Electric Heating Options

cornishmum

Hello all,


After a bit of advice/opinions please.


We currently have night storage heaters - they work and the house is never cold - but we would like to update them and have a more flexible heating system (i.e. currently it is boiling when we wake up and cool in the evenings!) and possibly try and bring our monthly bills down a bit. We have a large hot water tank - but only heat the water for 1 hour a day (kids take a bath, bit of washing up that's it). Economy 7 tariff, about £97 a month. No chimney/fireplaces.


We currently have no gas supply. We have got an estimate to get a supply to the house and it would be £800 to bring it to the front door. Then we would probably go for a combi boiler and radiators, I guess we're looking at around £5k in total to update the whole heating/water supply.


Another option would be electric radiators and moving over to a std electricity tariff. I have read about Rointe, Fischer etc, but haven't found many positive reviews on here yet! I like the fact they would be more flexible than what we have now, so we could have them on for an hour or so each morning and evening (we are not in during the day). But are they worth the initial outlay (say £300 a piece x 5 for this house) and are they efficient?


So, with all the info given above... what would you do?
We are not planning on moving any time soon (i.e. no plans for at least 5, maybe 10 years).


Any ideas would be gratefully received. We cannot decide what the best option would be. Main points for changing: more flexible heating, cheaper monthly bills, future-proofing/increasing value for when we sell house.


Thanks everyone.

Cardew

Economy 7 tariffs for storage heating and heating a hot water tank is the cheapest form of electrical heating.

Gas CH with a new boiler will be cheaper and more flexible. It will have the added advantage that you will get electricity cheaper on a non- E7 tariff. It will also add value to your house, and with a combi free up space by the removal of two water tanks.

You must appreciate that all electrical heaters will give the same heat output, for the same consumption of electricity,(and hence cost). That applies to a £10 heater from Argos or electrical heaters filled with any substance known to man - and some cost over £1,000 each.

If you can afford it, I personally would go for gas CH. Second choice stay with your current system. Never Never be tempted to go for non E7 electrical heating.

CashStrapped

Was about to type out word for word what Cardew typed.....but he got there first......so I won't.

I will add that in the long term, GCH will always make the property more attractive at re-sale (if that ever was a consideration, and not that it should be).....but.....if you were inclined to think that way, GCH will usually make the property more saleable and will usually (market forces permitted) recoup the outlay in sale price.

Otherwise, as above, stick with E7

What is your night use percentage out of interest?

Gary.S

£97 is quite good, i'm running two storage heaters and hot water on economy 7 and easily buring 60 units a night during winter.

cornishmum

Hello both and thank you for your replies.
I was guessing GCH was going to be the way to go - for future re-sale and for flexibility. It's just the initial outlay/cost that makes it hard right now. But probably a long-term plan would be to save the £5k needed and get it done in a few years?
Our usage is as follows:
38% (3446kwh)
Day time use

62% (5624kwh)
Night-time use


Thanks again and would welcome any other opinions.

CashStrapped

That is decent night use. You may be able to get it higher though.

I notice you say you use the immersion for "one hour per day".

Do you not heat up the tank during E7 hours? Is it not big enough to last the day before running out/cooling down? Does it have a good insulation jacket?

Heating and hot water are the biggest users of electricity, so they are the places to start.

Also, ensure you are using the SH correctly. Always leaving the output on the lowest number, (unless you want a short boost). Ensureing the output is on the lowest number during the night. And modifying the input according to the weather.

cornishmum

Hi CashStrapped,


We have the choice with the hot water tank - heat all night (on cheap rate) or a timer in the daytime. It made sense to just heat it for one hour (only half hour in the summer - as the kids use the electric shower more!) around 5pm. This covers washing up and kids baths.


The NSH work fine if I'm honest - we change the settings when it's milder/colder etc. It's just not great waking up at 7am and feeling hot getting dressed after a shower! They are also ugly (I know - it's not the main concern, just saying) and are in awkward positions around the house. I imagine this is because they work better on internal walls, so are not placed under windows (like other radiators).


Thanks again

CashStrapped

Ahh - you may still find it cheaper to heat the tank at night.

This is because the tank will not use electricity all night. Just because the immersion switch is on, this does not mean it is constantly using electricity.

An immersion has a thermostat in it, so although the switch is on, once the tank is up to temperature, it turns the heating element off.

So even if it is "on all night", it may only be on for an hour or so of that time heating. This assumes the tank has a good well fitted jacket.

You could even fit a cheap timer unit so that it only comes on towards the end of the cheap period and turns off before the day rate starts.

In addition, if you open the immersion element cover (with it turned off) you can lower the temperature of the hot water. As long as it is set around 55 degrees (for health reasons), that is still plenty hot. This will save electricity as it costs more to heat to a higher temperature.

Richie-from-the-Boro

cornishmum wrote: »

Hello both and thank you for your replies.
I was guessing GCH was going to be the way to go - for future re-sale and for flexibility. It's just the initial outlay/cost that makes it hard right now. But probably a long-term plan would be to save the £5k needed and get it done in a few years?
Our usage is as follows:
38% (3446kwh)
Day time use

62% (5624kwh)
Night-time use


Thanks again and would welcome any other opinions.

As of now [copy & paste from my account] my Personal Projection for the next 12 months for electricity is £731.69 (based on your annual consumption, current tariff prices, discounts and VAT).

Your new monthly payment is now £66.00 Your total monthly payment will change from £61.00 to £66.00 on 1st February 2017.

Tariff name : Help Beat Cancer Fixed Price Energy January 2018 Online
Payment method : Monthly Direct Debit
Tariff end date : 31st January 2018
Exit fee (If you switch supplier more than 49 days before the tariff end date) N/A

Your actual usage in the last 12 months
Night 5,384.418 kWh
Day 2,804.598 kWh

I wouldn't use Fischer if you paid for them, I'd take them from you as a gift at £1000++ per unit if you offered and sell them for £200 per unit if I was lucky on ebay, as others have done. I'll stick with the most efficient all electric heating in the UK. Ugly is an accounting word my bank balance has loved for almost 40 years, it also contributes to my comfort as well as winter heat. Using day rate on an immersion with a PartL spec insulation is always going to be uneconomic. The output knob on a NSH should be welded permanently shut, its not needed. Best of luck cornishmum.

baldelectrician

I have installed Dimplex Duo-Heat storage heaters with no negative feedback
One property was an older couple who did not like gas and another was a tenanted property with no bedroom heating.


The first one got a £400 refund from Scottish Power 4 months after installing them
The second one liked the heater that much she asked the landlord to put one in the lounge.


The Duo-Heat ones are good as they are fully automatic and regulate the charge automatically- they 'learn' how quickly the room cools down and adjust the next night
They can also be linked to a timer

matelodave

We dont have the option of gas (except LPG) but that would be my choice - it adds value to your house and is the ultimate in controllable heating. Don't ever be tempted to swap what you've got with Rointe or Fischer or any other heater filled with magic dust. You'll get the same amount of heat for the same cost from a £10 Argos heater.

You can get an idea of how much it woud cost with a single tariff by adding your day & night consumption together and putting it into a comparison site. Are you on the best E7 you can get at the moment

As suggested above, heat your hot water during the off peak period and make sure it says hot during the day by fitting an extra jacket over the tank. Don't waste it by running off small amounts. Everytime you run off a gallon or so of water to get the hot through you leave th same amount of hot water sitting in the pipework to get cold.

Dont run hot water to rinse stuff (including your hands) and dont let it run down the sink. Take shorter showers and fit flow restrictors to the taps and shower to reduce the volume of water used.

Use stuff like wahing machines, dryers and dishwashers with full loads and try to run them during the off peak period if you can. Turn other stuff off when it's not in use and use LED lightbulbs where possible.