best heating option?

I_HATE_BRITISH_GAS

Hi all, I live in a medium sized cottage and I have a great logburner that heats most of the house up, I have no central heating and rely on 4 small storage heaters (kitchen/lounge/downstairs toilet/bathroom) to take the edge off things in the morning until I light my logburner at teatime (or in the mornings if its really cold).

The problem is my electric bill is coming to £40+ a week (economy7) and its not like im hammering it :mad:, So I got into thinking what heating alternatives are out there?

I would need something for my conservatory, and maybe the lounge for in the daytime and have been wondering what type of heating to go for, ive seen those delonghi oil heaters at a house I was working at recently and they seemed to heat up big rooms but I dont know about the running costs. I would also need something with a thermostat so I could control the heat eg - frostwatcher mode as so even when I wasnt in the conservatory I could leave it on and it would prevent it from going really cold/damp.

So I leave it to you great guys: What types of heating are out there for me bearing in mind (as you can probably tell by the fact im on a forum called moneysaving expert;)) that the buying cost and the running cost are a considerable factor in my overall decision.

Thanks:beer:

HappyMJ

If you are going to use more peak rate heating than E7 heating then you would be best changing your tariff to a 24/7 rate but it will be costly.

E7 heating is the cheapest even with a small amount of top up heating in the evening at peak day rates.

Check your insulation is as deep as it should be. Thick insulating curtains on the windows and all draughts are excluded.

The delonghi radiators are very expensive and usually rated at 3kW. Multiply that by your day unit rate and you have your running costs.

I_HATE_BRITISH_GAS

Ive already got LOADS of insulation and thick curtains, draughts sorted etc, Ive also got a couple of gas fires that I could use (carbon monoxide detectors and fire alarms fitted in almost every room) do you think this will be cheaper than using electic? My only reservation with gas is it seems to make my place moister. I have also toyed with the idea of fitting removable insulated panels onto the inside roof of the conservatory during winter months, do you think this would make a lot of difference to a conservatory? Thanks.

HappyMJ

Do these gas fires use bottled gas? They don't have a flue so you need to keep the window slightly open. The exhaust when cleanly burning consists of carbon dioxide and water. The running costs are quite high. The cheapest I have seen is 16.5p per kWh.

Ben84

I_HATE_BRITISH_GAS wrote: »

Ive already got LOADS of insulation and thick curtains, draughts sorted etc, Ive also got a couple of gas fires that I could use (carbon monoxide detectors and fire alarms fitted in almost every room) do you think this will be cheaper than using electic? My only reservation with gas is it seems to make my place moister. I have also toyed with the idea of fitting removable insulated panels onto the inside roof of the conservatory during winter months, do you think this would make a lot of difference to a conservatory? Thanks.

Is this mains gas or bottle gas? If you have mains gas in the house, that's almost certainly your best low cost heating fuel. You can get wall heaters that take in outside air to burn and vent outside, so there would be no issues with damp from using them.

The cost for bottles gas is actually I believe normally more than electric now, so aside from power cuts I wouldn't be using bottled gas any more for cost and safety reasons.

travellerboy

I_HATE_BRITISH_GAS wrote: »

............... insulated panels onto the inside roof of the conservatory during winter months, do you think this would make a lot of difference to a conservatory? Thanks.

A Conservatory is another word for Greenhouse, they are not regarded as habitable rooms under building regulations as they can not comply with the heat loss requirements ( U value). As you know they are unbearably hot in summer and cold in winter.

I have fitted wooden battens on the inside of my conservatory roof and insulated with 1" thick foil wrapped insulation against the battens (equal to 6" mineral wool), then covered the inside with uPVC lightweight cladding for a cosmetic finish. Now the room is more acceptable to living in both summer and winter but still has a lot of heat loss thro the double glazing and floor, but has been significantly improved. The loss of light due to the now covered roof is hardly noticeable, in fact I prefer the internal appearance, more like a summer house.