Electric heating vs Storage heaters and cost.

Manth

Hi, I need some advice to the advantages of storage heaters as opposed to electric heaters.
I live in a block of flats and gas isn't installed throughout so the only form of heating is electric.
At the moment we have standard convector heaters which don't blow out enough hot air and as soon as we turn them off the heat vanishes instantly so generally our flat is freezing.

Are storage heaters better in the long term and are they the same price as convector heaters or cheaper??

Any advice would be highly appreciated!
Thanks

penrhyn

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4271707

You can Google for the appliance costs, suggest looking at Dimplex.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

There is no clear cut answer to your question.

Obviously storage heaters and hot water using off-peak electricity on an Economy 7(E7) tariff are much cheaper than on a standard 24/7 tariff.

The downside is that on an E7 tariff you pay extra for the 17 hours 'peak' time electricity(than a standard 24/7 tariff)

Also storage heaters tend to 'leak' heat during the day; so if you are out at work, it is wasted heat. That said, people report that modern storage heaters retain heat better than the older models.

If you do get Storage heaters it is very important that you get the best company/tariff for E7 as the prices vary a great deal. At present Scottish power seem to have the best E7 tariffs and you can 'break even'* using only 20% of your total tariff in the 7 hours off-peak.

With storage heaters, hot water and appliances(washing machine/dryer/dishwasher) timed to go on overnight or early mornings it would be very easy to get over 50% on off-peak - more in winter.

Personally I would opt for storage heating.

* The break-even percentage is the percentage of the total electricity consumption, used in the 7 hours off-peak period, to cost less than a standard 24/7 tariff. Current(sorry) E7 tariffs vary between 20% and over 40%.

Wywth

Manth wrote: »

Hi, I need some advice to the advantages of storage heaters as opposed to electric heaters.
I live in a block of flats and gas isn't installed throughout so the only form of heating is electric.
At the moment we have standard convector heaters which don't blow out enough hot air and as soon as we turn them off the heat vanishes instantly so generally our flat is freezing.

Are storage heaters better in the long term and are they the same price as convector heaters or cheaper??

Any advice would be highly appreciated!
Thanks

Sounds like you need bigger heaters, or more of them.

Certainly look into alternative forms of heating, as well as possibilties to improve insulation of the property.

If it's a rental property, move!