Rental property - alternatives to Night Storage heaters

G_M

Werdnal wrote: »

Don't want to cut off E7 completely as useful for immersion heater.

I too wondered if the modern ones are actually more efficient than the older style, but I have been advised elsewhere that as the "internals" are pretty much the same, there is not a lot of improvement, if any, so a change would be purely aesthetic!

Again - I'm no expert but..

this seems the worst of both worlds! Surely day-time electricity is much more expensive on a Econ7 tariff?

So you heat your water cheaper at night on the emmersion but pay a fortune for the heating?

Either switch to standard tariff for everything, OR keep the Econ7 tariff and make the most of cheap night-time rates for as much as you can, while avoiding ultra-expensive day-time use as much as you can.

But maybe my knowledge is out of date - modern tariff structures might be different.

In what way is a newer rad more efficient? Surely identical.....

OK - out of my depth - just guessing:
The materials used as 'bricks' to store heat probobly heat up more quickly/economically.
They probobly retain heat better (so as naf says, if tenants are out during the day, less heat is lost and more retained for the evening.
Controls probobly more flexible/efficient.

I'm backing off now. Not my area! But you might want to check out the gas & electricuty forum. There are some knowledgable people over there.

princeofpounds

There isn't a big degree of difference between old and new night storage heaters. Any improvements are mostly in the thermal mass, the insulation and the controls. So basically they can hold more heat for a given volume, it doesn't escape as easily until the heater is switched on, and you can set it more flexibly. But we are talking incremental improvements here.

Personally i hate them with a passion. They leak heat out when you don't need it, and if you are working and mainly around in the evening they don't provide it properly when you do. So you often end up using direct heating anyway, often resorting to heating the rooms you are actually occupying.

If you are an electricty only house, insulation is king... keep that heat in any way you can!

jazabelle

I can't stand them, and whenever I've looked for a property to rent - have discounted those with this form of heating. I know I'm not the only one - so it's something to think about.

lemon26

I live in an area where the heating options are solid fuel, LPG, oil or electric as there is no mains gas connection to the islands.

The house we bought in Dec 2011 was all electric heating on Eco7 and, when we did some improvements this summer, we chose to remain all electric due to the cost of the oil installation and electric removal, cost of oil and possibility of being cut-off during the winter if the ferries don't run.

We had some old Dimplex heaters (c1985 or so) and we replaced them, like for like, with new ones. Last winter we had all of the old heaters up to maximum and we were cold (the weather last winter was very similar to this winter for us). This year we've had none of the heaters past input '3' (out of 5), we've been too warm at times and the electricity bill has been lower. They are expensive but if you haggle (I did) you can get a good deal and I think they'll pay for themselves over the next 10-15 years.

L