Electric Radiators or Log Burner?

sparkly_sun

Hi, I moved in to my house last year and the heating is night storage which is rubbish and doesn't seem to work on boost so when I come home in the evening all the heat has gone. I thought I'd be able to fit gas central heating in due course but the configuration of my house makes this tricky without losing space (which I can't afford to do as it's a tiny house anyway!)

EPG is F and when I came home this evening it was a cosy 13 degrees in my lounge! I am wearing a lot of fleece at the moment....

I have a nice fake electric log burner that's helping me to keep warm. I was thinking of getting a proper log burner but I'd have to be patient whilst I made it up and then let the heat build. Once going to would heat the entire house, however. One downside is that I'd have to knock the mantelpiece out as the timber is too low which would be aesthetically displeasing to me! From a resale point of view I'm not sure if it's wise to have a log burner (not everyone's thing) coupled with crap storage heaters.

Now I'm thinking about replacing the storage heaters with electric plug and play radiators that are on timers so that I can come home to a warm house. In an ideal world I'd have these and a log burner but I can only afford one choice.

Any advice on what to do or what heaters to look in to would be much appreciated (as I can't think for myself as I'm too cold)

Gloomendoom

To be quite frank, you would be better off investing in central heating.

Why will you lose space?

prosaver

i seen a log burner and you can connect central heating to it..sounds good
.. here..
http://www.stovefittersmanual.co.uk/articles/connecting-a-wood-burning-stove-to-central-heating/

sparkly_sun

Gloomendoom wrote: »

To be quite frank, you would be better off investing in central heating.

Why will you lose space?

The boiler would have to go in the kitchen/lounge which would take out a good chunk of available space. My house is like a dolls house!

Ectophile

I have a log burner, and it's a very nice thing to have. But...

There's no way you can light it before you get home in the evening. As a result, you'll get back to a freezing cold house. The log burner may take 1/2 hour to get up to temperature before it puts out a decent amount of heat, and it will take even longer to warm through the house.

EssexExile

sparkly_sun wrote: »

Hi, I moved in to my house last year and the heating is night storage which is rubbish and doesn't seem to work on boost so when I come home in the evening all the heat has gone.

Another option would be to sort out the storage heaters. If they are the right size, working properly & used properly you'll be able to come home to a warm house.

Gloomendoom

sparkly_sun wrote: »

The boiler would have to go in the kitchen/lounge which would take out a good chunk of available space. My house is like a dolls house!

Some of the modern boilers are tiny too.

We have a stove and open fires but we also have gas central heating that we can remotely control from our phones.

We always come home to a warm house.

coffeehound

sparkly_sun wrote: »

The boiler would have to go in the kitchen/lounge which would take out a good chunk of available space. My house is like a dolls house!

It might be possible to locate a boiler in the loft space, too.

Owain_Moneysaver

You can get solid fuel (usually anthracite) stoves that will run radiators / hit water so you come home to a warm(ish) house which you can then heat up quickly, and you have hot water in the morning which has been stewing gently overnight. They need de-ashing and stoking morning and evening and apart from that can be left burning all winter.

Scrimps

1st choice, central heating with a small boiler, you can get good ones that fit in a kitchen cabinets, may cost a little extra for this size
2nd choice, electric radiators with timers
3rd choice, log burner
4th choice, coal burner

Rationale: we bought our house with no central heating. I had thought i would manage fine burning coal and keeping it going from what I read on this forum. Burning coal all day when out and overnight when on slumber mode to keep house relatively warm (not really though) it was still expensive and I came home to a cold house that took quite a while to warm up - by the time it was warm again, I was ready to go to bed.
If I had to rely on the fire again, I would have burned wood, quicker to warm the room but still not great for the whole house.
Dont forget the chimney sweep requirement, the costs add up pretty quick. You will also need to store the wood or coal somewhere.
If I didnt get gas central heating, I would have got electric radiators on timers. Even the plumber who did our work had electric radiators out of choice as his cottage didnt really suit the pipework for GCH.
I did get GCH fitted, in your position, I would also, but would look for the small boilers that fit inside a kitchen cupboard. Even if its a few hundred extra initial layout.

How is your hot water done? With removing and immersion heater and installing a combi, you will get the immersion heater space back.

FreeBear

Scrimps wrote: »

3rd choice, log burner
4th choice, coal burner

Or combine both of these and get a multifuel stove. Then you have the option of burning (smokeless) coal or wood (or both at the same time).

Having a solid fuel stove is nice, but as has already been pointed out, you do need somewhere under cover to store the wood or coal. Finding a decent source of wood at a reasonable price can be difficult if you live in the wrong area.

Coal is messy to handle, but is fairly easy to get hold of in most areas - The coal merchant will often stack the bags for you. If he won't, then that is hard work shifting 25Kg bags when you have had a tonne delivered. On the plus side, coal can be banked up in the stove and will keep simmering away most of the day/night.

If you have a gas main supplying neighbouring properties, gas central heating is by far the cleanest option and cheaper than electric. Coal/wood burners are good as a secondary source of heat or a lifestyle statement for most people. For those in rural areas and with access to a steady supply of cheap logs, then a wood burner would be a viable option.

That said, I like my multifuel stove and am using it as the primary heat source - Kinda regret not having one with a back boiler, so have to turn the gas heating on when I need hot water.