Storage Heaters on E7 or Electric Radiators on standard rate?

Bidello

Thanks a lot for replying.

Well my rates do sound quite high compared to yours HappyMJ. I have yet to move into the property and haven't been shopping around for a cheaper plan/provider, I am currently on the standard plan the flat came with when we bought it back in january.

I imagined the actual usage was going to be less than what I calculated, but your comments definitely help in having a more "scientific" view of the whole thing, thanks.

Yes the bedrooms are upstairs, just above the big lounge/kitchen where the storage rads are. I thought as well that having the storage rads on at off peak rate would even save me to turn the panel heaters on in the morning as the heat would just rise from downstairs.

And yes I was told storage heaters would not keep the temp as high as 21 ºC (well I could do even with something lower then:p).


This bit is interesting:

HappyMJ wrote: »

The 4 hours per day/evening calculation works on weekdays....but fails miserably on the weekends when you are home all day requiring 12 hours of heating. When I lived in a property with storage heating I only ever turned it on on Friday and Saturday night and used peak rate electric heating and the coal fire all the other times which is similar to what I do now except I don't have any storage heaters.

and confirms what people say about storage rads: they're good if you're at home.

Then again, the "safest" option is be to get combined storage heaters for downstairs and see how it goes.

I could simply keep the storage rads off during the week, and use the built-in convectors. Thinking it through it wouldn't be the same though, would it? The cold bricks in the storage heater would absorb some heat from the convector, thus reducing efficiency...?

Something in between could be the solution: one large storage heater (i.e. the 3.4 KW) to be used on weekends, and some panel heaters controlled by a good thermostatic system (zones).


Obviously the hardest thing for me now is to make a decision without any previous experience on electric heating.:o

Thanks again ;-)

HappyMJ

You need to use the panel heaters extremely sparingly especially on an E7 tariff. Only an hour or 2 maximum each day on average. The storage heaters will give you an amount of background heat and not require as much usage of the panel heaters later in the evening. My house was very cold every time I came home in the middle of winter and did require a lot of usage just to get the temperature up enough to be able to take my coat off. Luckily I had a coal fire supplied with free coal which saved a fortune but it took quite a while to heat up too.

Bidello

Ehehe, very true.

Oh well if it was all that easy I would't be pestering people on this forum eh?!?:D

Thanks a buch again for your comments;)