Gas central heating vs Economy 7 heaters-which is better?

sterl1ng

So I was looking at one of the properties online which I'm due to see on Sat and I happened to notice these almost old school looking heaters in the living room and uopon reading property description it mentions that living room/bedroom 1 and 2 have an economy 7 heater....all my time I've had gas central heating via radiators so I wanted to know whats better as the last thing I want are higher electric bills plus in all honesty not too keen on these heaters!

Also, I don't have a tumble dryer and don't plan on buying one so how do I dry my clothes with these E-7 heaters???

I'd love to hear any E-7 heater owner expeirences. Thanks

mrsmchapman

E7 are apparently cost efficient, my mum has these heaters, however she hates them especially in the colder months as they start heat at midnight so she gets so hot but then come the evening it's chilly and you can't just turn them on for a bit of heat. She would get rid of them if she could.

HappyMJ

sterl1ng wrote: »

So I was looking at one of the properties online which I'm due to see on Sat and I happened to notice these almost old school looking heaters in the living room and uopon reading property description it mentions that living room/bedroom 1 and 2 have an economy 7 heater....all my time I've had gas central heating via radiators so I wanted to know whats better as the last thing I want are higher electric bills plus in all honesty not too keen on these heaters!

Also, I don't have a tumble dryer and don't plan on buying one so how do I dry my clothes with these E-7 heaters???

I'd love to hear any E-7 heater owner expeirences. Thanks

You will get higher electric bills but you won't have a gas bill with it's standing charges on it so in a small property of 1 or 2 bedrooms E7 storage heating costs almost the same as gas. Larger houses benefit much more with gas.

Gas central heating is better. You can turn it on whenever you want it. Most people have warmer houses overall with gas central heating.

E7 is also good but you need to turn the output down at night then take a guess at what the weather will be the next day and adjust the input dial and hope the weather isn't cooler than you think as you will run out of heat. When I had it I just kept input at maximum and output at minimum almost all the time. It costs about £1 per night per heater. You don't need storage heaters in bedrooms they can be turned off. Instead use a convector heater for instant heat in the morning (just before E7 hours finish-it'll be cheaper).

Clothes should always be dried outside whenever possible. Or...hang them in the bathroom or kitchen with the extractor fan on to remove humid air. Otherwise you'll risk condensation on walls and then mould and mildew will grow.

sterl1ng

This E7 heaters seem quite complicated...I much rather prefer GCH plus if i'm in a place that's communal garden I won't be able to dry clothes oyutside so depending on heating to dry as it does now at home in my GCH set up

G_M

The biggest cause of damp and mold is drying wet clothes on heaters in flats. Yoy must ventilate, so as advised use the bathroom and leave the window open or the extractor fan on. If the extractor fan is too weak, you'll still get problems.

E7 is a hastle.

More modern storage heaters are more efficient than old ones (ie hold the heat in better during the day while you are out and so have more heat to release in the evening) but even so gas is much more controllable.

ognum

sterl1ng wrote: »

This E7 heaters seem quite complicated...I much rather prefer GCH plus if i'm in a place that's communal garden I won't be able to dry clothes oyutside so depending on heating to dry as it does now at home in my GCH set up

How about getting a dryer or a washer/dryer rather than drying clothes on radiators?

camptownraces

sterl1ng wrote: »

all my time I've had gas central heating via radiators so I wanted to know whats better as the last thing I want are higher electric bills plus in all honesty not too keen on these heaters!

You have to learn how to manage these heaters, but once you've mastered them, you will get relatively cheap heat. There may well be times when they need to be supplemented with full price electricity, and newer E7 heaters have the option of building this in to the same heater, possibly with a fan.

It's quite likely that the property with economy 7 heaters has no gas supply.

motherofstudents

If you use a booster fan during the day you will end up with a big bill. They are not something I would choose but if there is no gas supply they are probably the best option. As above be careful about drying clothes inside or you will end up with mould caused by condensation.

zzzLazyDaisy

GCH every time. Much more efficient and responsive.

I've only had E7 heaters once, in a flat, and I would never have them again, I was always too warm or too cold, they are impossible to regulate efficiently.

CupOfChai

I loathe and detest our Economy 7 heaters. I dream of the day I can buy a house and have a proper boiler and GCH.

arbrighton

I hated the year I spent in a flat with E7 heaters. Not helped by it being badly insulated and single glazed admittedly but cold evenings and no way of getting the blinking things on at that point (they were old) then hot after I had tried to go to bed to sleep and cost me a fortune.