Replacing my Night Storage Heaters options?

crofts11

Hi Everyone, I have a bit of a query for anyone out there who knows this type of thing and can help.

We can only get electricity in our house this is the same for the whole area so we are running with 13+ year old night storage heaters, well only 1 really which heats most of the house. the room is the centre of the house and about 15x15m

This one heater combined with our water heater is killing us but with a very young family (2 under 2) we are left with no options but to use the heater.

Now I have been told that I can change this storage heater and put something more economical in but I have no idea what that would be?

Please can someone recommend a good option for us??

many thanks,

Tom and family

Wywth

crofts11 wrote: »

Hi Everyone, I have a bit of a query for anyone out there who knows this type of thing and can help.

We can only get electricity in our house this is the same for the whole area so we are running with 13+ year old night storage heaters, well only 1 really which heats most of the house. the room is the centre of the house and about 15x15m

This one heater combined with our water heater is killing us but with a very young family (2 under 2) we are left with no options but to use the heater.

Now I have been told that I can change this storage heater and put something more economical in but I have no idea what that would be?

Please can someone recommend a good option for us??

many thanks,

Tom and family

Any electrical heater more economical than a night storage heater will cost a heck of a lot to buy.
It doesn't sound like you could afford that at the monment.

Rather than us trying to double guess what someone has told you, and whether or not it was correct, why don't you first clarify with them what they were telling you and then ask specifically about it if you want a second opinion?

Btw, 1 storage heater foir a whole house doesn't seem correct. Who installed it, and/or have you removed some?
You might be better off having the existing system surveyed and improved rather than ripping it out to start again.

lstar337

Storage heater is the cheapest way to heat your electric only home.

If your heater has automatic charge control, I doubt there is much an upgrade will do.

If it is manual/no charge control, best to look at somebody like Dimplex and get one of their newer slim storage heaters with automatic charge control. This should help with your usage.

If your house is cold, you might want to go for a bigger capacity heater (3.4kWh). This will up your consumption, but keep you warmer.

Check your hot water tank too, it needs good insulation to keep its heat and save you money. See my post here for some cheap ways to reduce your heating cost. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=60599435&postcount=15

macman

If you switch away from E7 then your heating and hot water bills will rise by 250-300%.
An NSH is the most economic form of electric heating, but it has to be working properly and of sufficient capacity to provide enough heat. One heater for a whole house won't do the job.

crofts11

Thanks for the input. We only have the 1 heater on, we are a mid terrace 2 up 2 down and the heater is under the open stair case so all the heat goes up from it and into the upstairs, the kitchen is always an ice box but we just close it off until we need to be in there.

the suggestion someone gave was to put a new type of NSH in to replace the one we have. The one we have is completely manual I have to set input and output between 1-6 and just let it get on with it, I was wondering if there is such a thing as one with a sort of thermostat on so when the room gets to a certain temp it closes up to save its heat and then when the temp drops again it opens up, but not sure if this exists and google searching just has me confused.

thanks for the help and suggestions so far though.

lstar337

crofts11 wrote: »

the suggestion someone gave was to put a new type of NSH in to replace the one we have. The one we have is completely manual I have to set input and output between 1-6 and just let it get on with it, I was wondering if there is such a thing as one with a sort of thermostat on so when the room gets to a certain temp it closes up to save its heat and then when the temp drops again it opens up, but not sure if this exists and google searching just has me confused.

Most automatic NSH's do this to some degree, using a bi-metalic strip. It's a crude method though.

The kind of control you want can be got through fan-asist storage heaters. These are bigger than modern slim heaters because they have more insulation to trap the heat in. When the temperature drops, a fan activates to drive the heat out. It's basically just and active (instead of passive) heat release system.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/ERADL2012.html?source=adwords&kw=&gclid=CN-d3czmzLYCFQjKtAodhmIAPg

Richie-from-the-Boro

In your [electric only] circumstances, there is nothing more economical than what you have, but what you have can be improved. The bank of stored cheap heat called a storage radiator. That quantity of stored cheap heat can be increased very cheaply by storing more. Change your current old 2.5kW storage radiator for a more thermally efficient larger 3.4kW, or add an extra 1.7kW in the room. Both of these options will add an extra 30%+ of the cheap stored heat to your dwelling.

Another option is to change the old storage heater for a DUO heater which has both night cheap rate storage and a separate 13a core rate radiant heater built into the same cabinet.

Any £30 panel heater switched on and off as needed in the bedrooms / bathroom / kitchen will be sufficient, they are not rooms you live in.

NOTE : I don't agree with fan assisted, they just empty an already inadequately sized store of heat quicker.

Fire_Fox

Electricity is very expensive, storage heaters are the cheapest electric heating but it's important to make the best use of the cheap E7 night rate. One storage heater should not be crippling you financially.

What is your actual usage in KWH, what is your day/ night rate split at present? Are you using your washing machine, tumble dryer and immersion for the water on timers at night? How well insulated is the property and the immersion heater? Is the timer clock on your electricity meter correct?

macman

Agree with the above-the issue is not effciency, it's simply lack of capacity. One 2.5kW NSH will heat one room, not a whole house.