Heatingless, gasless flat...

ShesElectric

Good morning!

I've just bought my first flat, which is a two bed top floor corner in a small block. The windows are double glazed and massive and every room has an exterior wall. I'm pretty sure all the walls are cement (they've ruined my brother's drills either way). I've done everything I can insulation and draught wise but have had to move in without heating as there's no gas to the building and all the storage heaters previously in place were from the 70's and potentially dangerous. Waterwise there's an immersion heater but nowt else.

Whatever heating I get has to be electric but I was steering away from convection heaters as the plug in I've borrowed doesn't touch the lounge which is pretty big.

I've read about HeatElectric waterfilled radiators and Dimplex but was hoping for a bit of advice from others who are higher on the smarterscale than myself.

Thank you all,
Sara

BargainGalore

All electric heating is 100% efficient so doesn't really matter what type of heating you use some take time to heat up and keep residue heat for longer like electric oil heater some give off heat straight away like a convector heater. The only way to get cheaper electric heating is having one that stores energy at cheaper times but you need a special extra meter for that like economy seven and tariff as well.

Gas heater is cheapest but that rules you out

Ectophile

Have you actually been told that the storage heaters are dangerous? They are basically just boxes with heat bricks and electric elements, and can last for decades. Newer and slimmer ones are also available. If you can get Economy 7, then it's way cheaper than normal plug-in heaters, though everybody hates storage heaters.

If you are already on E7, and you use plug-in heaters during the day, then you will be paying even more, as the daytime rate is higher than normal.

macman

Switch from E7 with NSH's to any other form of electric heating and you'll instantly triple your heating and hot water costs. If the old storage heaters really are dangerous then replace them. It's a no brainer.
Running convectors or oil filled rads off your existing E7 meter will cost about 400% more.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


Just to reiterate the facts stated above; i.e. all electrical heating is 100% efficient.


Above all do not believe the hype that heaterXXX filled with clay, or any substance known to man, will give out more heat for the same running cost - it simply won't. As said many times on MSE, granny's old 1/2/3 bar heater, a £10 fan heater, a £30 oil filled radiator from Argos will give out EXACTLY the same amount of heat, for the same running cost, as some of these heaters costing £1,000 or more.


There was a similar thread discussing your issue a couple of days ago which I suggest you read. See:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5385622

ShesElectric

Thank you all for your replies.
My partner and I have ruled out E7 simply because it wouldn't work for us. We're top floor and not allowed to run the washing machine etc at night and use the majority of our electricity between 4pm-11pm. We're also in a fair amount during the day at weekends and I'm at home all day Mondays, so moving the majority of our electricity use to night-time isn't that feasible for us. The meter will be getting removed too.

On the 'Large Space' post someone said the best without E7 would be an oil filled radiator - do a few of them sound feasible for heating a large flat?

Thanks, Sara.

Re: the old storage heaters, despite the asbestos survey coming back clean one of them still had a pad of it inside, and when we went to dispose of them the man at the dump came out in a biohazard suit...wasn't the most comforting part of this process so far.

Swipe

I guess a top floor flat rules out a couple of air to air heat pumps? might be worth investigating if they could go on the roof or balcony. That could meet your needs.

Cardew

ShesElectric wrote: »

On the 'Large Space' post someone said the best without E7 would be an oil filled radiator - do a few of them sound feasible for heating a large flat?

Thanks, Sara.

Sorry to labour the point, but oil filled radiators are equally efficient(100%) as any other electrical heater; and all electrical heating is expensive.


However they are a popular choice and inexpensive. You can pay from £20 upwards; most people(understandably) choose a model that is aesthetically pleasing. They warm up fairly slowly - compared to a convector heater - but retain the heat longer.


They all have thermostatic control and some have built in timers so you can set them to come on, say half an hour before you get up or return from work.


Even those without a timer can be plugged in via a timer and thus achieve the same functionality. You can also get remote control plug-in timers - not expensive just a few pounds. I understand that you can also get an app that enables you remote control them from a smart phone whilst in deepest Africa - a must have facility!

macman

OP, you clearly don't understand the economics of E7 or domestic energy usage. Up to 80% of your total energy usage will be for space heating and hot water. The fact that you won't be able to run your washing machine or other appliances at night is simply not relevant, as it's a tiny part of the total. And if you are indoors for 3 days a week in the daytime, that suits E7 perfectly, as NSH's release the stored heat from the end of the cheap rate period (typically 7-8am) throughout the day. This is why it suits elderly or retired households very well. With E7 you will also be able to heat all your hot water overnight ready for daytime usage, and evening too, as a properly insulated hot tank will remain hot all day.
I repeat: rip out E7 and your heating and hot water costs will rise by at least 300%, And you'll knock a few thousand off the resale value of the flat too.

Ectophile

ShesElectric wrote: »

On the 'Large Space' post someone said the best without E7 would be an oil filled radiator - do a few of them sound feasible for heating a large flat?

Oil filled radiators are good for background heat. They don't blast out heat like a fan heater or halogen heater. They just get hot and gradually warm up everything around them.

They can heat up quite a large space if you're prepared to leave them on for hours on end. Most come with some sort of thermostat.

macman

Yes, but all these forms of non-E7 electric heating will cost 3 times as much to run per kWh.