New flat-can only install electric heaters

TartanSaver

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

If you are out during the day [...] Economy 7 and storage heating might not be for you.

This is by far the biggest issue I've had with storage heaters. I was essentially paying for electric all night to make my living room warm all morning and afternoon, then on getting home in the evening, it was going cold. Every night I would turn the output down to minimum, input on maximum. I wouldn't turn up the output until I came home from work, but by then it had leaked most of the heat anyway. I had to put on boost every day. A "bigger" storage heater would have used even more overnight to compensate for this. Essentially you are forced to heat your living room all day, regardless of whether you will be in it. Perhaps the insulation in modern ones is better, but you'll understand why I'm skeptical.

macman

That is the result of NSH's that are not adequate for the size of room then-it's not a generic fault of the NSH system. You can adjust the damper during the evening to increase the output, and as long as there is sufficient heat stored, it will warm the room as required.
Even if you find yourself 'wasting' some surplus heat if the weather is milder than expected, then, given that the energy is a third of the price of that required for panel heaters, it's still much cheaper.
The OP appears to be prejudiced against NSH's on the grounds of a lack of controllability, but that is based on technology of the 1970's-modern ones are much more controllable.

lstar337

spiritus wrote: »

I don't quite agree.

That's because you don't have the years of knowledge and research to back you up. We do.

spiritus wrote: »

The user has to select how much energy to draw at night on the cheap tariff to use the following day.

No they don't. I have already told you this once. On a Dimplex Quantum storage heater, you just program the temperatures you want during the day (say 20c in morning, 18c midday, 21c evening) and it does everything else for you. You would have to do that on a panel heater anyway!

spiritus wrote: »

The method of selecting how much energy to use might look more sophisticated if you use a computerised, electronic display etc but the basic principle has to be the same.

There is no method for selecting how much energy to use, you only control the output, just like a panel heater.

Try looking it up!

http://www.dimplex.co.uk/products/domestic_heating/installed_heating/quantum/index.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdeIEzkKsyg

It may not be for you, but dismissing it without even looking is madness.

You still haven't told us what your current metering is, or how you get hot water. These factors will make a huge difference to what is the best heating option.

ChumpusRex

spiritus wrote: »

The user has to select how much energy to draw at night on the cheap tariff to use the following day.

Nope.
I had storage heaters for years. They had electronic controls. You set the temperature on a wall thermostat/timer and the electronic controls did the rest. They worked out how much charge to take and when to release it, and when to top it up with direct heating.

The controller was difficult to program, but once the program was set it just worked.

Owain_Moneysaver

TartanSaver wrote: »

This is by far the biggest issue I've had with storage heaters. I was essentially paying for electric all night to make my living room warm all morning and afternoon, then on getting home in the evening, it was going cold.

Fax assisted storage heaters are a lot better, with very little heat loss during the day, and the fan can be timer controlled to warm the house up before you arrive. Unfortunately they're a lot more expensive, and a lot more bulky.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/ERADL4024.html

Pincher

I think you worry too much.


If you have a new build one bedroom apartment, the insulation is probably pretty good. Why don't you get an oil filled electric heater, say 2kW, and keep an eye on the consumption in kWh.
Fans are noisy, oil filled heaters are silent, I like that.


Assuming you pay 12p per kWh, having it on for one hour uses 24p, four hours is £1. In fact, it should click on and off to maintain a set point, so the actual amount used is less.


An amusing thing you can try is, use energy INEFFICIENT light bulbs for winter.


Good ideas:


Plinth heater for the kitchen, electric towel radiator for the bathroom.




If you want pretty:


http://www.fireplacesareus.co.uk/shop/fireplace-packages/budget-fireplaces.html

Richie-from-the-Boro

spiritus wrote: »

so you were


What about oil filled radiators or oil filled panel heaters ? I'm even confused as to whether these are one and the same thing !!


The latter appears to have the same running costs as a normal (oil-less panel heater) so the economics isn't a factor.


Storage heaters seem to be the least expensive to run but expensive to purchase 3 x heaters

- oil filled is 80% convection [bad] and 20% radiation [good] - high tariff
- night store is 80% radiation [good] & 20% convection [bad] - low tariff
- DUO night store is both low tariff stored and on demand high tariff radiant panel
- panel heaters can be radiant or convective, most are low wattage and convective [bad]
- fan is 100% convection [bad] unless you want to warm your ceiling
- night store water saves 60% + per annum on all your water needs
- 99% of problems with night store are indeed lack of sufficient storage and user error

You decide spiritus.