Help- Advice cheap type of heater and electricity

didi75

Hi,

I moved in recently into a 3 bedroom flat that seems to be colder inside than outside. the meter in the house is Economy 7. the house is an old house and it seems there is no insulation in the house. the whole house uses electricity. There is a cylindrical object and a small tank suspended on it in a cupboard in one of the rooms. the cylinder is not insulated. the house is fitted with dimplex heaters to the walls. which seem quite ineffective, especially down stairs. i am thinking of getting extra heaters, but not sure which wld be cheaper for me to use in the house. Another downsize of the house is that i walk nights 5 days a week and so i'm only in during the day and not at night when the electricity is suppose to be cheaper on E7. i want advice on if i can request from scotich power to change my meter to a standard rate, if capping will be cheaper for me.

waiting anxiously for advices. thanks

savemoney

It doesnt matter what heater you use, they all consume same amount of energy only difference how they use it.

If you are on E7 you need a storage heater that uses E7 at a certain time depending on your supplier

I would urge you to get some insulation and a jacket for the cylinder, its best investment you can get and often can get it done cheap. Say loft £150, walls £300, jacket for tank less than £20, draught proofing, possibly even free with a grant depending on income etc

Gas is 3 times cheaper to use as heat than electricity

didi75

thanks, but the whole building does not have any gas supply, its all electricity.

Premier_2

As you are in the property during the day, storage heaters would sound ideal (in conjunction with E7 tariff) allowing them to heat up using cheap night time electricity and dissipate that heat during the day when you want it.

But they are not cheap to buy compared to other electrical heaters.

didi75

just checked prices not cheap at all cant afford it, guess i'm stock in a cold house till i can move out, thanks for ur prompt reply

macman

Start by insulating the loft and the immersion heater, you're just throwing money away if not.

Richie-from-the-Boro

savemoney wrote: »

It doesnt matter what heater you use, they all consume same amount of energy only difference how they use it.

If you are on E7 you need a storage heater that uses E7 at a certain time depending on your supplier

I would urge you to get some insulation and a jacket for the cylinder, its best investment you can get and often can get it done cheap. Say loft £150, walls £300, jacket for tank less than £20, draught proofing, possibly even free with a grant depending on income etc

Gas is 3 times cheaper to use as heat than electricity

- I pay less than 10p - 9.876p per kWh (day) use, and ;
- I pay less than 5p - 4.816p per kWh (night) use
- 99% of all electricity per annum is heating & water
- 99% of all heating is at 5p per kWh and is delivered after midnight

"" they all consume same amount of energy only difference how they use it ""
- should read ' they all consume same amount of energy only difference how much you pay per unit for it '

"" Gas is 3 times cheaper to use as heat than electricity ""
- I don't have gas so I've no idea of the price but I'll bet a pint or 50 that gas is not 50 times cheaper, I'll even bet that gas is 3 times more expensive than off price electricity

In a block of flats you are not allowed gas over (x) levels high
If you've just moved in it takes [ yes it does ] a week to get Economy 7 to work properly
The trick is to turn the thermostat full whack for 2 days and leave the heater alone, then adjust down if you need to
If when you've turned them full whack you can even touch them in the mornings, they're kernockkerated !

You are getting all your water for the same cheap price, heat & water !

DO NOT under any circumstances "" request from scotich power to change my meter to a standard rate "" or you will pay 20p plus for the same leccy your getting for 5p minus !

Attend to the above and sort the lagging on the tank, draught proofing, a revised cheaper tarriff from Scottish Power etc, grants can be had for most of your needs, ask.

Hope this helps

Andy_WSM

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

I'll even bet that gas is 3 times more expensive than off price electricity

That's a bet you'd lose I'm afraid! Gas is between 2.5 & 3.5 pence per KW/h on Tier 2, slightly cheaper than your cheap rate electricity.

- However, always worth considering that there are no 100% efficient gas boilers out there, where as your electric heaters are 100% efficient.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Andy_WSM wrote: »

That's a bet you'd lose I'm afraid! Gas is between 2.5 & 3.5 pence per KW/h on Tier 2, slightly cheaper than your cheap rate electricity.

- However, always worth considering that there are no 100% efficient gas boilers out there, where as your electric heaters are 100% efficient.

Fair comment Andy, I wouldn't know !, however as gas is disallowed in a block of flats [ I'm assuming tower type flats ] it's academic.

- Couple of other observations : -

If the O/P is on a key meter, the cost of any supply is fantasy world prices. If she is, and her credit rating is good she [ new tenant ] can have it taken out free

If daytime heat [ only in during the day ] is what's needed, then a modern parrafin heater [ don't laugh ] is an excellent solution. Keep the valuable night price water and switch the storage heating off at the spur(s)

The ' Inverter 5006 ' heater is an example, I have one, it does not smell, it's programmable, timer based and thermostat controlled. You can plug it in and it works just like central heating, you know set the heater to come on just before you get up in the morning or arrive home etc.

Don't believe what they tell you about only using their expensive ' own brand ' fuel it works fine on Jeta1 fuel at 90p per litre.

On it's lowest setting it would go a long way to heating most of the whole flat let alone the one room used during the daytime, and cost not a single penny when the O/P is at work - very cheap running costs

The Inverter : http://www.householdinnovations.co.uk/shop/inverter-5006-32kw-portable-paraffin-heater-free-fuel-p-535.html

savemoney

I was referring to standard price, E7 will be cheaper but if depends if your set up for E7

Also my other comment was about heaters it doesn't matter what heater you get, they all consume same amount of energy the only difference is how it is given out, whether thats oil filled, ceramic heater, fan heater

didi75

presently without heating the whole i am spending btw £r 80 - 100 a month on E7.