Advice for OAP heating

morphy_richards

Hi,
Our next door neighbour who is quite elderly lives in a small house over 3 floors although she only really occupies her front room and bedroom. She feels the cold a lot, and has a fire on in the FR constantly, even in summer. She had a gas fire in her FR, one of the ones that heat three white ceramic(?) vertical slabs and radiate heat out until recently when she had a gas leak. Centrica (I believe) came round to attend to the leak and have sealed off most of the gas pipes around her house, including to her FR. Since then she has been using a small portable electric fan heater in her FR and I believe this is on constantly.

The last time I went around this had fallen over and was melting a hole in her carpet.

Additionally her fuel bill has now soared since the gas was cut off, I think this may be because she is using this heater constantly.

I have spoken to her and she is agreeable about getting a new fire for her front room but before I do anything I want to make sure I am doing the right thing.
I was thinking she should get a gas engineer to remove the old gas fire safely and then I could install a new electric one.

I think she needs to feel warm and that the best kind of fire for her would be one that like her old gas one, works by radiating heat out, rather than a fan version.

My main question is would a larger electric fire than the little portable fan heater save her money?
Are there any suggestions for other types of heater which would be more effective other than gas which I think is too costly for her to get new piping for.

Thanks in advance for any help.

spiro

If she requires the fire on during the day in the summer I would question when she last saw a doctor because unless she is immobile I would have thought she should be ok without it. There may be an underlying reason for feeling code.

As to having the gas cut off I would check what the engineers report says. The other problem she will have is trying to keep a 3 storey house warm when she only uses 2 rooms, this will waste loads of energy. I would see if someone like Age UK (or whatever they are called now) could give her some advice.

morphy_richards

I think she just feels cold because she is so old and she has arthritis and has various other age related ailments. She is visited by a nurse frequently. The engineers cut off all the dangerous gas piping for a few hundred pounds but it would cost a thousand pounds or therabouts to replace it properly so that she could have a proper gas fire in her front room again.
I want to help her to restore her front room where she spends most of her time to something similar to what she had before but without the gas, if possible.
I know gas is cheaper than electricity for use in things such as fires but I would like advice as to whether an electric alternative is a good idea and also - given that her elec bill has soared from about 100 to 500 + per quarter since she started using the portable, woiuld it actually be more, less or just as expensive to run a larger electric fire.
Are there any other alternatives that anyone can suggest for an efficient way of not just heating a room but actually nicely radiating warmth outwards, if you know what I mean.

tlh858

The only way you will get a cheaper electric heater is to get a night storage heater fitted and at the same time have the supply changed to E7 or equivalent.

Using electric heaters of any other type will cost a fortune, regardless of whether they are fan heaters, convectors, oil filled or anything else. A 1kW heater will use 1kW, doesn't matter what type it is.

A storage heater is probably the best option anyway, as they are far safer than portable types - they are pretty much indestructible and the worst that can happen is it will just stop working if curtains / towels or whatever are draped on to of it.

Terrylw1

If you are thinking of going the night storage heater route, I think you need more advice on here about suitability since E10 and its variants are more likely of use than E7 due to their different patterns which can include afternoon and evening as well as nighttime as opposed to the E7 pattern.

Can she qualify for support due to age & health? Having to sit in front of a fire with no gas and expensive heating is a very bad situation and I'm betting she is confused about it and just trying to carry on without making a fuss as many of that age do. However, meanwhile the supplier is happily copping the benefit on the higher elec usage.

Ensure she is on the Priority Services Register as one of the benefits is help with saving money on the supply.

Suggest you also review if she is paying too much per kwh as sometimes old folks don't switch or change tariffs as they don't like the hassle.

Mr_Thrifty

Sounds like it's time for the old dear to go into a care home. This would have the added advantage of freeing up the housing stock for people who will actually use the space (e.g. a family). Everyone's a winner.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

Sounds like it's time for the old dear to go into a care home. This would have the added advantage of freeing up the housing stock for people who will actually use the space (e.g. a family). Everyone's a winner.

- sounds like the Gestapo approach to helping a caring and considerate person hoping to alleviate the suffering and risk to their frail old neighbour
- or maybe just an eejit [idiot fool moron] with no sensible or compassionate contribution to make, just shooting off at the mouth
- either way if you have nothing helpful to say - say nowt - and avoid looking like a discriminatory agist pratt!

Mr_Thrifty

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

- sounds like the Gestapo approach to helping a caring and considerate person hoping to alleviate the suffering and risk to their frail old neighbour
- or maybe just an eejit [idiot fool moron] with no sensible or compassionate contribution to make, just shooting off at the mouth
- either way if you have nothing helpful to say - say nowt - and avoid looking like a discriminatory agist pratt!

Let me guess, you're a baby boomer occupying a large house?

My advice is sound. If the old dear is going around knocking over fires in her house without realising it, and only uses 2 rooms in a 3 storey house, then perhaps it really is time she started looking at going to live in a care home where she will have the facilities and support she needs.

Plus, then there will be an additional spacious family home on the market that is so desperately needed by today's young families (as opposed to old grannies who rattle around in it while large families cram into tiny little taylor wimpey shoeboxes).

Pincher

If you are going for electric only, an oil-filled heater is much safer.

A split air-con unit using heat pump technology is an interesting alternative. About £1,000 .

Assuming the gas supply is OK to the meter, it shouldn't be too costly to run new pipework.

http://www.rinnaiuk.com/rinn/assets/templates/shop/Downloads/3_Corporate_Downloads_PDFs/7_Fanned_Convection_Powered_Flue_Heaters.pdf

The 3.5kW 308FTR can be fitted to the front wall, from the inside, with 80mm flue hole. If the gas meter is already on the front wall, it's a very short run.

Cardew

morphy_richards wrote: »

I want to help her to restore her front room where she spends most of her time to something similar to what she had before but without the gas, if possible.
I know gas is cheaper than electricity for use in things such as fires but I would like advice as to whether an electric alternative is a good idea and also - given that her elec bill has soared from about 100 to 500 + per quarter since she started using the portable, woiuld it actually be more, less or just as expensive to run a larger electric fire.

All electrical heating is 100% efficient at producing heat, so the running costs will be the same.

As there is only one person in the house, a halogen heater like this would meet your requirements:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4150200/Trail/searchtext%3EHEATERS.htm

They beam heat toward a person/object - rather like a desk reading lamp - but don't warm the room any more than any other electrical fire of the same output. They do have the advantage of switching off if knocked over.

Extending Mr Thrifty's argument, why take up room in a nursing home? perhaps euthanasia should be considered - for the old lady - not Mr Thrifty;)

[Deleted User]

My freind is a home carer visiting the elderly all day and reports that many still have the heating on even in a heatwave. Prob best to get a fixed solid electric fire installed. Make sure she has got every benefit possible, eg attendance allownce, carers allowance. My mum now gets all that at 91 and can afford all the heating she wants. At £ 650 a week approx, for nursing home care, the authoritys do their best to keep people out of care homes and much prefer home carers visiting.