Electric Ceiling Heating

Danny_t65

Hi All,

I have been following this forum for a while and would be grateful for some advise from you experts! I have just purchased a 1 bedroom flat, it was built in the 1970's and has Electric Ceiling heating, apparently this was a new craze in the 70's which never took off. The living room and bedroom both have thermostat control so i can control the temperature of the room. In my previous property i had GCH and i just sussed it out before i moved out! My Girlfriend and myself work full time and get in at 6pm ish, with our GCH i used to leave the heating on all the time during the winter month and just turn the thermostat down when we weren't there for long periods, i found this kept the house warm and stopped the boiler working so hard to get to an ambient temperature from cold! I noticed my bills were cheaper than that of the previous year when i didn;t leave it on all the time.

In my new flat with the electric ceiling heating, i take it that it would be cheaper to just turn on the heating when i arrive home as it wouldn't take long to heat up? (i think?) I have got a horrible feeling the electric ceiling heating will cost me a fortune! Has anyone got any advise for how i can keep my electric costs down ie. install storage heaters etc.

Many Thanks in advance

Danny

macman

Any form of electric heating running on a non-E7 tariff is going to cost you about 3 times more than heating by gas CH.
I can quite understand why it never took off, since the laws of physics tell us that heat rises-so heating from the ceiling is not going to warm your ground floor very effectively.
I suspect that you'll do better to abandon it and install E7 storage heaters if gas is not available.

Danny_t65

I am the on the first floor so i suppose i will get a little heat from downstairs! I suspect you could be correct in regards to install E7 storage heaters. Has anyone had any experience of electric ceiling heating?

Regards

Danny

macman

Is this a hot air system, or some upside down version of underfloor heating, with elements buried in the plaster?

Danny_t65

Its electric mats that are installed in the ceiling underneath the loft insulation, its then controlled by thermostats in each room.

macman

Will probably do a better job of heating the loft than the first floor then...

Danny_t65

To be fair it does seem to work ok, im just concerned about what it will cost to use, and weighing up the cost of putting E7 storage heaters and if i will recoup my money back as im only likely to be living there for a couple of years.

macman

If it's running on standard rate it's costing you about 10p per kWh. Gas is about 3p per kWh.
I would have thought that having such a system as the only heating option would seriously devalue the property, in the same way that having gas CH increases the value.
Switch everything else off, put the ceiling heating on full for an hour and measure what it's using at the meter.

Danny_t65

Thats not a bad idea actually, i will give that a go when i move in next week! Thanks

macman

Prepare to get a shock then...

Danny_t65

yep, i miss my GCH already!!