30KWH daily usage!

madmatthewd

Thank you everybody..

Just to confirm, Yes I am currently on Scottish Power, as they appear to have the best rates..
After looking into my storage heater, it suggests it charges over a 7 hour period (hence economy 7 tariff!) and uses 24WH to charge..

So, I turned my storage heater off last night, and submitted meter readings both before and after..

According to the Scottish power website, I am averaging 12KWH when the storage heater is off.


Now to consider how many hours I would need to use a 2KWH convection heater, AND if it would be much better value, If I changed to a set priced daytime tariff..


Thanks for everybody's help and advice, it is highly appreciated!

HappyMJ

madmatthewd wrote: »

Thank you everybody..

Just to confirm, Yes I am currently on Scottish Power, as they appear to have the best rates..
After looking into my storage heater, it suggests it charges over a 7 hour period (hence economy 7 tariff!) and uses 24WH to charge..

So, I turned my storage heater off last night, and submitted meter readings both before and after..

According to the Scottish power website, I am averaging 12KWH when the storage heater is off.


Now to consider how many hours I would need to use a 2KWH convection heater, AND if it would be much better value, If I changed to a set priced daytime tariff..


Thanks for everybody's help and advice, it is highly appreciated!

I would use the storage heating Friday and Saturday nights...so the house is warm on Saturday and Sunday when you are home all day. On weekdays I would think that you would be better off using a convection heater for a few hours late in the evening only (if you use the storage heating it's likely the heat would have run out by then anyway).

Wywth

madmatthewd wrote: »

...After looking into my storage heater, it suggests it charges over a 7 hour period (hence economy 7 tariff!) and uses 24WH to charge...

It's not normal for a storage heater to have to heat up all 7 hours to reach it's normal heat capacity. Once out is fully heated up, it would thermostatically cut out. (and possibly back in again later if still within the 7 hour period)

30kWh per day does seem large.
But then so does 12kWh per day just on the day rate considering you have night storage heaters for heating purposes.

18kWh per night when the NSH is on, and presumably you heat your water tank too taking advantage of the low rate electricity, is not abnormal. (equates to about a £1 a day, which is not bad at this time of year )

Wywth

HappyMJ wrote: »

(if you use the storage heating it's likely the heat would have run out by then anyway).

Not if the system was correctly sized when installed.

Although the decision of the OP to only use one NSH at present may upset that balance, but presumably not currently else they wouldn't continue to just use one NSH. (That may change as the still colder weather arrives)

HappyMJ

Wywth wrote: »

Not if the system was correctly sized when installed.

Although the decision of the OP to only use one NSH at present may upset that balance, but presumably not currently else they wouldn't continue to just use one NSH. (That may change as the still colder weather arrives)

I'm quite sure that one storage heater in a 2 bedroom flat will not be correctly sized.

Wywth

HappyMJ wrote: »

I'm quite sure that one storage heater in a 2 bedroom flat will not be correctly sized.

The OP doesn't say there is only one NSH installed, just that they only use one. That is presumably their own choice and, in the current mild circumstances, not currently causing any heating issues

Richie-from-the-Boro

There's a huge range of opinion on [public- not heating engineer] the design use of night store. People fall into two distinct camps. Those that (1) believe it takes about a week with all storage heaters in the property on whatever the lowest comfortable setting [damper permanently closed and never opened] to balance the fabric temp of the dwelling to the input needs of all stored heat in the dwelling. I fall into this camp, and believe that you have to invest in this apparent 'waste' of 7 days heat, and continually maintain it between the September & Easter.

- and

Those that (2) believe nothing of the sort, and treat the storage heater as a 'stand alone' source of heat, damper open / damper closed / adjusted up or down each night / in other words treat it as any other electric fire / convector / giver of heat. This group do not subscribe to 'fabric temperatures', the idea that after a week or so the plaster / bricks / walls etc are a container of residual heat. This group believe in over-provident meagre input.

Group (2) believes that in the assumption is that any extra heat left in the storage radiator at say midnight is wasted whereas group (1) believes it is not, its absorbed for example into the wall the storage radiator is bolted to, and becomes part of the fabric of the dwelling.

A storage radiator will take 24-36 hours to come fully 'on stream' from cold. Heat from it is then (1) absorbed into the fabric of a room and (2) lost through infiltration. There is however a benefit [assuming as I often preach] the home has reasonable insulation and the heater is on an Internal wall .. .. that wall is, and is of itself, a reservoir of heat after a day or 3 of operation, and importantly will continue to give benefit till next Easter when the heating is finally turned off, indeed the fabric temperature of the room itself is raised and available as a heat source.

Fabric : a conduction loss / elements ; structure windows walls roof and floor
Infiltration : heat losses, ie warm air from within the home escaping to the outside
U-value : the overall coefficient of heat transmission
Chimney : fit an effective restrictor or you have a 365/24 hole in your heating assumptions
Bedrooms : storage in the main living areas and hall and only ever direct acting in bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms

NOTE: Its still mild [relatively] at the moment, this debate will change considerably over the next 13-16 weeks. Its entirely possible that madmatthewd's unusual 8 hour use of a small bedroom .. .. not average size living room for 'living' in will throw up some anomalous outcomes on cost. It will however be of no use to anyone but madmatthewd because its a 'differing from the typical' use of a dwelling and its heating system.

chris1973

Now to consider how many hours I would need to use a 2KWH convection heater, AND if it would be much better value, If I changed to a set priced daytime tariff..

Depending on your comfort threshold and the size of the room plus the insulation level, even on a standard tariff of around 12p/kwh it will cost you upto 24p per hour to run a single 2kw convector heater, so effectively it may not work out much cheaper than the cost of the storage heaters. Given that most rooms (according to a room size heat input calculator) require 3kw to 4kw worth of heat to keep them warm when its 0c outside, chances are the thermostat won't be doing much switching on / off either.

In addition, there will be times when you will have to use the immersion heater, these are rated at 3kw and will cost an additional 36p per hour to run on a 12p standard tariff, it will take at least 60 to 90 minutes to heat an average sized cylinder, so factor in at least 36p to run this.


Personally I bought one of these

http://www.charliesdirect.co.uk/products/inverter-3016-portable-paraffin-heater-3kw

I run it on Heating Oil Kerosene (as do many here) and its running costs equate to less than about 6.5p - 7p per KW/H which isn't much more than E7 off peak Electricity and a hell of a lot better than current E7 daytime tariffs of upto 20p/kwh

I get the best of both worlds now. I time the washer/dryer to come on during the E7 periods along with the immersion heater and storage heaters (weekends only), during the week day evenings or very cold periods I top up the flat with fully controllable heat from the Inverter Heater for a few hours, which costs no more than 7p per KW.

(Suck on that Npower)

Yes, you have the cost of the heater to factor in, however I found a similar heater based on the above design from Ebay (Italy) and the cost is less than £150, delivered to the UK from a seller with 100% feedback

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170774266332?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

You probably also use E7 electricity to heat your immersion heater, so don't forget to factor in the cost of running that on standard electricity tariff!.

Cardew

chris1973 wrote: »

Personally I bought one of these

http://www.charliesdirect.co.uk/products/inverter-3016-portable-paraffin-heater-3kw

I run it on Heating Oil Kerosene (as do many here) and its running costs equate to less than about 6.5p - 7p per KW/H which isn't much more than E7 off peak Electricity and a hell of a lot better than current E7 daytime tariffs of upto 20p/kwh

Yes, you have the cost of the heater to factor in, however I found a similar heater based on the above design from Ebay (Italy) and the cost is less than £150, delivered to the UK from a seller with 100% feedback

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170774266332?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

You probably also use E7 electricity to heat your immersion heater, so don't forget to factor in the cost of running that on standard electricity tariff!.

Presumably your property is well ventilated and you don't suffer from dampness?

Paraffin heaters used regularly produce huge amounts of water.

Wywth

... and often stink, especially when warming up.

Where do you get the cheap paraffin from? Legislation prevents it being sold in large sized packs (unless the supplier is prepared to do a lot of paperwork) and it normally costs about £6.95 for 4 litres even for the cheap stuff around here.

The days of taking the jerry can to the local garage and buying it from the pump for 10 bob a gallon have long gone for most of us.