Can someone advise me if these are better/cheaper than storage heaters?

pnq06

I live in a rented property which has 2 storage heaters and cost the best part of £400 in winter last year :eek:

I just want to know if something like this would work out any cheaper to have-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DeLonghi-Rapido-Oil-Heater-with-timer-and-thermostat_W0QQitemZ150156246465QQihZ005QQcategoryZ41987QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Or any other ideas as I've got a baby due in October, the house is already cold , I need something cheap and pretty instant that I can control... Unfortunately the storage heaters we have are none of these things :rolleyes:

Cardew

No they are much more expensive to run. They are simply oil filled radiators that you plug into a socket.

Any form of electrical heating that runs on 'normal' daytime electricity is the most expensive form of heating you can get; and all forms of electrical heating cost the same to run for the same heat output(except storage heating)

Storage heaters have their limitations but they provide the cheapest heating available if electricity is your only option.(assuming you have an Economy 7 or Economy 10 tariff)

A fan heater will provide instant heating, but are expensive to run.

pnq06

Thanks Cardew,

Looks like I'll have to suffer the dreaded storage heaters this year :rolleyes:

Can I just ask if economy 7 is the cheapest tarriff to use? I don't understand it all!!!!

Cardew

pnq06 wrote: »

Thanks Cardew,

Looks like I'll have to suffer the dreaded storage heaters this year :rolleyes:

Can I just ask if economy 7 is the cheapest tarriff to use? I don't understand it all!!!!

Economy 7(E7) is the cheapest type of tariff when you have storage heaters.

However all the utility companies have an E7 tariff and yours may not be the cheapest.

Go to the comparison sites(see Martin's article) and see who is cheapest for your area. Enter your usage in kWh from your last bills. If you haven't got them, ring your Utility company and ask them for your usage figures; there will be off peak and daytime figures.

pnq06

Can I just bother you with one more thing Cardew?

These are my current readings taken from my online bill what bits do I need to do a comparison with? Its all foreign to me

Present Reading Previous Reading kWh Cost per kWh (p) Charge (£)

Day 69593 E 69433 A 35 18.28 6.4
125 9.88 12.35
Night 4028 E 3974 A 54 4.24 2.29

Day 70231 C 69593 E 158 18.28 28.88
480 9.88 47.42
Night 4245 C 4028 E 217 4.24 9.2

Total VAT Exclusive Charges £106.54

Thank you :beer:

Cardew

It seems like those are your charges for just one quarter - but two sets of entries.

It is also not possible to work out your consumption as some of those meter readings are estimated - that is what the E indicates.

For your Daytime electricity you are paying some at 18.28p/kWh(this is called tier 1 and is usually for the first 225kWh per quarter) and the rest at 9.88p/kWh.

For night time(off peak) electricity(a 7 hour period usually between the hours of 11:30pm an 8:30am) you are paying 4.24p/kWh

All those prices before VAT is added @5%.

You have been charged for a total of 798kWh at daytime rates - 193 at tier1 - and 271 at nightime rates.

You really need consumption details for full year for the website comparison. You should be able to get that from your on line account or your supplier. During the winter you will use far more off peak electricity for your storage heating.

If you can't get the figures for consumption, you can go to the website and enter in several sets of figures and see who looks cheapest for your postcode. I suggest you start at 5,000kWh off peak and 5,000kWh daytime and then variations on those figures.

pnq06

Thanks again Cardew...

I've just been onto my online account again to see if I can get readings for a year but its all to complicated, so instead I took your advise and had a look at Martins article and went onto the energy helpline website to compare prices with what Powergen said that I use roughly (in money) each month and apparently npower can save me £142 (19%) a year :j

Does that sound about right? Its an awful lot of money


EDIT- This is the description of what I would be switching to...

Tariff Details
Name npower - Sign On-Line 8 Standard Billing
Region East Midlands
Payment method Monthly Direct Debit
Features • Extended hours 0845 customer contact centres
• Good service ratings
• Manage your account online
• Paper billing

Pricing Details
Gas Electricity
Standing charge n/a 0.00p per day (£0.00 per year)
Unit charge (pence per kWh) n/a 21.189p for the first 182 kWh per quarter, and 7.350p thereafter
Night unit charge (pence per kWh) n/a 3.150p
Discounts Direct Debit Discount of £21 per year for Electricity
All prices shown are inclusive of VAT at 5%.

Additional Information
Tariff Information The savings quoted include any discounts associated with this tariff. The discounts will be paid to you annually in arrears from your final bill of each 12-month period. To qualify, you must take your supply from npower and pay by the same payment method for a full 12 month period – this period does not have to be a Jan-Dec calendar year.
Special offers associated with tariff n/a
Other services available from supplier n/a

Cardew

East Midlands is one of the cheapest areas in UK so these Npower rates are much cheaper.

The bulk of your electricity will be at 7.35p/3.15p against 10.37p/4.45p(Powergen after VAT is added)
This represents savings of 29%.

GO FOR IT!

tomstickland

It cost me about £70 to heat my flat last winter with E7 storage, so something is wrong. Keep a note of your readings at weekly intervals. Check you have the best tariff.

pnq06

£70 for the winter... eeek I must be doing something wrong!!!

Well I've just got my reading for a year and its 7586kWh still means nothing to me :rolleyes:

Think I might borrow the money to pay my arrears and then switch to npower

Thanks for your help :beer:

Cardew

pnq06 wrote: »

£70 for the winter... eeek I must be doing something wrong!!!

Well I've just got my reading for a year and its 7586kWh still means nothing to me :rolleyes:

Think I might borrow the money to pay my arrears and then switch to npower

Thanks for your help :beer:

You need to find the split of the 7,586 between off-peak(E7) consumption and daytime consumption to get an accurate savings estimate. However there will always be large savings with NPower on line - so as soon as you can change the better.

A £70 heating bill for a winter with E7 is atypical. Most people will spend several hundred pounds.