EHC Combination radiators: any experience?

jonboy40

I live in an all-electric cottage (no gas in the village) and have actually been very happy with my Creda slimline storage heaters running on E7 for the past 18 years.

Working from home, it doesn't matter that the units aren't as controllable as conventional central heating as it suits me to have the heat all day long. It's really only during prolonged sub-zero temperatures (like we've had this winter) that the living room is a touch cooler than I would choose by the evening.

I know many people hate E7 and storage heaters but I think they tend to have a bad reputation where inadequate sized radiators have been installed. I went for the largest (3.4KW) heaters in both the main downstairs rooms while medium sized (2.5KW) units take care of the bedrooms and upstairs bathroom. Two smaller (1.7KW) units fill in the gaps in the kitchen and landing. The largest downstairs units work flat out through the winter and operate on half-input strength for autumn/spring. The other units are nearly always on half input strength from autumn to spring. All heaters have their primitive heat-release bar kept closed all the time to conserve the heat for as long as possible. Separately, I could count on one hand the number of times I've run out of hot water and needed to fire up the peak-rate booster element over the past 18 years from my 1370 x 450 sized immersion heater. Finally, I ought to mention that I've no double glazing and the loft isn't particularly well insulated at the moment...

Anyway, I'm about to have some major refurbishment done (which will take care of the loft insulation among other things!) and have begun looking at whether to change/upgrade my units.
Has anyone got any experience of the EHC electric combination radiators?
www.just-heating.co.uk/standardrad.html

They certainly look much more stylish than standard storage heaters and their bathroom/towel-rail version looks better suited to the moist environment than the standard storage heater I have at present.
I can see they've been designed to heat up quickly... but I wondered if their "integral heat storage tablets" really do hang on to that heat for very long? One thought I had would be to switch to Economy 10 (if I can) to give these lower capacity units a couple of boosts during the day rather than the fixed 7 hours overnight that I currently have on E7. But I can't see the point in having them if they will need further boosts of power during peak-rate electricity times to keep up to temperature.

Any thoughts and (especially) any direct experience of these EHC radiators would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Garz

I am no expert on these heaters as I only install the meters/switchgear on some sites. Thinking about it, if your

"I'm about to have some major refurbishment done"

then are you also installing double glazing or anything that you might be leaving out which will be an important factor to the overall efficiency of your home?

If you do a great job of insulating the property you see, you wont require as much energy to heat the place up. Another thing I would consider with them new EHC heaters is are they guaranteed for a set number of years, and how reputable are they?

I cannot see changing to the E10 tariff itself being a problem its finding the supplier which offers this and where they stand in the chain regarding overall charges. If only a couple offer this service then you are extremely limitted so you may not save ££.

jonboy40

Thanks for the reply - for various reasons, double glazing is NOT part of the forthcoming refurbishment. The biggest help with improved insulation will be in the loft.
As for the guarantee on the EHC models it's 15 years for the radiator and 2 years on the electronic controls - which feels pretty confident on the part of the manufacturer. I've contacted them separately to ask about the storage capacity of the tablets but it would be great to hear a consumer's testimonial on how well they really perform in practice.

Bwib

Hi Jonboy40,

I am very close to thinking that these particular radiators are the most cost effective choice for my own all-electric cottage.

I notice that you posted a couple of months ago and wondered if you made the decision to proceed with these and if so, how you have found them.

Any feedback would be greatfully received.

Thank you.

Cardew

Bwib wrote: »

Hi Jonboy40,

I am very close to thinking that these particular radiators are the most cost effective choice for my own all-electric cottage.

I notice that you posted a couple of months ago and wondered if you made the decision to proceed with these and if so, how you have found them.

Any feedback would be greatfully received.

Thank you.

Are you aware that these heaters give out no more heat for your money than a £20 oil filled radiator, fan heater or even granny's old 1/2/3 bar electric fire.

These adverts/websites are cleverly worded, but at the end of the day you are paying £hundreds for something that gives out no more heat for your bucks than something that costs £tens.

If you really want cheaper electric heating costs then you need to consider a Heat Pump system, or put up with the disadvantages of storage heating.