Thinking of buying an electric only flat - advise needed

Richie-from-the-Boro

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

If you are determined to get that dwelling get an AIP form filled in and agreed, an agreed pre-mortgage and offer the landlord the selling price less 2k for a NS install or 4k for gas. S/he will struggle to get a top offer without a decent heating system, and the AIP is your trump card.

If you have now managed an agreement in principle to buy did you get the further reduction above. Given the landlord would have to spend that same money and more from this year under the new landlord EPC [minimum rating of E on an EPC + up to £4,000 penalty for breaches] or s/he would not even be allowed to rent ?.

Sarah_81

Hi

Yes I have the aip and so far have got the flat at 50% what they paid, 6.5k off the 'lowest' they'd accept and 5k worth of fixtures and fittings, icl all A rated appliances, 2 x double fitted wardrobes and much more (all very well made and 'non-standard')

Looking at the land registry selling history, I will have paid the least for a like for like property on this road in the last 10 years.

The EPC rating is a C and will be checked as part of the conveyancing process.

richardwilson1984

Really interesting to read how you've been getting on, Sarah.

I'm currently in the process of buying an all electric two-bed flat and, having only lived in GCH properties, I read some of the horror stories on here and started to worry that I'd be paying through the nose to keep warm or have a bath.

Sarah_81

richardwilson1984 wrote: »

Really interesting to read how you've been getting on, Sarah.

I'm currently in the process of buying an all electric two-bed flat and, having only lived in GCH properties, I read some of the horror stories on here and started to worry that I'd be paying through the nose to keep warm or have a bath.

Hi Richard - so you're in the same boat as me, be nice to hear your thoughts.

I've lived in mainly all electric before and the one GCH I had was an utter nightmare! I literally had a plumber out every week at one point and all were saying it needed x,y,z to fix it.
The boiler leaked, the radiators were all leaking at the weld seam, no hot water, no heat, pressure all over the place. Washing up bowls all over to catch the constant leaks. I went to work one day with 1 leak, came back 8 hours later to find 3 more. Thankfully the cost was on my LL, who I hope now realises how important annual services are.

The all-electric doesn't put me off one bit, it is the form of that electric heating coupled with the economy 7 day rate that is the problem. I have a couple of options to change that though, so not the end of the world long term.
Until then I am keeping an eye on my usage and not gone above 15 day units this week. Last night I stayed up past the cheap rate turnover and blasted the heat for a good hour or so, singing "Cheap rate cheap rate!" :rotfl:

Is yours a new(ish) built serviced apartment too?

richardwilson1984

Ha, ha giving a new meaning to a wild Friday night there!

It was built in 1997. It has a mix of storage heaters and panel heaters.

I've not moved in yet so I can't share any figures yet but it's interesting to see how you are getting on. I'd be similar in usage: go to work at 7.30am, come back around 12 hours later - give or take if the commute is ok - and have the weekends off.

What sort of price are you trying to stay to? (obviously the cheapest but what is your budget expectation?)

Thanks again for sharing.

Sarah_81

Ahh, you should fare a bit better then if you have storage heaters too. Make the most of the cheap overnight charge if you're on Economy 7. If I were you I'd only turn the panel heaters on if you're desperate - they are what guzzle the units! I will be looking at replacing my lounge panel heater with a storage heater as soon as contracts are exchanged which should bring the bill down in winter. Means a rather large upfront cost but since I plan on living here for many many years the lower bills in winter would make it worth it after a few years.

Do you live alone? If so this will make your bills lower. I do live alone and in my last all electric flat my summer electric bills were about £35 a month and in winter, double. However that flat was electric central heating with an electric boiler so it's hard to really compare at present with only being here 6 weeks and a totally different heating system. If I can get my winter bill under £100 a month in winter with my current set up I'll be a happy bunny.

I have to give my 7 days reading to my electric supplier tomorrow so they can work out my average usage and update my account reading accordingly. Not sure if I've posted on this thread about the reading saga, but once I have the bill I can let you know what I'm looking at paying. I did ask a neighbour about running costs and he said it was really reasonable, however he has only been here 6 months so this is his first winter here too, and like me he is panel heater/Economy 7.

Sarah_81

Ps. You also have to bear in mind with all electric that it is the only bill you'll be paying, no gas as well. So the figure may be higher but that is the ONLY energy bill you will be getting.

My mum pays £85 a month for gas alone - tho she does have the heating on constantly.

Another thing to consider is the upkeep costs; electric doesn't require annual services like a gas boiler, the gas boiler may have many expensive issues along it's lifespan than electric heaters would etc. So you have to factor this in too.

Sarah_81

Have done some calculations based on this weeks reading (well, 6 days so far)

Altogether 72 day units used at 16.5p = £11.88
40 night units used at 6p =£2.40
18p daily standing charge = £1.08
Total for this week: £ 16.16
I think I've worked it out correct - maths is not my strong point!

Obviously if I was using more cheap night units - as you would be doing, Richard, with your storage heaters, that amount would be less.

Broadwood

Hi All

I read this whole thread with interest once I knew E7 was involved, as we've been on E7 for the last 30 years purely because it was already installed when we moved into this bungalow (2-beds, living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom). We have GCH and a balanced-flu gas fire in the main living room. Water is also heated via electric immersion heater to which we immediately added a time switch to make the E7 viable. We also installed 2 small skirting-board panels heaters and another large panel heater all via time switches to take further advantage of the night rate during the coldest months. We rarely use the GCH..... maybe an hour morning and evening if it is cold enough. The gas fire keeps the whole bungalow comfortable as we rarely close internal doors - with the odd exception of course. Double glazed, insulated and cosy. Electric cooker (with halogen hob), fridge/freezer, LCD tv, ALL LED lighting, etc. etc....... but NO dishwasher.

Anyway having just switched supplier (to Flow Energy - via MSE), studying the figures on this thread got me looking back at my last 2 years' summaries from my previous supplier. They made for interesting reading and I'm now thinking that E7 isn't for us after all. It probably costs us slightly more in the summer than it saves us in the winter.

The 2 summaries are not far off identical and give the following E7 averages over the 24 month period.

Kilowatt hours per day: 5.2 (45%)
Kilowatt hours per night: 6.4 (55%)

Just to show our total energy use, the gas average figure for the same 24 month period was as follows:

Kilowatt hours per 24hrs: 27.4

Flow Energy lump both fuels into a single direct debit which they have initially set at £71. That compares with the £85 we were paying at Atlantic previously, so switching has been worth the minor hassle.

If I could add some advice to you Sarah about your lighting it would be to start replacing the halogens with LEDs in the units that are on for the longest periods of time. The lights that are only on for a few minutes a day can wait until they blow for the odd 1p that you might save versus the initial cost of swapping to LEDs, which are admittedly coming down in price but still about £3 plus each.

Hope this helps.

Sarah_81

Broadwood wrote: »

..start replacing the halogens with LEDs in the units that are on for the longest periods of time. The lights that are only on for a few minutes a day can wait until they blow for the odd 1p that you might save versus the initial cost of swapping to LEDs, which are admittedly coming down in price but still about £3 plus each.

Hope this helps.

Hi,
Thanks for your response, I don't have gas so no comparison there I'm afraid, and since I've been here such a short time I don't have much to compare to. My last all electric flat ran on a completely different system so not sure I should even really BE comparing there.

All I have to really compare my usage to at the moment are the other occupied flats in the building as we're all using the same type of heating/hot water system and are all on the Economy 7 meters. 1 neighbour regularly uses 30+ day units per day :eek:

About the halogens, yes I do plan on replacing the lights when I can. The cost will be about £80 so again it will have to be room by room. I live on my own and don't get a great wage so I have to budget accordingly. I have 19 halogens in total; 6 in the living room, 3 in the hallway, 3 in each of the 2 bathrooms and 4 in the kitchen. I always turn them off if I'm not using the room they're in and try to use a single bulb lamp where possible. I did go to buy some LEDs the other other day (on offer) but couldn't find enough of the same type/wattage to get the deal. I may just order a pack online so I know they're all the same.