i need new heaters in the house, but they need to be electric.. advise please

bobbysixkiller

had a quote from ecopower, german style heaters, but is this the best option for me? i cant get gas and only have 2 old style storage heater that is pretty lame. we just had a baby and i need something in place before the winter sets in.

sk240

Don't get ripped off by any expensive panel heaters, cheap ones from Argos etc will give out the same amount of heat for the same running cost.

In the long term if you don't have mains gas is either an oil boiler with radiators, or an air or ground source heat pump.

bobbysixkiller

sk240 wrote: »

Don't get ripped off by any expensive panel heaters, cheap ones from Argos etc will give out the same amount of heat for the same running cost.

In the long term if you don't have mains gas is either an oil boiler with radiators, or an air or ground source heat pump.

really you reckon if i kit my house out with argos ones im gonna be paying the same sort of money?

Cardew

bobbysixkiller wrote: »

really you reckon if i kit my house out with argos ones im gonna be paying the same sort of money?

Yes a £20 oil filled radiator or a £10 fan heater from Argos will produce EXACTLY the same amount of heat, for the same running cost, as any electrical heater - even those costing many £hundreds.

If you have storage heaters you probably have an Economy 7 electricity tariff. If you get normal(i.e. not storage) heaters you will need to change to a single rate tariff.

However I would really consider if it is worth carrying on with storage heaters. For all their faults, they do provide cheaper electrical heating and also on Economy 7 you heat water at off-peak rates.

bobbysixkiller

this is interesting, as i was quoted by eco power £400 for the main front room heater, and then £300 each for the bedroom and kitchen ones. the company 'claim' they run for a few pence per hour as they heat what they need and "reboil to maintain the desired heat, they also work on wifi based center.

penrhyn

Go a reputable company like Dimplex, rather than these snake oil companies.

notbritishgas

The heaters you have been quoted on will have a kilowatt rating, for example the front room one could well be 3kw, so whilst that one is drawing electric, ie the thermostat is on, it will cost in the region of 36p and hour on a normal tariff, more on an E7 tariff.

But as has been said above a 3kw heater with thermostatic control from Argos will do the same job.

The Wifi they are talking about could be a central control so you can set the different heaters to come on at different times. This is a very expensive luxory.

My advice would be to stick to storage heaters, especially if you are at home in the daytime which is when most of the heat is released. If you are intent on spending money to upgrade your heating then you can get some heaters that are both storage and panel/fan so you can get an expensive boost when the storage heat runs out

macman

bobbysixkiller wrote: »

this is interesting, as i was quoted by eco power £400 for the main front room heater, and then £300 each for the bedroom and kitchen ones. the company 'claim' they run for a few pence per hour as they heat what they need and "reboil to maintain the desired heat, they also work on wifi based center.

This is complete gobbledeygook. And how many pence is 'a few pence a hour'? A 3kw heater will cost 30p per hour if your unit rate is 10p per kWh, whether it costs £400 or £20.
As pointed out already, unless you want to pay a premium for all your non-cheap rate heating, you will have to switch from E7 to a single rate tariff, so you will then pay much more for your hot water. Did your snake-oil salesman bother to mention that?

Cardew

As you can read, the concensus of opinion is to keep storage heaters - especially if someone is home all day with the new baby.

If the storage heaters run out of heat, then use a £10 fan heater or £20 oil filled radiator to supplement.

All heaters have their own thermostat, it will only cost a few pounds to plug them in to programmable sockets - even remote control is available.

If you stay with storage heating, you need to ensure that you are on the best tariff for Economy 7 as the prices vary tremendously. Scottish power seem to have the cheapest at the moment.

bobbysixkiller

guys thanks for the information, this is a total surprise and im glad i stopped here first. i think we will just keep what we have and possible add one to the babies room.

macman

But make sure you are on the cheapest E7 tariff for your region, as they do differ greatly. Use a comp site with your annual kWh usage tand split to find out.