storage heaters advice?

edmond

i could be moving house in the near furture.
the house we have seen and put a offer in on has storage heaters.
I understand these charge up over night and then you release the heat during the day, i have spoken to the seller and he has confirmed that they are on a Ecom 7 tariff. is there anything i should be aware of when using these as i have never used them before.

Cassa

Hi Edmond,

I have these and find them incredibly expensive to run (cost last year £55.00 per month - alllowing for the fact they were not on at all through summer).

You need to put them on the night before for heating the following day. On the plus side my flat warm through the night in winter, also no high maintenance costs.

If I were you I would keep on eye on meter readings to see how you are going, once you move in.

Ken68

Hi Edmond, the downside of having gas central heating, apart from the capital cost, is the exhorbitant annual service charge £50 minimum, and also the pilot light being on all the time , £25 p.a.
It could be your new flat is super dooper insulated or could be made so.

Be_Happy

We've lived in many houses over the years, almost half with gas central heating and half with electric storage heaters. We now prefer storage heaters as they suit our size of house and heating requirements.

Things to remember are:

Heaters will usually have two dials - one for input and one for boost. Input controls the amount of heat taken in during night (and therefore cost of electricity, keep it as low as you can) boost controls when the heat is given out (like a fan with a vent, the higher the number you set on boost, the wider open the vent is and the quicker the heat comes out - too high and you've no heat left for evenings, so also keep it low if you want heat later in the day).

Find out the night rate hours - they vary by region. Ours are midnight to 0830 in summer and 2300 to 0730 in winter. Use washing machines, dishwashers, immersion heater, etc during night rate if possible. Day rate electricity is more expensive than usual, so be careful.

Check that house has good insulation, can make a big difference to cost.

Watch the weather forecast, you have to control heat in advance.

You may be lucky enough to have the more modern automatic heaters, which will do a lot of the controlling for you.

Watch using an extra electric fire or heater during day or evening, these can be killers on electricity cost.

Finally don't be too worried by horror stories. We've found that although cost is higher we save considerably on maintenance and we have a constant heat (even if not as warm as gas) throughout the day. Friends on gas either toast when it's on or shiver when off.

Think those are all the hints, but ask if there's anything else.

Skiduck

You have to be psychic to use storage heaters.

espresso

Ken68 wrote:

Hi Edmond, the downside of having gas central heating, apart from the capital cost, is the exhorbitant annual service charge £50 minimum, and also the pilot light being on all the time , £25 p.a.
It could be your new flat is super dooper insulated or could be made so.

I think that your pilot light [STRIKE]calculation[/STRIKE] guesstimate is a bit wide of the mark ken! I have calculated that it costs 42 pence per year, measured @ 0.6 cu ft per week while on holiday.

:eek:

kat21

try buying a boiler that doesnt have a pilot light on all the time
kat21
save even more mhunniee:o

Graham1

The first thing to do if/when you move in is to make sure you are on an electricity tariff with a good night rate. A difference between, say, 3.5p/unit and 2.3p/unit on the night rate would make a big difference on your heating costs.

Ken68

espresso wrote:

I think that your pilot light [STRIKE]calculation[/STRIKE] guesstimate is a bit wide of the mark ken! I have calculated that it costs 42 pence per year, measured @ 0.6 cu ft per week while on holiday.

:eek:

I agree 0.66/0.67 but think we have both got it wrong .Ebico gas is 2.55pkwh.....0.665 times 52 ,times 31.61= 1093kwH

espresso

kat21 wrote:

try buying a boiler that doesnt have a pilot light on all the time
kat21
save even more mhunniee:o

:rotfl:

That is rich from someone who advocates leaving the central heating on 24/7 to save money.

:rolleyes:

espresso

Ken68 wrote:

I agree 0.66/0.67 but think we have both got it wrong .Ebico gas is 2.55pkwh.....0.665 times 52 ,times 31.61= 1093kwH

Agreed, we both got it wrong!

:beer: