Struggling with electric only house

Richie-from-the-Boro

Stored heat is 30% cheaper than instant heat regardless of what type of NSH. The DUO will always use expensive day rate heat, ditto the fan heater. The DUO has x2 switches (1) a 13a instant and (2) a night rate only cheaper 20a. Switch the 13a day rate off at the wall and it can't use expensive leccy. The DUO heat are excellent, comfortable and responsive heaters but are expensive to run when the front facing resistive panel heater is switched on.

A NSH is a purse, when its out of cheap stored heat, you are very cold or into very expensive on demand all electric heating. Apart from tariff and meter type you might consider three things.

Heat only the living area. Find out how best to use the NS heating type you have or change to non-automatic NSH. Lastly as is the case with 90% of users paying peanuts in the summer without putting money aside for the winter is a fools game - you will always get caught short.

Good winter in a well insulated dwelling about £700pa, bad about £800pa needs about £66 every month for all electric households especially in Scotland, if you didn't plan for £60 a month in all 12 months in your first year you are going to have to have a severe re-think my friend.

NOTE : £40 a month for an all electric home is an unrealistic £480 a year....................

weewalsh

Richie I would agree with you on that - however I am paying over £40 per WEEK to be using limited appliances (cooking/ironing/shower/tv/Hoover) the vast majority of which I'm only using during cheaper hours, and sitting with a blanket on and a hot water bottle in bed. Yes, I fully expected to pay more than my previous houses (similar in size but with GCH) but don't think I'm being unreasonable being shocked at the running cost when it is around 5 times as much as I have ever paid before, especially being conscientious in my usage.

Cardew

As said in post #2 I don't think £40 a week on a pre-pay tariff is unrealistic, in this cold weather, in a house with questionable insulation situated in Scotland.

Richie-from-the-Boro

weewalsh wrote: »

Richie I would agree with you on that - however I am paying over £40 per WEEK to be using limited appliances (cooking/ironing/shower/tv/Hoover) the vast majority of which I'm only using during cheaper hours, and sitting with a blanket on and a hot water bottle in bed. Yes, I fully expected to pay more than my previous houses (similar in size but with GCH) but don't think I'm being unreasonable being shocked at the running cost when it is around 5 times as much as I have ever paid before, especially being conscientious in my usage.

I know what you said, and I said that's about £20-30 quid short of your monthly reality. You need to increase the amount of stored cheap heat available to you and reduce the amount of expensive day rate heat you use.

Tariff, meter type,insulation and % split should be looked at ASP but first you have to survive this winter.

My point in this and the earlier thread was you need to view it as an annual cost divided by 12 or 52 if you like. You winter cost will be double your summer. The house you left is not the one you are now in - you clearly now live in a poorly insulated home regardless of the heating type. Best of luck.

1+3

System

Just out of curiosity do you know what you are paying per unit for day and night, been on the best tariff also helps, I have seen some crazy night time rates. When I 1st moved in my 1bed flat the night rate with npower was over 8p per unit night and 19p day.

You must try and get the cheapest tariff, I'm now 5.03p night and 12p day.

I have 4 storage heaters in mine I only use 3 of them and I gotta admit I do prefer them over gsh it's always warm and I have never needed to open the vent for neat.

I hope you get it sorted soon.

Be_Happy

weewalsh wrote: »

The older one is a Dimplex xln which has only the 2 dials and the 2 wall switches (for 2 electricity rates)

I'm confused by this part of your post. Our Dimplex xln heaters have only 1 wall switch and only use 1 electricity rate ie E7. To have 2 wall switches and 2 rates would seem to indicate these are the ones with the combined convection heater that uses full rate electricity which could be very expensive if it is always on.

weewalsh

The wall switches seem to be the same as the newer Duoheat ones:
One which appears to control the main on/off/power, and one which has an orange light which comes on during the cheaper rate times.

The other heaters (unused) are not the same model and one of them only has 1 wall switch and the other has 2.

What a nightmare. Just need to check tariffs, use them wisely, pray for a not too wild winter and save up for a gas boiler!

Richie-from-the-Boro

weewalsh wrote: »

Thanks again, cashstrapped

The older one is a Dimplex xln which has only the 2 dials and the 2 wall switches (for 2 electricity rates)

The new ones are Dimplex Duoheat 400n. The control is a plus/minus of light up bars. Again with 2 wall switches.

I have read instruction manuals and watched videos on both and I was under the impression the Duoheat 'charges' on the low rate input which is then released out with that time. Have I understood that correctly?

The 400n is a mid range NSH, in my view too small for a living area. You have the expensive and complex wiring and control in place but you need more pre-stored cheap[er] heat to avoid the need for secondary permanent use heating.

An electrician can change your 400n for a bigger storage type heater [a 3.4kW cheepo £276] - or -better still simply and cheaply extend your existing cable, add a second NSH to the same circuit / room giving you what you need ... cheaper, adequate quantities of heat like the rest of us have. The 3.4 will hold 24kWh 24+13.6 is 37.6kW ÷ 17 = a toasty 2.2kW output of cheap[er] heat over the whole 17 day hours if that's what you need / want.

Grand kid duties tonight, pictures & McDonalds, I'll get back to you later. BTW (remember the purse I spoke of) if you only 1/2 fill a DUO with cheap stuff you are positively encouraging it to switch on its expensive secondary panel heating and empty your pocket.

_______________

1/2 high for background storing heat

- why 1/2 ?
- boost [expensive day rate] will come on if its cold[er]
- set it to full to reduce expensive 'boost' and expensive 'fan heater'

2 wall switches (for 2 electricity rates)

Dimplex Duoheat 400n

- yet later you say only one switch ?
- a DUO will have 2 switches and 2 separate cables going in under the heater
- it is [as usual] an underpowered mid range NSH when a bigger one should have been installed
- at full should should hold 13.65kWh, but only outputs a real 0.8kW per hour [13.65 ÷ 17] over 17 hours
- the expensive boost when on will use 0.47kW @ your expensive day tariff rate per hour

Hope this helps your understanding - end of edit.