Electric Rads or Storage Heaters

macman

davidso wrote: »

Thanks Cardew; yes I am willing to pay more for electric radiators that hang on walls and don't look like ones you'd find in a factory.

Bearing in mind my out-of-the-house-for-most-of-the-day lifestyle is there any way electric radiators are able to compete with storage heaters if they are controlled/programmed efficiently?

But are you really prepared to pay 300-350% more per kWh to heat with them?
Electric rads can certainly 'compete' on output if you spec them accordingly, but the running costs will still be non-E7 rates.

davidso

Thanks Macman, yes I know the kWh is more expensive. When I say "compete" I mean can electric radiators, programmed efficiently, compete with the storage heater E7 rates.

macman

I don't understand your question. For each kWh of power input you get out 1kWh of heat, regrdless of type of heater or programming. So a 3kW panel heater will output the same heat as a 3kW storage heater. but it'll cost you several times more per kWh. The efficiency of any electric heater is the same: 100%.
If you ditch E7 then you also lose your cheap rate water heating, so your heating and hot water bills could be more than 4 times higher.
Quite a lot to pay for a more slimline looking heater...
The only inefficiency in your case is that some heat is released in the day and lost from the house before you come home. That hardly outweighs the cost saving of E7.

rogerblack

davidso wrote: »

Thanks Macman, yes I know the kWh is more expensive. When I say "compete" I mean can electric radiators, programmed efficiently, compete with the storage heater E7 rates.

Only in unusual circumstances.
For example, if you often did not come home till midnight, the E7 heat stored during the night would be entirely wasted.

Similarly, if you only needed heat for a couple of hours a day, and have a home that cools down/heats up fast panel heaters may compete - simply as the heat leakage out of the storage radiators mostly goes to waste.

The fact that the E7 heat is a third of the price or so of normal means that most of the stored heat needs to be wasted to make it noneconomic.

For most people, who come back home at a reasonable hour, or especially who spend days at home, storage heating is much, much better value.

'Intelligent control' for panel heaters is largely a lie.
It can do no better than a 1950s thermostat, that is turned up and down automatically.

davidso

Yes, I understand that Macman. I'm asking whether it's possible that the electric radiators could be programmed to be on for less time at peak rate than the storage heaters on E7 rate. I'm not in all day when, presumably, storage heaters are releasing some of their heat so maybe there is some room for electric radiators to make a saving and compete in running costs.

My question is: Programmed intelligently around a working day lifestyle, can electric rads compete with storage heaters? Or do storage heaters, unequivocally wipe the floor with them?

davidso

Thanks rogerblack. That really addresses my question.

macman

All a programmer does is regulate the timing and the max temp. The heater is either on or off. The controls don't make the heater any more 'efficient'.

davidso

My apologies, I shouldn't be using the word 'efficient' as I don't mean it in the sense of energy in/energy out of an individual heater. I just mean can an electric heater be switched on and off by an intelligent controller and waste less heat than a storage heater and by doing so compete with the running costs of a storage heater. Rogerblack says 'no'; I'd be interested to hear any other opinions on this.

neas

Nobody can truly answer the question you want unless they know your daily business.

What you want to know if a scenario like the following were possible (i haven't got a background in this so forgive unit errors etc).

Storage heaters costs 10 units to heat the house to say 20 degrees all day (i know its prob not like that but go with me)
Panel Heater costs 2 units to heat up house to 20 degrees for a 4 hour period at night time.

Panel heater is 3x more expensive but still because of fact out all day Panelheater costs 6 units and storage heater costs 10 units.

Now add in complexity that on a saturday/sunday you stay and on that day the panelheater uses 3x the amount (12 hour period say).

So we have the following:

Panel Heating costs - Mon-Fri (6*5 days) = 30 units, Sat-Sun(18*2 days)= 36 units - Total = 66 units

Storage Heating Costs Mon-Sun (10*7 days) = 70 units.

In my fag packet scenario panel heater would be better... But i am grossly oversimplifying this. What you are asking for is some detailed analysis of YOUR usage patterns as it will totally depend on you.

Basically unless you were to use a 1/3 energy on panel heaters vs storage heaters then its a no brainer. If it were me it'd be storage heaters... but then again if it were me I wouldn't touch electric heating with a barge pole as paying for a GCH installation would recoup the extra costs in prob 5 years time easy.

Also speaking personally but electric heating is a Total put off when looking at houses to buy. First thing that pops to mind is "You want XYZ pounds and then I have to upgrade heating!!??"

davidso

Thanks for the fag packet figures Neas.

I wouldn't touch electric heating either but my mansion block does not and cannot have a gas supply, so I'm stuck with it.