Updating storage heaters? Fischer Future Heat?

scrub

My mother lives in a flat in block for over 55s. They've all got old-style storage heaters on Economy 10. They are pretty useless as they stop giving out heat in the mid-afternoon when Mum needs it. Her bills are also very high too. I want something that's easy to control and cheaper!

Some of the residents have updated their radiators to Fischer Future Heat but the reviews for the company are terrible.

Are there any decent storage heater alternatives or is switching to normal central heating possible given that the whole block was built with storage heaters?

CashStrapped

Avoid Fisher heaters. Just look at the extensive threads on the subject on this site. They are a rip off.

You must always remember, all electric heaters are 100% efficient at point of use.

So a 1kw heater from B&Q costing £45will use the same amount of energy and put out the same amount of heat as a 1kw fischer heater costing £900+

The most cost effective way to heat an all electric flat is Storage heaters and an E7 tariff. But they must be used correctly to get any benifit.

The only other alternative, which gives you more control with cheaper bills is gas central heating. But you must factor in the installation costs.

You say that her bills "are very high". The first thing to do is actually work out her annual use in kwh.

That will tell you how high her use is rather than it being guess work .

Is she on a competitive tariff, although there are not many available with economy 10.

Do the figures first. Then you will have a better idea as to the current cost, and the options going forwards.

john1

Hi you say That they all got old-style storage heaters on Economy 10 which stops giving out heat in Afternoon.

The Eon Economy 10 tariff normally is on for 3 hours in the afternoon and again for two hrs in the evening which is the tariff we use
Are you sure your mums is E 10?

I am on E10 and have automatic NS heaters throughout and they are set at position 3-4 out of 6 on the input range and the boost control is permanently off,

We are both retired so need the home to be warm all day and E 10 supplies this for us

Our lounge has one 3 kw heater servicing approx 19sq mtrs area and the average room temperature is maintained at 21-22C, day and night,

To be honest it seem as if your mums heaters are not set up correctly and possibly not on e10

My best advice is to contact your energy supplier to send out an adviser to visit all the local elderly residents and check how are the operating the heaters

I have E10 with NS heaters and are completely happy with them

Please but please don't think of ever going down the Fisher route

scrub

john1 wrote: »

Hi you say That they all got old-style storage heaters on Economy 10 which stops giving out heat in Afternoon.

The Eon Economy 10 tariff normally is on for 3 hours in the afternoon and again for two hrs in the evening which is the tariff we use
Are you sure your mums is E 10?

I am on E10 and have automatic NS heaters throughout and they are set at position 3-4 out of 6 on the input range and the boost control is permanently off,

We are both retired so need the home to be warm all day and E 10 supplies this for us

Our lounge has one 3 kw heater servicing approx 19sq mtrs area and the average room temperature is maintained at 21-22C, day and night,

To be honest it seem as if your mums heaters are not set up correctly and possibly not on e10

My best advice is to contact your energy supplier to send out an adviser to visit all the local elderly residents and check how are the operating the heaters

I have E10 with NS heaters and are completely happy with them

Please but please don't think of ever going down the Fisher route

My mother's definitely on E10 as I checked and it's one of the reasons why it's so hard to change. The heating goes off early afternoon and doesn't come on until gone five. She'd need a new metre for E7 I think. My mother's in her 80s so does feel the cold and I'm sure she doesn't use them as well as she could but that's one of the problems - having to juggle the controls to try and get the optimum performance is like some cryptic code. She just wants to be able to turn on heat when she wants it and turn it off when she doesn't.

So, are there decent replacements out there as clearly fisher are to be avoided.

CashStrapped

Fisher or any company promising (such as mr trust heating above) more efficient "cheaper to run" electric heaters which use a standard tariff are to be avoided.

Storage heaters, as un-user-friendly as they are, are the cheapest way to heat an all electric property.

As I said, 1kw electric heater from B&Q costing £45 will use the same amount of electricity as any other 1kw heater. Regardless of whether it has a clay core, oil core, unobtainium core.....whatever.

The material inside the heater just determines how quick it heats up and how long it continues to give off heat once it has turned off.

So do not be fooled by any company making claims.

Avoid any company that requires a "consultation" before you find out the prices. As a consultation means "pressure sale and heavy pitch".

As I said, work out your mothers annual use in KWH. Find out what tariff she is actually on.

Then calculate how much the same use may cost on an E7 tariff and look into the option of getting rid of E10.

Then, based on her annual use, you could also make an educated guess as to her possible use with gas central heating and therefore the cost.

If convenience and user-friendliness is your main goal (money no object), then Gas Central Heating is probably your best bet.

Do remember that having Gas central heating will also improve the property value to some extent, so in the long term, there is a return on the investment.

Do also consider that Gas boilers require yearly serving which normally costs between £50-£90 depending on area.

Owain_Moneysaver

Fan assisted storage heaters such as Elnur ECADL5030 or Dimplex VFMi have better insulation and store more off-peak heat than standard storage heaters, and the output can be controlled using a room stat to control the fan output. They are bulkier and more expensive to buy than ordinary storage heaters.

Alternatively double up on the existing storage heaters; they are quite cheap on Ebay etc. You will need new wiring to the consumer unit as storage heaters (especially the big ones) usually need to be on individual radial circuits, one per heater.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Alternatively double up on the existing storage heaters

- or just additional storage. Small, bigger, biggest
- always cost effective, instant. Just extend existing wiring

CashStrapped

Indeed, part of the issue may be that the current storage heaters are undersized .

molerat

scrub wrote: »

My mother's definitely on E10 as I checked and it's one of the reasons why it's so hard to change. The heating goes off early afternoon and doesn't come on until gone five. She'd need a new metre for E7 I think. My mother's in her 80s so does feel the cold and I'm sure she doesn't use them as well as she could but that's one of the problems - having to juggle the controls to try and get the optimum performance is like some cryptic code. She just wants to be able to turn on heat when she wants it and turn it off when she doesn't.

So, are there decent replacements out there as clearly fisher are to be avoided.

Are you positive she is on proper E10 as those timings seem wrong. Has she actually got storage heaters because they would be charging up during the afternoon and evening. If they are storage heaters what position does she have the input and output controls set to - it could be either she is not using the system correctly or one of the elements may be dead which is easily fixed.

Fischer heaters will be ideal for supplying on demand heat but will be expensive they run on peak price electricity - exactly the same as a £10 B&Q heater !

lstar337

OP, can we see some model numbers for the NSH please?

TBH, Night Storage Heaters sound like a good fit for your mother as she requires heat all day.

Anything else you fit and use will be more expensive at this point. I'm including gas central heating in that too because of the install cost and payback period.

With properly sized NSH, properly used, NSH on E10 there is no reason why your mum wouldn't be toastie warm all day.

Your best chance at savings would be to increase storage with a larger heater, and switch to E7.

macman

Switch to anything not using a dual-rate meter (E7 or E10), and you'll triple her heating costs at a stroke, as those unfortunate residents who have already installed FFH heaters will have discovered. Gas CH is unlikely to be an economic option unless there is already a mains supply into the block. If there isn't, freeholder consent would also be required.
Upgrading the NSH's is by far the best option: modern ones are much more controllable.