Electric heating

jon783

I've recently bought my first flat, and it currently has very old storage heaters, one of which is broken. So I'm looking to replace the broken one with another type of heating. The flat has no gas, so it has to be electric. Can anyone recommenced the best option for living room electric heating?

I don't like the storage heaters, as it requires me to plan ahead, not my strong suit. So have been looking into alternatives, from my research I think either water filled electric radiators or infrared panel heaters would work best for me. Does anyone have any experience with these, and know how well they perform?

My main requirements are, that I can turn it on in the evening when it's cold and it heats up reasonably quickly (so not a storage heater), it needs to heat the whole room, and not just the area around the heater (which is what I've experienced with electric fan heaters), and ideally not cost too much to run (I know electric heating is always going to be fairly expensive). I'm prepared to spend more on the actual unit, if it'll heat the room well.

Thanks for any advice.

footyguy

jon783 wrote: »

I've recently bought my first flat, and it currently has very old storage heaters, one of which is broken. So I'm looking to replace the broken one with another type of heating. The flat has no gas, so it has to be electric. Can anyone recommenced the best option for living room electric heating?

I don't like the storage heaters, as it requires me to plan ahead, not my strong suit. So have been looking into alternatives, from my research I think either water filled electric radiators or infrared panel heaters would work best for me. Does anyone have any experience with these, and know how well they perform?

My main requirements are, that I can turn it on in the evening when it's cold and it heats up reasonably quickly (so not a storage heater), it needs to heat the whole room, and not just the area around the heater (which is what I've experienced with electric fan heaters), and ideally not cost too much to run (I know electric heating is always going to be fairly expensive). I'm prepared to spend more on the actual unit, if it'll heat the room well.

Thanks for any advice.

All electrical heaters are virtually 100% efficient (except things like heat pumps etc)

It's a shame you don't like like using storage heaters, because not only do you not have to wait for them to heat up when you walk into a cold property every evening (they should already be warm, and the flat too!) but you will be paying 2-3 times the cost for the electricity to produce the same heat.

This is moneysavingexpert.com :money:

But it's your money, so I suggest you decide what you like best ...

modsandmockers

There is a widespread conventional wisdom that electric heating is unavoidably more expensive than gas heating, but it ain’t necessarily so.

When ‘central’ heating was invented, energy was cheap and we all got used to the idea that our homes should always be warm from top to bottom.

But imo those days are gone, and we need to provide ourselves with heating systems which can be ‘focussed’ much more precisely.

The first thing to say is that if you don’t intend to use the storage heater system then you need to make sure that your electricity is not being supplied on an Economy7 tariff (this might require some negotiation with your energy supplier). There is definitely no point in replacing just one of your storage heaters with a different system. The second thing to say is that, by having no gas supply, you are already saving money on ‘dual-fuel’ standing charges. The third thing to say is that electric heaters are much easier to switch on and off than ‘wet’ centrally-heated radiators (so long as you remember to do so...). Electric radiators are usually oil-filled rather than water-filled, or have a ceramic core (not unlike a storage heater, but with instant results).

Fan heaters are only useful for heating your ankles (so long as they are no more than a couple of feet away from the heat source) and, imo, infrared panel heaters are not much better.

I think that not enough attention is paid to the importance of the positioning of any heating device. As you say, what you need to do is to heat the whole room and, when central heating was first invented, radiators were usually placed under the windows so that the descending cold air from the inside of the glass would push the warmer (lighter) air from the radiator across and around the room. I use low-wattage electric heaters placed under the windows, and it works. But I also have a few faster-acting appliances for occasional use.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Water filled electric radiators does indeed require extra planning for example you will need to ask your current employer for permanent extra hours, alternatively you will need an up to date CV and a plan to spend many many more hours at work with two different employers and two separate jobs to pay for the wet electric system, its installation, ongoing maintenance and of course the considerably higher [than night store or even panel heating] electricity costs.

You could go with cheap and effective 3kW [stat & timer] panel heating. Top end would be Dimplex type, any of the other cheepo type that provide rapid heat, accurate temperature control and a timer will do just as well. Personally I would avoid like a plague anything with the words German / Eco / low wattage / Voodoo / alternative / Marmite filled / or Paul Daniels half price magic chip running in their offer.

Replacing your existing old with new modern storage heating is a world away from your current set up, but expensive, however you get what you pay for with an infinitely customisable personal automatic temperature 'profile map' for both water and space heating to within 0.3 °C so if funds allow so don't exclude it without a~n~other consideration.

An alternative now-winter strategy on an E7 tariff is to make sure you read [and photograph] your meter immediately, register as the account holder, get the best E7 tariff offer form any supplier, Leave the hot water system as it is on 1/2 price E7 supply and fit a new good quality 3.4kW night store heater + a 3kW panel heater in your living area and panel the other rooms where you switch on and off a 3kW panel heater when needed. This way you instantly prepare for this winter and make any costly decisions after the winter period when you have lived in and learned from first hand - your new home over the cold spell.

Best of luck.

modsandmockers

jon783 wrote: »

I don't like the storage heaters, as it requires me to plan ahead, not my strong suit...my main requirements are that I can turn it on in the evening when it's cold and it heats up reasonably quickly...I'm prepared to spend more on the actual unit, if it'll heat the room well

Individual electric appliances can be switched on and off by individual electric timers, but this would require forward planning. But if you are relaxed about coming home to a cold flat then it should be possible to organise an array of carefully-positioned quick-acting heaters (I use Dimplex oil-free ceramic Eco radiators) which are effective within minutes. Effective room heating, in my opinion, is not only about the total quantity of available heat, but also about being able to spread the available heat evenly and efficiently around the space which is to be heated. This probably requires quite a lot of experimental heater positioning, which can only be done with portable electric heaters, especially low-wattage/cheap-to-run appliances.

wattsupnow

Take a look at my video on YouTube: Home Heating: How the Market is Rigged to Favour Gas.

Ripped out our unreliable and noisy GSH years ago and fitted Dimplex Panel Heaters to every room. Chose their budget panel heaters range (not storage) cheap-and-cheerful and does the job.

We are retired, so leaving the heat on 24/7 suits our life styles. Switch them on in October and off about April. Not the cheapest agreed - annual costs about £800 for heating and hot water plus about £450 for everything else electric in the house but is 100% reliable, no maintenance or repair bills. A fit-and-forget solution to heating that keeps the whole house 18-22C all day, every day.

I tried fitting timers to every heater to switch off during the night but honestly made little difference to the bills and not worth the bother.

lstar337

wattsupnow wrote: »

Take a look at my video on YouTube: Home Heating: How the Market is Rigged to Favour Gas.

Ripped out our unreliable and noisy GSH years ago and fitted Dimplex Panel Heaters to every room. Chose their budget panel heaters range (not storage) cheap-and-cheerful and does the job.

We are retired, so leaving the heat on 24/7 suits our life styles. Switch them on in October and off about April. Not the cheapest agreed - annual costs about £800 for heating and hot water plus about £450 for everything else electric in the house but is 100% reliable, no maintenance or repair bills. A fit-and-forget solution to heating that keeps the whole house 18-22C all day, every day.

I tried fitting timers to every heater to switch off during the night but honestly made little difference to the bills and not worth the bother.

This is a money saving website. Nothing in your post is about money saving.

I don't even need to watch your video to know it is useful to practically nobody.

macman

Footyguy summarised it very well. And if you do switch to non-E7 heating of any kind, you will need to switch to a single rate tariff at about 300% more (this will also increase the cost of heating all your hot water by about 300% too). And you may well need to change the meter, another £60 or so.
Much better idea to get the NSH replaced and use them as intended.