Dare I dump my storage heaters?

cagreen13

Hello, I'm looking for advice and opinions as I'm getting very confused! I live in a 2 bedroom detached bungalow which is really difficult to heat. I currently use storage heaters, on Southern Electric's Super Deal tariff. Unlike most people I don't hate storage heaters - in fact I quite like them. Although I do have some problems with the cold in the winter I think that's because some heaters are old and need replacing. I work at home 2 days a week, and my office can get very cold, so the storage heater in that room stays on most of the year. I've always thought that because I was at home during the day I was better off with storage heaters, who store their energy at night. I don't have to worry about whether to turn the heating on in the day as my friends with gas boilers do. I also believed storage heaters were cheaper than gas, if you take the maintenance costs into account. I've also heard all sorts of horror stories about boilers breaking down- I've never had a day's trouble with my storage heaters.

However I emailed the Energy Saving Trust for advice about whether storage heaters or central heating was most cost efficient, and to my surprise they told me that gas central heating was cheaper.

So now I don't know whether to upgrade my storage heaters (which I've grown quite attached to!) or go over to gas. It's a big decision and I don't want to end up spending thousands on a gas central heating system only to find my bills have gone up. Can anyone help?

PS - before anyone asks, yes I have my loft and cavity walls insulated, and double glazing!

HappyMJ

Your house should not be cold for most of the year if it's well insulated. Unless by most you mean 7 months which is technically most. Gas heating is cheaper over time and if you use an average amount. How many storage heaters do you have? How many gas heated radiators would you install? For very small properties 1 or 2 bedrooms the savings by switching to gas become smaller so you won't save much by switching but you technically will save a small amount. What do you spend on night storage heating at the moment? What's the breakdown of your day rate and night rate? Units used and unit cost.. What do you use to heat the water?

Replacing storage heaters with storage heaters will not save you anything. You are correct in saying if you are home in the day then it's much more economic to use night storage as it's heat is released when you are there rather than when you are out. But still gas is slightly cheaper.

cagreen13

How cold I am really depends on the weather. The minute the sun comes out it's fine, but on damp drizzly days, even in spring or summer, it can get cold. I really don't know how else to insulate - I moved in 7 years ago and had the loft and cavity walls done then, and double glazing, so it's all quite new. It's certainly better than it was before I had the work done.
Currently I have one very old storage heater (big, brown, probably from the 60s) in the hall, a new Dimplex one in the bedroom, another new Dimplex in my office, and an older (80s or 90s?) one in my living room.
I don't think of my bungalow as small - the living room is the same size you'd get in an average semi, and the storage heater in there doesn't heat it well. In the coldest days of winter I have to either put an electric fire on or sit in my bedroom.
According to my last bill (November 2010 to March 2011) I used 446 units of day energy (14.96p each), 82 units of night energy (6.39p each) and 3781 units of stored heat energy (5.10p each). The bill came to £287.43. I know it doesn't sound a lot but I live on my own and heating is my only big use of electricity.
I don't know how many radiators I would have - I imagine one to replace each storage heater. I don't know much about central heating or different types of boiler, as since I left home I've only ever had to deal with storage heaters!
I don't really want the expense of a whole new central heating system unless it would save a good amount.

HappyMJ

You need to change tariffs. That's an awful rate. Due to the meter having 3 registers it would involve a meter change. Anyway, the heating bit is seperate so easy to work out. You are using about 40kWh of energy per day to heat the house over winter. That's about right. If you switched to gas you will use more to do it being not 100% efficient so let's say 50kWh per day however the unit rate is much cheaper at about 3 pence per kWh so you could save about 50p per day. About £180 per year. The water would also be heated by gas and that would save you even more as it doesn't look like you are using your night rate to heat that. If you are using your day rate to heat water then you could save a further 33p per day (assuming 3kWh of hot water used per day). About £120 per year. So you could save £400 per year by switching to gas. Now the negatives. Gas requires annual maintenance. Gas will have a standing charge unless you already have it.

However, if you switched to a good E7 tariff you could get your day secondary rate right down to about 12p per unit and your night rate down to 4p per unit or even less. Then the savings would be much less.

edit: I haven't calculated the savings from your use of the electric fire at peak day rates.

cagreen13

Thanks for that - a lot of calculations in a short time! I tried using a comparison site but as I have a meter with three rates I wasn't able to use the service. Do you know of any I could use? Installing gas would be so expensive I'd rather try switching first, to see if I could get my bills down. However part of me would be sorry to leave Southern Electric - I have had problems with my meter in the past and their customer service has been excellent.
I forgot to mention I do have a standing charge, 23.12p per day.
And I don't use electric fires much, so that shouldn't have too much of an impact.
Thanks again.

HappyMJ

Do you want to change the meter?

If so then just use any site and pick Southern Electric's standard tariff and pick E7. Use the combined night and heat figures for the night figure on the comparison. The savings will NOT be accurate but the final bill will be close. You'll have to compare manually.

macman

Installing gas CH will probably pay for itself when you come to sell the property. It will definitely increase the value of the house-many buyers would not even consider a property without CH.

cagreen13

Thanks both of you - you've given me a lot to think about. Central heating will be something to aspire to when I can afford it, but in the meantime I'll look at different E7 tariffs. I'm kicking myself for being so think and not thinking about adding the night rate and storage rate together before! Duh!
By the way I've just realised I should have posted this on the heating board - sorry.