Electric Radiators

AlanH22

Hi
I am looking to install new electric radiators in my flat and wondered if anyone had any info on prices ie is it expensive to run.
I currently have storage heaters and i am on economy 7 for heating and water no gas for the property. I am looking at getting a system that operates like gas central heating where i can set the heating to come on when i want it to come on or switch it on when i want too, such as in the evening if its a bit chilly or before bed. Would i have to change to a 24 hour tariff would it cost a fortune to run?
Any info would be appreciated

Alan

Richie-from-the-Boro

The cheapest form of electric space & water heating is what you already have. The only cheaper alternative is never to switch it on, there are between thousands and millions of individual posts on this subject on this forum. It certainly can be done at extra cost, but not even close to as cheaply, but that's a personal choice and you are entitled make that decision - it's your money my friend. Best of luck.

lstar337

What you are after will cost 3x as much to run as what you have now. Plus the cost of rewiring and new hardware.

Alternatively you can get a more sophisticated version of what you have now, which will offer you something close to central heating. It's called Quantum by Dimplex, but it is going to cost you a few hundred per heater and possibly some re-wiring costs.

Totally up to you, but switching to what you want will cost an absolute fortune to run. Switching to quantum will cost quite a bit to install, but possibly cost a little less to run than what you have now. Sticking with what you have fits somewhere in the middle but costs you nothing upfront.

NSH seems like your worst nightmare at first, but it really isn't that bad once you get used to it. If you must do something, go Quantum. Please don't switch to direct electric heating, and if must please don't pay a fortune for fancy clay filled heaters. Come back here and let people know what you are thinking and we'll tell you straight if it is a poor deal.

Remember, we have nothing to sell and nothing to gain!

CashStrapped

Agree with above.

I would also add that the majority of the time, the issues that people have with NSH are because they are not using them correctly.

The main point concerns the output dial. This dial should be on the lowest setting for the majority of the time. It should only be turned up if you want a small boost (i.e for an hour after you get home). After that, it should always be set back to the lowest setting (1 or 0).

You also need to ensure it is set back to the lowest setting before you go to bed. Otherwise it will just release a large amount of the heat whilst charging, meaning there is not enough stored for the next day.

The input is more straight forward. This dial determines how much heat is stored, the higher the setting, the more heat is stored and the more electricity used.

Tbaron

Ello Alan, In addition to what has been said above, it is worthwhile looking into your meter type. Unbeknown to a lot of people there are actually many types of economy 7 (economy 10, 14 and 16) types of meter out there with vastly different clocking hours. With storage heaters you probably have a pretty common variant clocking 00:30-07:30 but you wont see the benefit if you change to electric radiators which don't utilise these hours. There are meters such as the most common Eco 10 which will clock low rate between 00:00 and 05;00, 13:00 and 16:00, 20:00 to 22:00. Its worth having a chat to your supplier if you go ahead with this to see what they can do for you.