storage heaters/electric central heating or gas?

ACEELECLTD

How do you add quotes anyone please

Cardew

ACEELECLTD wrote: »

How do you add quotes anyone please

You firstly have to click quote on a previous post or go advanced.

There is a box to the left of the # that looks like a page of writing.

Clicking that produces this

You can 'cut' a quotation and 'paste it inside the

ACEELECLTD

Cardew wrote: »

You firstly have to click quote on a previous post or go advanced.

You can 'cut' a quotation and 'paste it inside the

Many thanks for that Cardew... i can now have a go at getting to the point quickly and answering specific points queries, making easier reading (hopefully)

bryanb

I read earlier on this thread of "a requirement" to have gas central heating checked annually. I have no knowledge of such a requirement with respect to a private house. Can anyone substantiate such a requirement/regulation, or is it merely a recommendation?

ACEELECLTD

bryanb wrote: »

I read earlier on this thread of "a requirement" to have gas central heating checked annually. I have no knowledge of such a requirement with respect to a private house. Can anyone substantiate such a requirement/regulation, or is it merely a recommendation?

Hello BryanB

As far as I am aware there are no legal requirements for servicing the heating system in domestic properties.

That said the most important questions to really tackle this are
1) how old is the system and when was it installed
2) Does it appear to be running correctly at the moment (no banging or strange noises)
3) When was it last serviced
4) Does your insurance cover you if it broke down and you could not prove you have maintained

I would always recommend that something that has the potential to be unsafe is checked out ASAP but in relation to question 1 above.... If you do decide to get it serviced or safety checked the price drops in the Summer months and parts seem to be more freely available

Cardew

ACEELECLTD wrote: »

.All electric systems are 100% efficient in converting electric energy to heat energy

That is really the most important point and IMO is the fundemental basis on which any discussion on the merits of electical heating should be based.

I am more than happy to discuss the subject further as long as that crucial point underscores any discussion, as I am certain that will be the case with the other posters on here who have some technical knowledge.

A word of warning here for consumers is that hopefully when you do your research be vary wary if the seller does not publish the prices for anyone to read (I think it was one of your concerns Cardew)

Here we are 100% in agreement!

In recognition of the sense that you made with the play on words Energy Efficient Heating I now always refer to it as Energy SAVING heating or Energy saving efficient heating.

Here we are are 100% in disagreement.

That is just marketing 'spin'. It is just electrical heating! It is no more "Energy efficient" or "energy saving" than my Granny's now famous 1/2/3 bar electric fire or any other form of electrical heating - see your quote at the beginning of this post.

The first thing I want to establish is the cost of running any electrical heating system on a daytime tariff(i.e. not Economy 7)

The average household in UK uses 20,500 kWh gas pa. Given gas boilers are between 60% and 95% efficient, the useful output is approx 12,300kWh to 19,500kWh. So taking an average figure this is approx 16,000kWh.

Now the cost of 16,000kWh of electricity @ 10p/kWh is £1,600 to produce heating and hot water; plus of course the 'normal' electricity bill for lighting appliances etc.

So let us be very clear that the figure of £1,600 is a ball park figure for heating an average house. No amount of advertising blurb along the lines of "it costs xx pence to warm a room to yy degrees C" can alter that fundemental fact.

Would you agree that is a reasonable ball park figure? - if not what would you consider reasonable?

From the information I have gleaned, to fit the Kalirel type of radiators in an average 3 bed semi with 8 radiators, and associated electrical wiring/controls will cost? £3,000??

Reasonable? or what would you think?

Cardew

bryanb wrote: »

I read earlier on this thread of "a requirement" to have gas central heating checked annually. I have no knowledge of such a requirement with respect to a private house. Can anyone substantiate such a requirement/regulation, or is it merely a recommendation?

It is only a mandatory requirement if your property is rented.

ACEELECLTD

Cardew wrote: »

Here we are are 100% in disagreement.

That is just marketing 'spin'. It is just electrical heating! It is no more "Energy efficient" or "energy saving" than my Granny's now famous 1/2/3 bar electric fire or any other form of electrical heating

Hi Cardew,

The statement above is misleading because we are not comparing 'like for like'
8no 1/2/3Kw bar fires does not become a professionally installed Central Heating system for someone requiring a Central Heating System.

It is like me arguing that Saab-Scania are ripping me off charging £150,000 for a lorry to transport goods across the country when a local Farmer can Purchase 2 Shire Horses and a flat back trailer for £3000.00 which will do the job just as well and about 8 sacks of carrots

lets look at comparable heating systems to start with and think about pro's and cons

ACEELECLTD

Cardew wrote: »

The first thing I want to establish is the cost of running any electrical heating system on a daytime tariff(i.e. not Economy 7)

The average household in UK uses 20,500 kWh gas pa. Given gas boilers are between 60% and 95% efficient, the useful output is approx 12,300kWh to 19,500kWh. So taking an average figure this is approx 16,000kWh.

Now the cost of 16,000kWh of electricity @ 10p/kWh is £1,600 to produce heating and hot water; plus of course the 'normal' electricity bill for lighting appliances etc.

So let us be very clear that the figure of £1,600 is a ball park figure for heating an average house. No amount of advertising blurb along the lines of "it costs xx pence to warm a room to yy degrees C" can alter that fundemental fact.

So if I have 8 rooms in my house and use 1Kw for one in each rooms then the cost with your figures quoted above would be

8 x1Kw x 1Hour @ 10p/KwH = 80pence

but hang on a minute if I am the only person in the house and I do not leave that room - I could be using
1 x 1Kw x 1Hour @ 10p/KwH = 10pence thats a saving of 70pence!!!!

That means that just by being in control of my system I could have saved myself 88%
or heated my entire local environment for 8 hours
for the same amount as I was paying to heat my 7 empty rooms previously.

Are we in agreement that from this calculation we have the potential to save money

Cardew

ACEELECLTD wrote: »

So if I have 8 rooms in my house and use 1Kw for one in each rooms then the cost with your figures quoted above would be

8 x1Kw x 1Hour @ 10p/KwH = 80pence

but hang on a minute if I am the only person in the house and I do not leave that room - I could be using
1 x 1Kw x 1Hour @ 10p/KwH = 10pence thats a saving of 70pence!!!!

That means that just by being in control of my system I could have saved myself 88%
or heated my entire local environment for 8 hours
for the same amount as I was paying to heat my 7 empty rooms previously.

Are we in agreement that from this calculation we have the potential to save money

I suspect you are being deliberately obtuse.

If you leave your house and go and live with my Granny(and be warmed by her 3 bar fire!) you will spend nothing on heating – an equally specious argument.

We need to establish a ball park figure for what it costs to heat an average house with electrical heating, before we talk about the merits of a control system for electrical heating.

The average figure of 16,000kWh(adjusted) I gave for Gas CH is for a fully controllable CH system. so you don't heat a room you don't wish to.

i.e. regardless if you heat by by gas, oil, electricity or solid fuel, the average property will use the equiv of 16,000kWh for heating and hot water?

So do you concede that is realistic or not?