poor insulation. With this type of heater you cannot have heat in the evening without some heat in the day. Check the boost flap, if fitted is working, it should be closed during the day and you can open it in the evening. Newer better insulated ones, perhaps with a fan boost, are the answer but I doubt if the outlay will be payed back aver many years. Perhaps stick with the oil radiators and see if you can get a better tariff.

Greenr

Thanks for the advice. I took the cover off one of the heaters and gave it a good hoover - it was very dirty inside!! I tried taking the cover off the other heater but can't even get the screws out!!

Cazza

We replaced our nightstorage heaters with Dimplex Duo Heat heaters. They are night storage heaters, but they have a "boost" button which you can press, which neans they will act like an oil filled radiator would do. Once the've heated up a bit, you just turn the boost off and they also will have warmed up their night storage blocks too.

They were more expensive, but they're really good compared to the traditional heaters!

Greenr

Cazza wrote: »

We replaced our nightstorage heaters with Dimplex Duo Heat heaters. They are night storage heaters, but they have a "boost" button which you can press, which neans they will act like an oil filled radiator would do. Once the've heated up a bit, you just turn the boost off and they also will have warmed up their night storage blocks too.

They were more expensive, but they're really good compared to the traditional heaters!

Thanks! where did you buy them from and did you have to pay for them to be installed?

Cazza

We originally forund out about them via our electricity company, EDF, they sent a mailshot.

We had them out to quote and for two of the largest heaters plus a small panel heater it came to about £1,300.

In the end, my sister's OH sorted it all out for us (he's an electrician) and it cost £900 in total BUT he did all the installation for free. He did say it was fairly easy and because we'd dimantled and got rid of the old heaters already, it took him 3-4 hours total.

gouldilocks

We've had Duo heaters for near on 2 years now, we're really pleased with them, they look so much nicer than the old night storage heaters too.

Our neighbour bought new "old" style (if that makes sense!) but now regrets it and wishes he'd also bought the Duo heat.

We've only got two, one small and one large (upstairs we just have panel heaters and we didn't want them on all the time... next door also have really hot bedrooms!), including fitting, which apparently was really easy they came to less than £1000.

Greenr

gouldilocks wrote: »

We've had Duo heaters for near on 2 years now, we're really pleased with them, they look so much nicer than the old night storage heaters too.

Our neighbour bought new "old" style (if that makes sense!) but now regrets it and wishes he'd also bought the Duo heat.

We've only got two, one small and one large (upstairs we just have panel heaters and we didn't want them on all the time... next door also have really hot bedrooms!), including fitting, which apparently was really easy they came to less than £1000.

What do you mean by panel heaters? Are they conencted to the mains or do you plug them in?

espresso

Greenr wrote: »

What do you mean by panel heaters? Are they conencted to the mains or do you plug them in?

Have you ever used Google?