storage heaters/electric central heating or gas?

Mogz

Cardew, thanks for the links - just to clarify the Glen oil filled rad 3rd item down on that TLC page is what I have in every room of my house (all 4 of them!). I have the 1.2kw Item instead however, but as far as regulating the temperature, if they are some form of Room Thermostat I can assure you they dont work very well!

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/GE2155.html


stevehead, very good point, sorry for misinformation.

Fire_Fox

This seems like the right place to seek help .... I have read through some of the thread but some of the information is as bit over my head (!) or does not seem to relate to my situation. My query is about heating but it might be best to 'set the scene' first?

I live in a north-facing two bedroom flat with decent double glazing. The flat is all electric, with an Economy 7 meter, but has Dimplex heaters with a mesh front (can't see anything similar on their website) which I am told are not storage heaters. We are with Scottish Power which is the cheapest supplier in our area, and averaged 11.5 kwh per day from September to now with only about 40% of usage at night.

We put the washing machine and immersion on overnight, and have a power saving plug on the TV/ DVD. The lights are on for a lot of the day as it is so dark, and the TV is on whenever Mr. Fire Fox is home! I can only access the electricity meter every few months (in the basement) so can't keep a really close eye on what we are using and when.

My partner and I both work shifts, and I am a student so we are in and out all day. We did not use the heating at all the first two winters to save money, but this year we have been freezing. Mr. Fire Fox has taken to wearing his hat indoors and I am always in a bodywarmer and often sit under a blanket!

We have to open the windows daily due to condensation which obviously wastes heat, but we maintain 10C just from our neighbours. This year we have switched the fan oven on with the door open for an hour in the afternoon, and again late in the evening. This manages to maintain the temperature around 15C in the combined sittting room/ kitchen: we do not heat any other area. As a result of using the oven and a price rise our bill has increased by about half.

I am fed up of being cold all the time AND still paying through the nose. I would consider replacing the Economy 7 meter, or using the Dimplex heater instead of the oven, or buying a new (?storage) heater just for this room. But I don't want to spend the money for no extra benefit. Can anyone advise in plain English how best to get either more heat or spend a bit less? We don't have the option of insulating the building any better.

Thanks in advance.

Mogz

As a fellow electric heating sufferer, I can only recommend that you get gas central heating installed.

I have failed to find a way to get my heating bill to reduce, favouring instead the "paying through the nose" approach. I would suggest that the oven is a novel but not 100% efficient method of heating the building so perhaps some oil rads would be a better idea. The cost though, will be high, no matter what, and the oven method wont be all that inefficient (would you believe!!)

A touch of wasted light and the wattage of the fan is the only wastage there. A mere speck on the windscreen of the heating elements colossal limousine of consumption.

Cardew

Fire_Fox wrote: »

We are with Scottish Power which is the cheapest supplier in our area, and averaged 11.5 kwh per day from September to now with only about 40% of usage at night.

We have to open the windows daily due to condensation which obviously wastes heat, .

Two points.

At 40% usage at night you are probably marginal for breaking even on Economy 7. You need to sit down and work out if it is cheaper to get a 'normal' tariff.

You most certainly not need to open windows to get rid of condensation. Just buy a cheap dehumidifier.

Have you considered getting an Air Source Heat Pump?

Fire_Fox

Cardew wrote: »

Two points.

At 40% usage at night you are probably marginal for breaking even on Economy 7. You need to sit down and work out if it is cheaper to get a 'normal' tariff.

You most certainly not need to open windows to get rid of condensation. Just buy a cheap dehumidifier.

Have you considered getting an Air Source Heat Pump?

Thanks for your help.

I did the sums for getting rid of the Economy 7 a year or so ago and we would have broken even on the energy, but would have had to pay for a new meter. I will do the maths again for my recent bill.

We have considered a dehumidifier, but was concerned about the running costs on my expensive day rate electricity. Unless they are virtually silent I could not have it on at night - it's a small flat and I have insomnia!

I don't know what an Air Source Heat Pump is but will Google it!

Cardew

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Thanks for your help.

I did the sums for getting rid of the Economy 7 a year or so ago and we would have broken even on the energy, but would have had to pay for a new meter. I will do the maths again for my recent bill.

We have considered a dehumidifier, but was concerned about the running costs on my expensive day rate electricity. Unless they are virtually silent I could not have it on at night - it's a small flat and I have insomnia!

I don't know what an Air Source Heat Pump is but will Google it!

I think you will find that the price of off-peak electricity on E7 has soared on most tariffs in the last 12 months, not long ago my 'break even' point was under 30% - now it is over 55%.

I believe a dehumidifier will cost less to run than opening windows in winter.
Initially they will run quite long periods as the fabric of your flat and furniture will have absorbed moisture - but after a while you will not nat to run it for so long.

Plenty of posts on this forum about ASHPs.

Fire_Fox

Thanks again.

I have plugged my figures into a price comparison site but without ticking the E7 button. There are no tariffs cheaper than my present one, but it's only about a £40 a year difference. We do have very bad condensation, I can use half a kitchen roll on a cold morning! But I religiously open the windows so we have only the tiniest bit of mould. I do think it is damp in the bedroom by the window as my clothes often feel clammy.

My Dimplex heaters are radiant panel heaters I think - I have now found something similar online. It seems that this might be cheaper to run than the fan oven because of the energy wasted by moving the fan? I had the heater on tonight as an experiment and it took two hours to get up to a decent temperature on the highest setting. I think I need to rearrange the furniture somehow!

Mogz

Radiant panels dont seem to work anywhere near as well as oil filled rads. Can't explain why but they just seem to be awful! I just replaced two panel rads with equivalent powered oil rads and they perform far better.

To give you some comfort, Last night I was running 6,500 watts of oil filled rads in my 2 bed flat for 5 hours and was still wearing a scarf and fleece by 11pm last night when I went to bed.

This is a combination of being on the ground floor of a two floor maisonette (ground and first), and having an upstairs nieghbour who is away and has left the heating off.

So dont feel so bad! I'm paying a fortune and its still not working.........

amtrakuk

I was considering radient panel heaters but like you say Mogz sor some reason they don't perform as expected. Going on the basis that 1kw produces the same amount of heat whatever technology of heater is used I would recommend a cheap and cheerful convection heater - produces heat instantly when you turn it on and stops producing heat when you turn it off.

At the moment I have got a 3kw £30 thermostat Dimplex one from Argos that performs very well, heating my 18 x 20 x 9 ft front room from 12 degrees C to 20 degrees C in about 15 mins. I would recommend giving it a try, if it doesn't work out you can always return it under the 16 day returns policy

Fire_Fox

Thanks to everyone. I am looking into getting a small dehumidifier. The last two days I have run the sitting room panel panel heater instead of switching the oven on with the door open! Although it does not heat the room as quickly, it does seem to stay warmer for longer. I will try to read my meter again in a month (access is a nightmare) and then look into an oil filled rad or portable heater as suggested.