Need some advice on what type of heating system to put into my house

cwse07004

I am looking to put in a new heating system in my house, currently I have electric storage heaters that are expensive to run and they don’t even give off a good enough heat. Gas is not an option in my area so I have had 2 plumbers round so far to give me options. The options that have been suggested to me is, a wet electric heating system which is cheap and easy to put in (about £2,500) but obviously expensive to run and won’t get any cheaper with the price of electricity. Another option that was suggested was the wet electric heating system with an accumulator boiler that would heat up on my Economy 7 tariff and would be distributed to the radiators as I need it, but the plumber was unsure about the running costs of having this type of system.
Another option was the woodburning stove, it was a bit more expensive to install at £3,500. Obviously the benefits are, it would do a damn good job of heating the house because of the open plan rooms and staircase that I have but the problem would be sourcing the wood and mainly keeping that would dry, though I do have a shed for this. It would also mean that I would need to keep some of the storage heaters as a backup.

I was looking to get some advice from those that have installed either of these options on the pros and cons of the options as 1 of the plumbers is pushing for the electric central heating and the other plumber is pushing the woodburning stove idea. Also if anyone has any better suggestions, that would be really helpful. My house is a 2 bedroom house on 2 levels. 7.5 x 5.5m on both levels with a roof height of just over 2m on each floor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cardew

Firstly I cannot see any point in getting a 'wet electric system' for that price.

For a few hundred pounds you can get some thermostatically controlled plug-in panel heaters(wall mounted or free standing). They can either have a built in timer, or connected via a timer plug - it is even possible to have a remote control for each heater. So a fully flexible system with individual control of each radiator. Obviously expensive to run - like any electrical heating system.

The thermal heat store option will mean a huge tank. You have to weigh the cost advantages of getting 7 hours cheap rate electricity with paying a premium for the other 17 hours. The choice of tariff is critical - as with any off peak system.

Wood burning stove??? How often in the year would you want to use it? Hardly a flexible central heating system with timer and thermostat!!

marcy_2

Hi
I am in exactly the same position as you! Some other options would be the renewable heat options, like solar panels, wood and pellet stoves/boilers, air pumps etc.. There is a grant available at the moment for these options if you live in an area without gas and an incentive is going in next year that will help with the running costs . For convenience alot of people keep recommending oil to me, and using the woodburner/panels as a back up. I think it may depend on how much you have to spend, and how long you want to spend living at the property. I have some storage heaters too and I am dreading the price of running them as I know electric seems to be considered one of the most expensive options.
Good luck and let me know what you decide!