No central heating

Pingu1

Hello

I have just purchased (been living there nearly 2 months now) a ground floor studio flat in Isleworth, London, and it has no central heating. All the properties in the area are electric as there is no gas connection. The previous owner removed the storage heaters, as apparently they were too expensive. So all I have is one Dimplex oil free portable 2Kw heater, with a thermostat and timer. I am concerned my electricity bill will be £150+ during winter time and will struggle to afford it.

How good are these portable heaters and how long will I have to run it for each day? The flat was built in 1984, and has two outside facing walls with one large bay PVC window, and a smaller PVC kitchen window. The walls are cavity. I have laid some carpet in the hall way, and am considering putting some thermal roller blinds at the bay window to supplement the existing wooden blinds.

As a separate question, does anybody know anything about Utility Warehouse? I have been told you can earn money with them by becoming a distributor. Currently SSE are my electricity provider, so I would need to switch. Are they a scam?

I hope someone can help, I am really worried about winter. This is my first flat - I have always rented a room before. Thanks.

phill99

Utility warehouse aren't a scam. I know plenty of people who have switched and I am thinking if going iver to them. They are a nother (small) provider in the market but don't use main stream marketing to get customers.

System

what about getting a calor gas heater.

penrhyn

There are rules about Utility Warehouse.

Rule 1 You do not post about Utility Warehouse.

Rule 2 You do NOT post about Utility Warehouse.

If you must post it has its own dedicated thread.

Calor Gas heaters put out a lot of water vapour.

Willowpop

I have a 'skirting heater' from Argos that heats a cold room of mine up really well, and a friend uses one on her boat too with good effect. They are pretty cheap to run and kick out a good bit of heat. They may be cheaper than the current type of heater you have, I'm not sure.

As for utilities...go to a cost comparison site and see if you can get a cheaper deal than utility warehouse...possibly a cheaper deal will negate any 'earnings' you may or may not make from UW.

theartfullodger

All electric heaters of the same capacity (eg 2Kw) are as effective/efficient/"good" as the others. i.e. they all produce the same amount of heat for the same £££: (Except Storage radiators which run off cheaper tariffs). They may send it different places, but don't believe the adverts...

I would not touch UW with a very long bargepole: They appear to many to be a pyramid scheme but have told me they are not so that's clear then.

Buy more clothes or train yourself to tolerate lower temperatures (it's quite easy, just turn stuff off...). Think, all that energy you expend keeping you warm will help you lose weight (no, really, it's true!).

Cheers!

benjus

Removing the storage heaters was a strange thing to do, as they are the cheapest form of electric heating (because if you are on an Economy 7 tariff the heaters run on cheaper-rate electricity during the night).

stator

Whether it's cheaper to use storage heaters or not will depend on how much electricity you use in the day. When on economy 7 you pay a lower rate at night and a higher rate in the day. So if you use more electricity for general things like computers/tv than you use for heating, economy 7 can work out more expensive. If most of your bill is heating then storage heaters with an economy 7 meter can work out cheaper, but in my opinion storage heaters are crap. If the storage heaters have been removed check that the economy 7 meter has been removed too! Otherwise you would be paying too much for electricity during the day.
There are various green deals available for insulation, I don't know what's possible in a flat.

Pingu1

Sorry for the late reply, I had the Economy 7 meter removed and am now on the standard rate. Not sure if that was the best decision now. I wasn't really using much of the night rate, so it didn't seem worth it. I am thinking about buying some thermal blinds too to insulate the window. How long would the heater have to be on for to heat the flat? If its on for 4 hours a day at max power, it will cost £40 a month! Maybe that's not long enough though.

phill99

Pingu1 wrote: »

How long would the heater have to be on for to heat the flat? .

How are we supposed to know?

retepetsir

You can find online radiator calculators which will tell you how much heat energy you need to suitable heat your property, this is after inputting size, windows, spec of insulation, etc.

It depends on how big your studio flat is but 2kw may not get you far.

It might be best to get a storage heater installed again!