Electric heating for a flat

Enzo007

Hi all,

This is my first post I need help !!!

I have a 3 bed 8 year old top floor flat in Scotland. It had storage heaters fitted but these were of no use. I am planning on installing the dimplex Monterrey panel heaters through out the flat.

But I thought I could go on scottish power option14.. But I have since found out it no longer exists. So now I'm confused as to what energy supplier / tariff would be suitable. All the online comparison sites are more geared up for dual fuel, making it hard to understand.

Does any one have a newish flat with electric heating that can advise of a good tariff? I had herd of option 10 but is it better to just get a standard tariff?

Thanks in advance for any help

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Firstly I would review your decision to get rid of storage heating - especially when the system is only 8 years old.

Bear in mind that if you move to a 'normal' 24/7 single rate tariff, you will lose the ability to heat your water at off-peak rates. Depending on how your flat is wired you could also lose the ability to use appliances(washing machine/dryer etc) at off-peak rates.

If you are certain you are going to panel heaters, all you need to do is enter a kWh figure in any comparison website - say 12,000kWh as an estimate and see what results you get.

You don't say what tariff you are using at the moment(i.e. Economy 7, Economy 10 etc). Scotland has lots of different tariffs that we don't have south of the border. Some flats are wired differently so the heating circuits only switch on during off-peak periods.

If you move to a 'normal' 24/7 single rate tariff, you may need to get your meters changed(some companies charge - others don't). If you have an Economy 7 tariff some companies(BG and E-On for example) will add the two meter readings together and treat as one tota. e.g. 3,000kWh on peak rate and 1,000kWh on off-peak is treated as 4,000kWh on a single rate. Other companies(Scottish Power for example) don't have that system - you need a new meter.

Enzo007

Cardew, thank you v much for your reply.

I definitely want rid of the storage heaters as I work shifts so they were cold by the time I was home.. I could get economy 10, and I would then be able to save on the water heating / appliance usage. But of course it then comes with a higher off peak rate.

I am currently on economy7. But nearly all my heat use would be in the day not at night.. So this seems useless?

Cardew

Well with panel heaters you need to stop using Economy 7.


You should go to a comparison website like www.energyhelpline.com and enter your consumption in kWh.


An 8 year old flat should have good insulation, but your lifestyle will determine your consumption. I would enter 8,000kWh, then 10,000kWh and then 12,000kWh and you will get a good idea of the best 24/7 single rate tariff.


Bear in mind my post above about the possible need for a change of meter.

macman

The whole point of E7 is that it outputs the heat stored during the night at cheap rate in the day-so if you are coming back in the morning from work then I don't understand how it doesn't work for you. Have you got the input and dampers set up properly?
The usual problem with E7 is that the output drops off in the evening when it gets colder-but if you are going to work at that time then that should not be an issue?

pooch

Great idea!

Rip out the storage heaters that use cheap off peak electricity, and replace them with electrical heaters that use expensive normal/daytime electricity.

Getting E10 installed is a good option too. Tied to one supplier and no choice of tariff.

Follow this advice and watch the value of your property plummet

Enzo007

I understand why you are all saying use storage heaters.. But the shifts I do mean I was coming home and it was freezing with no other source of heating.. So they had to go.

In all new build apartments they now install panel heaters..

I am not home 24/7 and I live myself so its not needed around the clock.

I'm just confused about whether to go for e10 for the benefit of water heating or a normal supply?

Cardew

Enzo007 wrote: »

I'm just confused about whether to go for e10 for the benefit of water heating or a normal supply?

Nobody can give a definitive answer if E10 would be better than a normal 24/7 single rate tariff. It depends on your shift pattern and lifestyle.


However with panel heaters IMO it is extremely unlikely that E10 would be a better option. Not least, as stated above, E10 means your choice of supplier is limited.


The premium on daytime rates with an E10 tariff is large.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Enzo007 wrote: »

I understand why you are all saying use storage heaters.. But the shifts I do mean I was coming home and it was freezing with no other source of heating.. So they had to go.

In all new build apartments they now install panel heaters..

I am not home 24/7 and I live myself so its not needed around the clock.

I'm just confused about whether to go for e10 for the benefit of water heating or a normal supply?

If you decide to go panel heater ............................. water.

If you had E7/10/14 [white meter Scotland] initially you will have been a PartL specification. Assuming you have not ripped out the old two [direct] element hot water cylinder and do not use the bath just have a sparky de-wire the top element and dual controller and wire it for a standard water [immersion] heater on core price.



Wiring the top element and de-wiring the bottom will give a couple of sinks of hot water when used and will be the cheaper [less hot water] option. Wiring the bottom element and de-wiring the top will give a full bath and a couple of sinks of hot water when used and will be the more expensive [more hot water] option.

If you decide to go panel heater ............................. room heating.

A barber can cut off, but can never cut on. Assuming you are well insulated with an EPC of 'B' or at the very least 'C' always install enough plus!. For example if it takes an hour for a 2kW panel to bring your living area room from cold to 22 °C in the winter you need x2 2kW panel heaters in that one room otherwise by time you have spent £x and begin to feel comfortable you will be going to bed and wasting the £x cost you have just paid. If I had to use panel heaters I'd want double the calculated kW needed with a good [+/- 0.1ºC] electronic thermostat to improve regulation avoid temperature drift and a good quality timer. That way I get the temperature needed much faster .. .. and importantly the comfort needed by time I've had a shower and made my beans on toast. Radiant is better than convected and choosing one that minimises heat loss to the wall always helps. At the end of the day everything in the room, curtains, furniture and even yourself eventually becomes a radiator.

captainhindsight_2

You can get storage heaters, with a fan assisted panel heater built in. So you can use storage heaters like normal, then if you want a little boost of heat in the day you can rather than switching over completely.

lstar337

Ditching NSH completely would be madness IMHO.

If the heaters were not working then either you didn't set them up correctly, or they are faulty.

A NSH that is properly sized and set up correctly should give you heat all day long, mine did once I got them set correctly and took care of all the heat loss in the building.