Electric off peak heating?

Simon_B_2

Hi,

Just looking at a new flat and it has Electric off peak heating, can anybody tell me what this is and is there a benefit to having it.

Tried goggle but still not sure

It seems to be an energy saving device but i've never heard of it before?

Cazza

This probably means you have Night Storage Heaters. Your electricity supply will usually be on an Economy 7 rate - this means that for 7 hours, at night, your electricity is about a third of the daytime rate. The heaters do exactly what they say on the tin - use electricity at night and store the heat so it's let out during the daytime. There is a bit of a knack with night storage heaters, but they're not too bad! If you work during the day, you might find you need an extra heater to pop on for a bit in the evening, as often the NSH have run out of juice by the evening! Hope this helps!

Cardew

There was an article in the Telegraph about this.

Builders put them in because they are cheap to install. That said, they do have advantages for small homes, especially if you are out at work all day.

The actual cost of producing the heat (and hot water from immersion heater in tank( at night is comparable with gas, they are 100% efficient.

You also have the advantage of not paying for gas servicing and safety checks.

The modern systems have better controls than the older systems that had a very poor reputation.

You also can use dishwasher an washing machine in the cheap 7 hours; but beware this can cause a noise problem in smaller flats; not just for you but neighbours!!

Not IMO as good as Gas CH but not bad for small properties.

ChumpusRex

This is what is typically called Economy 7 heating.

Essentially, heating is provided by night storage heaters - which use electricity at night and store it for use during the day. Essentially they're big boxes filled with bricks. The bricks are heated electrically overnight and the heat leaks into the room during the day.

On older style heaters, you'd take a guess at how much heat you'd need on the following day, and dial it into the heater, so that it would charge to the correct level. On more modern systems, the heaters are self-adjusting, or completely electronically controlled - depending on how fancy the system is.

Hot water works in a similar way. You have a big (double or triple sized) hot water tank, which is heated overnight. It should be big enough so that you still have hot water at the end of the day.

It works because the electricity meter takes 2 readings - one for elec used between midnight and 7am, and another for 7am to midnight (exact times vary, but it's always 7 hours during the night). You pay one price for the day time electricity, and a massively discounted price overnight.

E.g. a normal electricity tarrif might charge 13p/kWh. On Eco 7 - you might pay 13.5p/kWh during the day and 4p/kWh overnight. This discount applies to all electricity used at that time - so you can put the dishwasher and washing machine on over night to take advantage of this.

Even with this discount, Eco7 heating has more expensive fuel costs than gas - but has the advantage that the systems are maintenance free (I've lived somewhere with 20 year old storage heaters, and they were good as new - although the paint had yellowed a bit), and that each heater is independent (so each room can be set to a different temperature, or only certain rooms heated). Gas needs annual servicing and careful maintenance (both legally and in order to ensure the system lasts a reasonable amount of time).

The big limitation is that if the night charge is insufficient, you're going to have to use full priced electricity to heat things up in the evening. So, if the weather suddenly takes a turn for the cold, or you have guests round and drain the hot water - you'll pay dearly to 'boost' the heating during the day/evening.

For a small property, there's not much wrong with off-peak heating - the costs associated with the higher priced fuel aren't excessive, so you can save due to the higher reliability and lower maintenance costs.

Ken68

Hi Simon......heavy and detailed insulation should come first, and needs to be checked before you buy or rent.
Heavy curtains and some form of windows shutters will keep in the heat.
And if the flat is surrounded by other flats, ideal, and if the windows face south perfect.
An Energy Audit wouldn't go amiss.
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/what_can_i_do_today/home_energy_check

moonshadow4280

Thanks Ken68, for your nice informative post. I am also planning to have off peak heating in my new apartment . But Will it not produce heat to my windows shutters unnecessarily and in the process producing heat effects in atmosphere?Also, I also like to know which window shutters is most qualitative as well as cheap?Any advice will be nice. Thanks in advance.