Wet Electric

jcubie

We went to see a 1 bedroom (but big) flat tonight and were informed there was no gas, but it was wet electric. I've had a quick look but can't find anything definitive on it. Our monthly budget for electric is £80 (we use £55 in our current place and it's tiny. We use a 2kw convector heater if anything at all). So any info at all would be grand, I don't know what tariff it's on or anything at all and am fairly new to this whole thing.

jcubie

Also, what effect would it have on our water usage?

macman

All electric heating is expensive, about 3 times that of gas per kWh,
Why would a wet electric system affect your water usage? It's the same water going round in a sealed system.

jcubie

Fair enough. And yeah, I know it's more expensive than gas but what I mean is, is it expensive for electric heating? Like I say, we have the convector which would do fine, but if we wanted the central heating on would it be a real sting in the pocket?

macman

All electric heating costs the same for the same rated output, as it is all the same efficiency, i.e. 100%. It's going to cost you more than a 2kw convector, because it's rated higher than that and will heat the whole property-and also presumably supplies your hot water too.
So you are not really comparing like with like.

jcubie

Oh obviously the radiators depend on their rating but it's more the boiler as it's used for all other hot water

macman

I suggest you check the rating on the boiler, as that will tell you the cost when it's running full on.
So for example a 9kW boiler will cost about 90p an hour when running full on, based on 10p per kWh.

jcubie

I think we'll set up a meeting with current tennant and ask her. WAs really just asking how cheap or expensive the wet electric is

macman

As I said, its the same price as any other electric heating-expensive.

jcubie

What I'm getting at is their usual unit usage, I just need some guidelines

macman

To know that you need to know the rating of the system, which will be shown on it. Typically they can be 6 to 9kW.