All electric house costs\?

gatita

I have seen a house I would REALLY like to buy, there is just one drawback, it is all electric......Everyone says that it will cost me a fortune... I would love people's opinion please

marksoton

Depends how you manage it.

gatita

WellI can't manage being cold at my age!¬ so I would have to have some kind of heating on, It is a well insulated house, but even so I would like to hear from others that have all electric heating.

Grenage

Assuming they are right, is it possible to get gas there?

alumende27

This may sound like a obvious answer, but what does the EPC certificate indicate? Worth checking against other similarly sized properties that are heated by other means. You can check them via the epcregister.com website.

It won't be accurate, but it should give some indication.

Obviously, it will depend on how warm you like it, whether it's got good insulation, etc., etc.,

My first house was all electric, I don't ever recall the energy usage being crippling, but the inflexibility of the storage heaters meant it was often a bit too hot or too cold in the winter depending on what the weather was like. I don't know if they're any better these days. I never regretted buying the house because of all electric though.

Naf

We're all electric, and we found this place cheaper than our previous place which was gas central heating.

A few questions which may assist with helping you:

- Is it economy 7 with storage heaters?
- What is your occupancy like (daytime, morning/evening etc)?
- What is the size compared to your current place?
- What's the glazing like compared to your current place?
- Any idea about its insulation compared to your current place?

G_M

Is it near the gas mains?

If so, live there for a few months and see, and then install gas central heating.

If no gas, consider oil. Oil has come down in price hugely. I paid 23 pence per litre this year compared to 62 ppl a couple of years back.......

gatita

Wow thank you all for your replies. No, gas is not an option unfortunately,
NAF, We are at home most of the time, it is well insulated and double glazed.
I live in the S.West where I believe electricity is more expensive than elsewhere (same as the water which is OUTRAGEOUS!!)
Ah well, decisions decisions lol

anotheruser

gatita wrote: »

...but even so I would like to hear from others that have all electric heating.

What exactly would you like to hear?
A mouse?
In a house?
With a bottle of grouse?

Davesnave

gatita wrote: »

Wow thank you all for your replies. No, gas is not an option unfortunately,
NAF, We are at home most of the time, it is well insulated and double glazed.
I live in the S.West where I believe electricity is more expensive than elsewhere (same as the water which is OUTRAGEOUS!!)
Ah well, decisions decisions lol

Electricity is not hugely more expensive in the South West. The North West is most expensive, but the differences are more than outweighed by people's habits.

As for water, there are historic and enviromental reasons for this being more expensive, but few want to go back to the days of swimming in raw sewage.They weren't that long ago.

You haven't said how exactly this house is heated, or what sort of a place it is, but you might find that if storage heaters are the main source, being at home most of the time means you'll need an evening top-up from other electric heaters.

If it's an electric boiler, then just pause and ask yourself why these are not very common!

To convert to oil, you'd need outside space for a tank and access for the deliveries. Oil is cheap at present, but no one knows how long that will be the case. If there is no wet heating system in place, then it would cost £8 - 10k to convert to oil and there would, of course, be some disruption while rads were fitted etc.

Finally, there is an energy forum on this site, offering straight talking, informed advice.

Naf

It really would be useful to know if its storage heaters or an electric boiler.

We have storage heaters, and there's someone home most of the day. Partially from my research before we moved here (we heard all the horror stories people tell about their bills with storage heaters), and also from experience of living here, I would say that storage heaters work out cheaper for that kind of occupancy - especially if they're older models. They are going to release heat all day no matter what - if you're not home then that's just wasted.
But you do need to accept that you will need to supplement them in the worst evenings across the winter. I use convector heaters because they can provide on demand heat to the room much faster than electric radiators, and much more conveniently ( I think) than IR radiant heaters.