Flats with electric heating

Wanderfree

Hello,
FTB here, I've just seen a great flat that I'm considering making an offer on. The only thing that is making me hesitate is the fact that it's all electric heating (I know this is common for relatively new build flats). The block was built around 1996 and it looks like the heaters have never been replaced & they're so small i just can't believe they are effective. I noticed when I viewed that the owners had an additional plug in heater in the lounge so figure the heating is probably not very effective and I'm aware electric heating costs more than gas.

I have two questions I was hoping to get thoughts on:
a) Is this a real concern? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?
b) Is it straightforward and not overly expensive to replace the old electric heaters with newer, hopefully more effective, models?

thanks!

elverson

It also depends on the insulation, how high your ceilings are, and how many flats are under you. We've rented two flats with electric-only heating - one was warm enough and one was freezing.

Wanderfree

Hi elverson,
it's not got high ceilings. Is on the first floor so one flat below and one above. It's fairly cosy in terms of size. None of the rooms are particularly big.

princeofpounds

It's more expensive than gas or oil, but it can work ok for flats that are well-surrounded by others, as the whole building turns into a large thermal mass.


However, the fact that the system needs supplementing with an additional heater would concern me a bit.

pinkpiglit

We bought a flat with electric heating and lived there for 7 years. We replaced the heating with new storage heaters in the lounge and hallway, and had panel heaters in the bedrooms. Some winters it was ok, and others it was so cold that I needed a blanket and hot water bottle just to sit on the couch - even after using the "boost" function to crank the heat up as much as we could. We also installed an additional panel heater in the lounge when the weather hit -10c one particularly cold winter as the storage heater just wasn't enough.

Admittedly we were a top floor flat with single glazed windows. However, having since bought a flat with traditional GCH I wouldn't go back. Previously we had to keep an eye on the weather forecast in order to increase/decrease the storage heaters before we went to bed (of course that's only relevant if you have storage heaters, but any other kind of electric heating is likely to be very expensive).

megaginge

It'll cost 4-5 times as much to run as a gas equivalent.

Efficiency ought not be a problem, especially first floor.

My mums place was double glazing with electric eco 7 storage heaters and was warm enough...

also much less likely to ever go wrong than gas heating... especially if combi boiler..

It wouldn't put me off a sale, but I might try to use it as a bargaining chip.

ognum

ak102 wrote: »

Hello,
FTB here, I've just seen a great flat that I'm considering making an offer on. The only thing that is making me hesitate is the fact that it's all electric heating (I know this is common for relatively new build flats). The block was built around 1996 and it looks like the heaters have never been replaced & they're so small i just can't believe they are effective. I noticed when I viewed that the owners had an additional plug in heater in the lounge so figure the heating is probably not very effective and I'm aware electric heating costs more than gas.

I have two questions I was hoping to get thoughts on:
a) Is this a real concern? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?
b) Is it straightforward and not overly expensive to replace the old electric heaters with newer, hopefully more effective, models?

thanks!

For resale Landlords like electric heating as there are no issues with gas safety certificates etc, it is also safer in blocks of flats as less risk from gas leakage and explosion.

I have flats with both gas and electric heating, there seems to be little difference in value or rent ability.

Electric heaters last a long time and seldom need repair.

J_i_m

I would preferred to have got a flat with gas central heating and appliances but it seems the majority of flats (at least round my way) are all electric. So it would have been daft to let the non gass factor break a deal on a otherwise perfectly nice flat.

I gather electric heating is less efficient / more expensive but I'll adapt and try to mindful of the energy I use.

swindiff

Find out how much to install gas central heating and put an offer in less this amount.

HappyMJ

It's not that much more expensive to run a small flat on electric heating.

You might see figures on here saying it costs 3, 4 or even 5 times as much as gas but that isn't true.

The property will have an EPC which estimates what heat the property will require over a year per square metre.

My flat for example is 119kWh per square metre per year and is 58 square metres. The estimated gas usage just for heating would then be 6,902kWh per year. Gas is 3p/kWh and there is an additional 20p/day standing charge to have gas so the annual heating bill would be about £280.

Electric heating however is 100% efficient so you would use less but some might be wasted by releasing heat from the storage heater at the wrong time of day. Electricity is around 5p/kWh at night. The additional cost of running electric heaters would therefore be £345 which is only £65 per year (£5 per month) more expensive than had I had gas. The additional standing charge on a gas supply makes a big difference.

It's very important to get the right tariff. Some night rates can be just as much as the day rate and it will cost you dramatically more.

I currently pay £45 a month for both gas and electricity. If I was on electric only it might cost £50 a month for the same amount of heat.

Heating water for instant use isn't particularly efficient with gas as there are pipe losses transmitting the heat from the boiler to the cylinder that you don't want especially in summer. If you had a combi then you would waste many litres of water waiting to get the hot water to come through the tap which costs money. An electric immersion element will heat the cylinder at cheap rates at 100% efficiency.

You have a look at your own EPC and make up your own mind.

PasturesNew

Electric is cheaper for home-owners, dearer for renters. That's because an electric system doesn't have any servicing/maintenance costs like a gas boiler + if you do have to replace it you won't be looking at a £3k bill every 10 years or so.

Per unit/per kW it is dearer on paper, but you don't just pay for "per kW" with gas, there's all the other costs of system purchase/ownership/replacement/servicing/etc.