Advice on the new type of Storage Heaters please

Athome1

My dd has bought a flat with an old hot air heating system, which is not at all efficient and very expensive to run. She can't afford the £3,000 she's been quoted for GCH and is looking into the new type of storage heaters. They have ceramic cores and are have digital controls and according the bumf they give out lots of heat (her flat is very, very cold even with double glazing, curtains at doors and windows etc). She can afford the purchase and installation costs but before she goes ahead, I'd like to ask for some informed opinions on here please. She does have Economy 7 and has a separate emersion water heater.
Her heating needs are - heat from 6-7.30am and 5-8pm M-F and 8-10am and 3-9pm S&S.

Thanks.

Biggles

There seems to be a lot of marketing going into 'new type storage heaters', much of which appears to be BS (eg '70% more efficient' etc).

I would do a lot of research and then ask an independent heating expert.

This thread might be a good start
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2148437

fluffymuffy

If it's a ground floor flat she could get a split air con - it will cost almost nothing to run (free heating - 1kW of input gives 3kW heat) and can be taken with her should she move.
Here's one I've bought three times at various properties - http://www.vyair.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=125

lstar337

Athome1 wrote: »

My dd has bought a flat with an old hot air heating system, which is not at all efficient and very expensive to run. She can't afford the £3,000 she's been quoted for GCH and is looking into the new type of storage heaters. They have ceramic cores and are have digital controls and according the bumf they give out lots of heat (her flat is very, very cold even with double glazing, curtains at doors and windows etc). She can afford the purchase and installation costs but before she goes ahead, I'd like to ask for some informed opinions on here please. She does have Economy 7 and has a separate emersion water heater.
Her heating needs are - heat from 6-7.30am and 5-8pm M-F and 8-10am and 3-9pm S&S.

Thanks.

Stay away from 'Special Core' heaters, they are no better than a £30 electric heater, and they offer no heat storrage.

You need to buy proper storage heaters (expensive up front, but cheaper to run), or any normal electric heater (cheap up front, but expensive to run).

These heaters with 'Special Cores' are a complete scam. Electrical heating is 100% efficient, that means every electrical heater converts exactly the same amount of electrical energy into heat energy. A £30 heater will do the same as a £3000 heater.

The only core material worth bothering with, is magnetite. This is what a proper storage heater will have inside. It is very heavy, and it will store heat energy for around 12hours. The 'Special Core' heaters mostly store their heat for about 1hour max.

These are storage heaters:

http://www.heatersuk.com/c/250428/1/storage-heaters.html?gclid=CL-vsN7Y97gCFVDItAod5l0AVQ

And these are what I would buy if I could:

http://www.dimplex.co.uk/products/domestic_heating/installed_heating/quantum_energy_system/features.htm

If you go for storage heating, make sure they are correctly sized for the rooms, and that you read how to use them carefully.

If you use them correctly they will save a lot of money, if they are used incorrectly they will waste a lot of money.

You also need an economy 7 supply, so factor that in when making your choice.

Info on storage heaters here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_heater

lstar337

fluffymuffy wrote: »

If it's a ground floor flat she could get a split air con - it will cost almost nothing to run (free heating - 1kW of input gives 3kW heat) and can be taken with her should she move.
Here's one I've bought three times at various properties - http://www.vyair.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=125

Out of curiosity, how do you take that with you? Is it an easy process?

All the ones I have seen have been designed to be left in place.

fluffymuffy

My model has DIY fitments. To move it you need to collect the refrigerant into one unit. Here's the instructions I got for this ...

"You need to pump the unit down before you disconnect the pipes. To do this you need to shut the small valve off first and put the unit into cooling mode, run the unit up so that the outside unit cuts in (get the room warm fist so that the unit will run in cooling). Run the outside unit for about 30 second and then shut the big valve and turn the power off to the unit at about the same time. This should have brought all the gas back into the outside unit and not let it back out. Now you can disconnect the pipes from the unit and there should not be a lot of gas left in them. It is not a precise science without being there with the pressure gauge"

lstar337

fluffymuffy wrote: »

My model has DIY fitments. To move it you need to collect the refrigerant into one unit. Here's the instructions I got for this ...

"You need to pump the unit down before you disconnect the pipes. To do this you need to shut the small valve off first and put the unit into cooling mode, run the unit up so that the outside unit cuts in (get the room warm fist so that the unit will run in cooling). Run the outside unit for about 30 second and then shut the big valve and turn the power off to the unit at about the same time. This should have brought all the gas back into the outside unit and not let it back out. Now you can disconnect the pipes from the unit and there should not be a lot of gas left in them. It is not a precise science without being there with the pressure gauge"

Interesting.

Thanks for the information.

gmgmgm

While the older heating system may be less efficient than modern ones, it might be much cheaper to continue to use it, then to spend more money (capital) on a newer system.
The best heating system investment is a jumper.

Athome1

gmgmgm wrote: »

While the older heating system may be less efficient than modern ones, it might be much cheaper to continue to use it, then to spend more money (capital) on a newer system.
The best heating system investment is a jumper.

LOL:rotfl:. Last winter she was wrapped up like an eskimo and only used the heating when she had visitors. I bought her an electric heated throw which she used when sitting down or in bed (and she had 3 duvets on the bed!).

Thanks for all the replies. Wish we could speak to someone who has modern storage heaters and hear their opinions/experiences.

lstar337

Athome1 wrote: »

I bought her an electric heated throw which she used when sitting down or in bed (and she had 3 duvets on the bed!).

We ditched our bedroom storage heater in favour of a dual control electric underblanket. Ours is safe to run all night on its lowest setting, but tbh, we both found it too warm, even my OH who is always complaining about the cold. It is rated at 50W per side, which is nothing on economy 7. The storage heater was just pointless in the bedroom as its heat was wasted during the day when the room was empty, and didn't come on early enough to warm the room before bed.

Athome1 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. Wish we could speak to someone who has modern storage heaters and hear their opinions/experiences.

Well I have automatic charge control storage heaters. These are about as modern as they get apart from the quantum range from Dimplex.

My heaters provide a good source of heat, and at a fairly resonable cost. The only issue is with the constant monitoring of the weather and having to set them up to make the most of the power for the next day. This is something that Dimplex claim to have taken care of with the Quantum range. They state they are 'Setup and forget' technology, which remains to be tested and reported back here. I think they look like good stuff, and I would fit them if I wasn't in rented accomadation.

I recently spotted this online:

SAP, which is the government's recommended system for measuring the energy performance of residential dwellings, officially states that the Quantum space heater has greater responsiveness than a conventional manual or automatic storage heater.
The responsiveness of a system reflects the ability of the heater to match the heating needs of a home – a rating defined by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and documented within SAP. Quantum’s responsiveness rating is 0.8 – compared to manual and automatic storage heaters which are rated at 0.2.

Quantum is also Green Deal approved, if you feel like going that route.