Install a fire - or not??

jo1967

Just looking for advice/experiences etc!

I live in a standard 3 bed semi, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, double glazing (couple of windows crap but tape them up in the winter - working on replacing). I have central heating & my radiators all have thermostats.

However, when we decorated two years ago we removed the useless gas fire & didnt replace (cost). I have been considering getting a little moden wall hanging fire (electric - then no gas installation costs) mainly beacause I am home 2 days a week & as the weeks get colder dont want to put the heating on when there is only me, also as autumn approaches it gets to 8 or 9 at night & you feel a little heat is required - could just pop the fire on for a couple of hours rather than the heating.

I am home alone today & could do with a bit of warmth (yes I am wrapped up!!). The fire I like costs 10.5p 1KW or 21p 2KW per hour.

Does anyone else heat like this? Is it worth it? I was in tears today when my gas supplier upped payments to £67pcm - electric due to & that will go up I am sure.

Thanks! :rolleyes:

jo1967

Just a little PS - I have done price comparisons & my supplier- npower- keeps copming at the top! Seems I can save a little more by changing a tarriff which I will investigate further.

KimYeovil

Before you spend money on an installation why not just try a cheap electric heater and suck it and see? A £15 electric heater yields the same amount of heat per kW as a £350 framed creation.

Also, what's wrong with using just one of the gas radiators? The seepage to the rest of the system may still be less than the cost of electric.

And as to your nPower tariff, are you sure that's not just the £108 annual refund of the surcharge that skews the results?

Magentasue

I think people have said on other threads, having the central heating on and adjusting the radiators is more cost effective. Also, aren't gas fires cheaper to run than electric? I know some are less efficient than others, but I thought they still worked out cheaper to run.

jo1967

The fire I like is £99 & requires no installation apart from fix to wall & plug in!

I use my thermostats & we often ony have one or (when v chilly) 2 radiators on downstairs & my bills are still high. I use the timer on my heating control panel so heating goes off up to 2 hours before bed & isnt left running when everyone at work/school. All the radiators are on low (my bedroom always off, like a cold bedroom - weird?!) upstairs even in winter. I'm not a wuss when it come to cold - our first flat had a gas fire, that was it! Often woke up to ice on the inside of the windows.

I used one of the comparison sites recomended by martin & just put in figures not the tariff. It seems npowers online 13 (or something) tarriff would save me some money. When I get my elec bill (both meters read same day so should be soon) I will call npower.

Thanks for you opinions.

jo1967

Magentasue wrote: »

I think people have said on other threads, having the central heating on and adjusting the radiators is more cost effective. Also, aren't gas fires cheaper to run than electric? I know some are less efficient than others, but I thought they still worked out cheaper to run.

Who knows these days? I used to think gas was cheap but I am currently paying a higher amount per month than for elec. Each time npower say my payment needs to go up I let it - so worried abount getting a huge bill - be in real trouble then.

The thing is we are Mr & Mrs Average, dont earn huge wages but also not entitled to any benefit, wages not going up, bills soaring, struggling to keep head above water. My husbands company has made redundancies & he lost his position, luckily he was given a (lower) different one - but who cares right now he has a job & thats enough to be grateful for!

Magentasue

jo1967 wrote: »

Who knows these days? I used to think gas was cheap but I am currently paying a higher amount per month than for elec.

Well, yes, but look at some of the threads started by people in all-electric households - many have huge bills. Generating heat (either heaters/radiators/water) takes a lot of energy so you're going to use a fair bit of gas. If you use electric heaters, then your gas usage will go down as your electricity goes up. As you pay three or four times as much for every kwh of electricity, surely you'd choose to use gas heating if it's available?

jo1967

Magentasue wrote: »

Well, yes, but look at some of the threads started by people in all-electric households - many have huge bills. Generating heat (either heaters/radiators/water) takes a lot of energy so you're going to use a fair bit of gas. If you use electric heaters, then your gas usage will go down as your electricity goes up. As you pay three or four times as much for every kwh of electricity, surely you'd choose to use gas heating if it's available?

I thought popping a fire on for a couple of hours would be cheaper but thats why I put the question on here - I knew there would be peeps in the know!

Gives me good food for thought - perhaps I need to concentrate on sorting on my tarriff. Thanks!

Magentasue

Do a search - the question comes up every week. Will depend on circumstances but I'm sure consensus is to use gas CH if available rather than heat individual rooms.

jo1967

Thanks - I will. I am sort of open plan downstairs so fire would warm all the rooms downstairs (dining area through arch from lounge, kitchen off dining area).

Mrs_Thrify

Hiya, so far we have managed with no heating and a well insulated 3 bed semi. My new thery is to re start having a coal fire, I have not had one for years due to the then young children throwing paper in. We are having the chimley swept next week. Hope to keep the central heating off a bit longer