storage heaters/electric central heating or gas?

samtheman1k

jchapman wrote: »

With regard to your other questions about the difference between our heaters and convector heaters, our heaters take only 15 minutes of electricity and give out about 45 minutes to an hour of uninterrupted heat. The heat is released as radiant warmth (about 75%) and convected heat (about 25%). So if you turned our heater on for 20 minutes and then unplug it, you’ll still feel warmth in the room some 45 minutes later. That feat is impossible for convected panel heaters.

That may well be true, and is exactly how NSH works. They will draw electricity for 15 mins and remain hot for 45mins, however, what they fail to tell you is that for those 15minutes, they are drawing around 4 times as much current as a conventional heater (in order to load the store with 45mins of heat) and thus the running cost will be equivalent to a conventional electric heater.

CWatters_2

Check out the table on this great site... It corrects for boiler/heater efficiency...

http://www.nottenergy.com/energy-costs-comparison2

The key figures are those in the col "Pence per kWH after boiler efficiency".

Does anyone make a GSHP that runs on mains gas? Sounds like that would be a good idea.

dfh4np

CWatters wrote: »

Check out the table on this great site... It corrects for boiler/heater efficiency...

http://www.nottenergy.com/energy-costs-comparison2

The key figures are those in the col "Pence per kWH after boiler efficiency".

Does anyone make a GSHP that runs on mains gas? Sounds like that would be a good idea.

Thanks for this info,


On that table it says that the energy content of 1kw of gas is 15.60 times that of a kw of electricity, is that right?


DFH4NP

samtheman1k

CWatters wrote: »

Does anyone make a GSHP that runs on mains gas? Sounds like that would be a good idea.

Can't tell if you're joking or not...but no you can't do that!

drjona

Dear All

I have really appreciated all of the discussion and have (sadly) read this entire thread and many others. I am particularly glad for the reminder of my school physics that heating is pretty much 100% efficient, however it is done (thanks Cardew!). We live in a 3-bed semi with no gas/oil and pay £84/month for all elec. on E7 with British Gas. Like many others have stated our 3 storage heaters only just take the edge off the cold. We are now doing a loft conversion that needs heat in the two new rooms. My collected thoughts:
- I can't find a cheaper equivalent of the Dimplex Duoheat (storage heater & day time heating)
- I am not sure that the cost of this system using E7 is making any saving over the 2 oil filled heaters I already own (but they are bulky)
- The 2 bedrooms will be occupied only when people are sleeping (i.e. on E7 time)
- If one room becomes a study for occasional use, it only needs heating when someone is in there & it is cold, so storage heating seems a bit of a waste?

So my conclusion is I want an mains plug-in electric radiator that looks nice, is programmable, but doesn't have the extra costs associated with 'clay cores', 'radio control' or 'intelligent use of energy'.

Any thoughts/suggestions very much appreciated.

Cardew

drjona wrote: »

Dear All

I have really appreciated all of the discussion and have (sadly) read this entire thread and many others. I am particularly glad for the reminder of my school physics that heating is pretty much 100% efficient, however it is done (thanks Cardew!). We live in a 3-bed semi with no gas/oil and pay £84/month for all elec. on E7 with British Gas. Like many others have stated our 3 storage heaters only just take the edge off the cold. We are now doing a loft conversion that needs heat in the two new rooms. My collected thoughts:
- I can't find a cheaper equivalent of the Dimplex Duoheat (storage heater & day time heating)
- I am not sure that the cost of this system using E7 is making any saving over the 2 oil filled heaters I already own (but they are bulky)
- The 2 bedrooms will be occupied only when people are sleeping (i.e. on E7 time)
- If one room becomes a study for occasional use, it only needs heating when someone is in there & it is cold, so storage heating seems a bit of a waste?

So my conclusion is I want an mains plug-in electric radiator that looks nice, is programmable, but doesn't have the extra costs associated with 'clay cores', 'radio control' or 'intelligent use of energy'.

Any thoughts/suggestions very much appreciated.

Welcome to the forum.

I think your appraisal is pretty much spot on.

For occasional use in a room it makes sense to put up with the additional daytime running costs of a 'normal' electrical heater, rather than the have the extra installation costs and operating disadvantages of storage heating.

Indeed in my study I have a small fan heater that I sometimes use if I am working late after the gas CH has switched off.

In the future ground/air source heat pump installation costs may reduce sufficiently to make them a more attractive proposition.

Elsa06

My daughter and her friend are students in a 3 roomed & bathroom property (by 3 rooms, 1 room each and a shared kitchen and bathroom), they have 3 storage heaters in the flat, no freezer just a fridge, a cooker, and electric shower. The water heater is put on for about 30 mins a day for the washing up and thier electric bill for this quarter is £335! EDF, when asked if they could check the meter told me that if there's nothing wrong with it, then they'd charge for the call out. What does a storage heater cost to run? Anyone know?

dfh4np

Elsa06 wrote: »

My daughter and her friend are students in a 3 roomed & bathroom property (by 3 rooms, 1 room each and a shared kitchen and bathroom), they have 3 storage heaters in the flat, no freezer just a fridge, a cooker, and electric shower. The water heater is put on for about 30 mins a day for the washing up and thier electric bill for this quarter is £335! EDF, when asked if they could check the meter told me that if there's nothing wrong with it, then they'd charge for the call out. What does a storage heater cost to run? Anyone know?

Hi,

Yes storage heaters can be expensive, The most common sizes are large and medium, As a guide i have assumed that your on E7 paying 4.2ppu off peak and 10ppu on peak. (Adjust the unit rate as per Bill)

The large uses a maximum of 24 units per night, based on 3.4kw per hour over a 7 hour charging period. At the guide it would be a maximum of £1 a day for each of them. (£90 a quarter each)

The medium uses a maximum of 18 units a night, based on 2.5kw per hour over a 7 hour charging period. At the guide rate it would be a maximum of £0.75 a day for each of them. (£67.50 a quarter each)

These are the maximums, How many units used would be dependant on the timer/teleswitch and how high the input is set on each heater.

Most water heaters are 3kw so this would use approx 1.5 units if its only on for 30 mins, if on during the day this would be at full rate which would be more than twice the price than charging over night. (£5-13.50 a quarter)

Electric showers can be hefty as they will use between 8 & 10 kw's an hour, normally at full rate, 3 students using it for 10 mins each a day would use approx 4-5 units a day which would be £0.40 to £0.50 a day(£36-45 a quarter)


Hope that helps.


DFH4NP

Elsa06

Thanks for your very rapid response.

I thought (stupidly) that they were't that expensive but as I have oil central heating which is extremely inexpensive to run, I have no way of comparing. So, probably best for them to purchase a couple of halogen heaters and turn off the storage heating!

Elsa

Chrislincs

Hi,
Long time no post, but I have been keepimg an eye on the conversations. I live in a sprawling 8 roomed detached bungalow, in a gas-free rural location. Our storage heaters have earned their keep over the last 30 yrs. - and some are still the original, with no servicing and replacement of boilers, leaking rads, or other costs incurred by other ch systems. we run all appiances on off peak set timers, and our bill is £109 pcm. This seems to compare favourably with other similar properties no matter what form of heating they have, but we are of the generation that always expected to wear warmer clothes in the winter, and do have a log burner in the lounge. Our now gas-spoiled offspring, and theirs, feel the coolness of our home, and I will admit to lack of seasonal manageability in our ever-less-predictable climate.
However, we are probably going to be moving in a year or so and the heating is becoming a worry as the anti s.h. feeling seems to be so strong these days. As there is the possibility of a windfall before the end of this year I am looking into what to change to, if anything. It seems to me that most postees on here feel that electric boilers are dear to run. Oil and LPG require unsightly storage/deliveries, and solid fuel is out of the question. As all will require fitting the whole wet rad system the cost is likely to involve a lot of redecoration, even if I carefully choose rads to hide the bare patches on the walls left by removing the SHs. We already have solar water heating, which is brilliant, in bright long days, and ideally I would like air source pumps but can't seem to get a rough idea on costs. I realise that they are going to vary from one home to another but some general figures must be available somewhere? Do they need regular maintainance like other boilers? Can they only be used for wet heating? Does anyone out there have any experience of them? There are lots of sales peolpe at shows, but they are biased - and vague when I try to tie them down. What do they really cost to run, since they do need some grid power to pump? Does anyone have any other ideas to help us with this problem. All input will be gratefully received.
Confused Chris