Replace storage heaters in 3-bed house or install gas central heating?

whytes12

Hi,

First time posting on this thread.

Having a slight dilemma before moving into first house this August. Property is 3-bed end-terraced house that currently has electric storage heaters installed. No gas into house at all - but potentially elsewhere in street.

The storage heaters are as old as the house (22 years) and pretty unsightly. Been having a look at replacing these with electric radiators and using an Economy10 tariff. Not sure what costs will be weighed up against installing a Gas system (in terms of costs of energy and installation). Any advice from past experiences would be appreciated.

Ultimately want to know if its work replacing the storage heaters straight away/keeping them/or sticking GCH system in instead.

Comments welcome. Cheers.

penrhyn

Panel heaters are not compatible with Economy 7 or 10 tariffs, they are designed for storage heaters.

DVardysShadow

Either get GCH or leave the heaters as they are, perhaps replacing them as you decorate rooms. There is no real benefit in replacing them like for like if they work

gas4you

Replace with gas ch, is my recommendation.

Get an installer who is registered on the A1 scheme and you will get an automatic grant of around £400 towards the ch for having the storage heaters removed.

HappyMJ

whytes12 wrote: »

Hi,

First time posting on this thread.

Having a slight dilemma before moving into first house this August. Property is 3-bed end-terraced house that currently has electric storage heaters installed. No gas into house at all - but potentially elsewhere in street.

The storage heaters are as old as the house (22 years) and pretty unsightly. Been having a look at replacing these with electric radiators and using an Economy10 tariff. Not sure what costs will be weighed up against installing a Gas system (in terms of costs of energy and installation). Any advice from past experiences would be appreciated.

Ultimately want to know if its work replacing the storage heaters straight away/keeping them/or sticking GCH system in instead.

Comments welcome. Cheers.

Never consider E10. That's a non starter as there are no competitive rates on that tariff.

If you must replace the heating then install GCH instead of replacing the storage heaters with new ones. If you can continue with the storage heaters you have it will cost about the same over time but if they need to be replaced then you may as well spend the money on gas.

Basically the cost of energy is about 5p per kWh for night storage and night heated hot water without ever using the boost or any other peak rate electric heating and about 3.5p per kWh for gas heating and hot water at any time which is much more convenient. You need to do a comparison in your region to see the difference. Efficiency calculations need to be taken into account but if you assume that from both you get about 80% usable heat then you can see the difference in running costs. 1.5p over 16,500kWh annual average usage less about £50 standing charges would be about £200 a year cheaper with gas than storage heating. Get the quotes for installation and divide by £200 and you will have your payback time in years and the house will increase in value by at least half of the cost of installation so it is unlikely that you would be worse off.

My advice is to keep them and save towards replacing them with gas central heating. I would do it as the first project on the new house as it can make quite a mess.

whytes12

Thanks to those who commented on this thread.

It seems that from your views (plus others I have read on other threads) GCH should be given serious consideration for this house.

My main concern was that the cost of installing GCH (plus getting a gas connection into the house) would offer little difference in cost savings in relation to upgrading the storage heater system. However this does not appear to be the case, also some have mentioned that GCH will add value to the house when it comes to re-sale.

Please feel free to add to these comments if you have similar experiences to share. Cheers.

Richie-from-the-Boro

What would you envisage 'upgrading the storage heater system' means, if you mean changing all the radiators for new ones that will be a cost dis-benefit as there is almost no additional benefit from doing so, yours are 22 years old but will still be functional in 50 years time and still maintenance free. Adding to the total amount of heat & water storage capacity in the home is a cost-effective benefit, in fact relatively cheap.

If the panels are badly scratched / damaged get them [expensive] epoxy'd or powder coated or [cheap] re-painted with radiator paint and yes it does work, but will not last a lifetime as the original factory enamel will.