Fischer Storage Heaters

matelodave

Probably the easiest way is to look at how many kwh a year she used on gas and then multiply it by the cost of electricity at peak rate. Because you'll need roughly the same number of kwh to keep similar temperatures whether it's produced by a gas central heating system, super duper Fischer Heater or even a £50 Argos Oil Filled radiator.

Don't forget that Fischer radiators are not storage heaters, they use peak rate electricity so you are paying full price, they do not benefit from E7 tariffs

So say you used 12000kwh of gas at 3p a kwh you'd pay around £360 a year.
If you used peak rate leccy at 12p a kwh it would only cost you £1440 which works out at about a £1000 a year extra

Cardew

Typo above - it is 12,000kWh.

The first, and most important, point to make is that any electrical heater will produce the same amount of heat, for the same running cost. So the 7 heaters for £8,800 will not produce more heat for £xxx running cost than 7 heaters from Argos(or similar) costing £10 each.

Taking a reasonable gas consumption of 12,000kWh pa at 3p/kWh it would cost £360 plus the daily standing charge.

You then have to consider the lower efficiency of gas central heating against the 100% efficiency of ANY electric heating. So you might only need, say, 10,000kWh of electricity to produce the same amount of heat as 12,000kWh gas. That will cost(at 12p/kWh) £1,200 pa plus daily standing charge.

You then have to take into account that water will have to be heated by electricity and not much cheaper gas.

Lastly consider the effect that removing Gas CH, and having electric heating, will have on the value of the flat, either for resale or renting. Ask any estate agent for their views and electric heating will devalue the property considerably. The first thing IMO any sensible owner would do is re-install gas CH!!

So IMO it would be absolute madness to remove gas CH, and to compound this by paying £8,800 for electrical heaters is simply unbelievable.

lstar337

EJB wrote: »

Attended my widowed sister in law at her modern flat for a Fischer Reps visit.....2 beds good sized rooms.
She has gas central heating but it requires a new boiler and is looking at about £6000 to update the system.
The quote for 7 Fischer heaters all in is £8,800 (After the normal Reps waltz!) plus £1.100 interest for payment over 4 to 5 years.

Just going by your install costs, fixing the GCH is already cheaper than the Fischer heaters.

A few points:

1. I take issue with the GCH cost, I think you could do better than £6000.

2. If you went for the electrical heating you would not only need to pay to have it installed, but also have the wet GCH system removed.

3. You would possibly need the hot water system modified.

Add in those extra costs with the increase in running costs illustrated by Cardew and matelodave, and the decrease in property value due to the electrical heating system, it starts to look very poor value indeed.

Stick with the GCH, just get a few quotes for the upgrade/repair. I have seen quotes near that for a new full system install. A boiler upgrade and a few tweaks to the current system should be much cheaper!

Jim_C_Wilson

Our experience of Fischer's dreadful service might be of interest. We bought one 1900 watt heater in July 2016. It cost £1567. (I mentioned this on the Trustpilot website and I've been told that my review will be removed because I disclosed the price.)
The heater was installed eventually on 31st October and has malfunctioned since (I'll spare you all the details). Three times, Fischer employees were to call and didn't turn up. Promised phone calls didn't materialise.
The thermostat has been 'reset' repeatedly by me personally and by Fischer, via the phone. A new thermostsat (sent by post) and a new receiver did not solve the problems.
I had concerns about the heater being attached to a 15 amp fuse which already served an older 1300 watt heater and six sockets. It took ages to get Fischer to state in an email that the arrangement was satisfactory.
An earlier review of all this I put on Trustpilot was removed because I mentioned I had contacted the CAB and they had forwarded details to Trading Standards. These facts were described as defamatory.
On 7th March, Fischer phoned me to suggest the problems might be solved if I took down a mirror in my hall! I did this. Nothing changed.
Obviously, in view of all this, I cannot comment on the running costs: the heater is off when it should be on, and on when it should be off.
I can add, without comment, that most of the reviews of Fischer on Trustpilot are 5-star and glowing.

David_Aston

Jim
Thanks for your thorough post. I must imagine you might not have purchased said heater, if you had previously looked through this thread! I suppose only buying one, is some kind of solace?

poppity

I have just finished reading this whole thread, and have joined MSE specifically to be able to post my sincere thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to post such useful information.

I I have just moved into a new house with a small baby and found the heating system doesn't really work at all....I was about to spend upwards of 10k I don't have on radiators that would have left me with crippling bills.

I am gutted that the so-called-solution I had pinned my hopes on won't work, but so relieved that I found out before I spent any money on it. Back to the drawing board for me....

It really isn't easy to find unbiased information about these products in the public domain, but this thread and its links to the ASA are invaluable. Thank you.

CashStrapped

poppity wrote: »

I have just finished reading this whole thread, and have joined MSE specifically to be able to post my ........

Glad you found it helpful poppity.

What is your current heating set-up? Maybe we can help/advise.

poppity

Thanks for the offer, I need all the advice I can get!

My current system is bungalow, with a multi fuel burner in the living room which is supposed to power the heating system and hot water, (although there is an electric element in the tank also). To keep the burner going from 7am-10pm (keeping room warm enough for baby) takes 10kg of coal and 10kg of wood per day, but although this creates a big fire in the burner, and therefore heats this one room, it doesn't trigger the hot water or heating system.

Two different hetas engineers have told me the system as it is setup could never have worked, too many radiators, too many rooms etc, and they suspect various bits were put together second hand that don't work together simply in order to get the sale through...., Realistically what we've got is a load of pipework and a fire in the living room that can heat that room, so a complete rethink is needed.

The heatas engineer suggests is I put in an oil tank, oil boiler, smaller hot water cylinder and new radiators in the bedrooms which would get us affordable hot water and could run the radiators for the bedrooms off this system for between £4 and £5k. As for the rest of the house, he said he wasn't sure what to suggest as any solution would be very expensive.

The previous owner had used electric storage heaters in the past, I assume, as its an economy 7 meter, hence my interest in the 'new' 'future' heaters (!). I gather from reading this thread that putting back in Dimplex or other night storage heaters might be my best option for heating but I have two things I'm stuck on if anyone could help:

1, How to work out how many to buy and what wattage and
2. what to do to get hot water. At the moment the immersion element on economy 7 day time rate is horribly expensive.

Its a bungalow and a u shape, so every room has at least 2 outside walls, and although it does have very good loft insulation it does lose heat. Thanks.

ChaunceyGardiner

Does each room already have a radiator?

poppity

There are some radiators, one per room, but not enough I think even if they worked. Eg bedroom 5.2m x 4.2m with 1 90x90" window and 2 60 x 60" windows and 1 radiator