Cottage Heating

Raylaw

I live in an 1830’s cottage with 16” thick solid walls, so no insulation.
Windows are double glazed.
My problem is that the village has no gas supplied to it (although we’re a few miles from the Bacton Gas Terminal!) so the only choice I have is electric, LPG or oil fired central heating.
I’ve looked at LPG and oil but have come to the conclusion that due to costs and mainly the siting/accessibility of the storage tanks, that electric heating in some form is my most viable option.
At present I use standard panel heaters in the majority of the house although we do have two storage heaters in the hall and underfloor heating in the bathroom and shower room.
My electricity bill, as you can imagine is very high!
I have considered installing wet radiators with an electric boiler or one of the numerous new generation heater systems that claim to be economical because they have ceramic blocks or some such inside and only need to use electricity for 15mins per hour.
The problem of course, is that you only get salesmen trying to sell their products as the best available, and to say the least I am totally confused.
I need some form of heating that is cost efficient.
I would use more storage heaters but by midday they’ve run out of heat and the house gets cold, necessitating the use of panel heaters.
I have also looked at heat source/inverter a/c units. These do seem to be a very good option as from what I have read of peoples comments, they can be the cheapest electric powered option.
Any ideas what the best system would be?

Ken68

Have you ruled out a wood burner, Ray.

Raylaw

I did have an open fire but the wife complained about the dirt, etc.
We did use it last winter, which was much milder than this one, but it still never provided sufficient heat.
As regards a wood burner on the existing chimney, the layout of the walls do not lend themselves to installing one(i.e very limited space adjacent to chimney)

Ken68

You won't being going for one of these then....

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1997-10-01/Build-A-Stove.aspx

..these stoves are lit twice a day, allowed to roar away and let die. My Finnish neighbour had one when he lived back home.