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Cheap electric only heating?
Hi all, I am new to this forum and also new to owning/running a home. As I am about to buy my first house (waiting for the paperwork to go through). I decided to go with a 1st floor, 1 bedroom flat and will be living there with my girlfriend.
However I have some concerns with the heating system. Currently there is no gas supply to the property and there is one storage heater in the living room, and an immersion heater for the hot water. From what I have heard/read, these can be very expensive to run. I have done a lot of research and found that an ECO7 tariff would probably be the cheapest way to heat the home. But I'm not sure if that would be best for me.
The reasons for this is either me or my girlfriend will be in the property nearly all day most of the time. My girlfriend works shifts, so some days in the week she will be home all day or half the day whilst I'm at work, or I will be off on weekends whilst she's working. Which means we would use a lot of electricity during the days (not good on ECO7). If we do happen to get a weekend off together we will most likely be in during the days, especially in winter, and out during the evening. Some days we will both be out from 7:30am to 8pm. So there will be no pattern to when we will be in using the heat/hot water/electricity.
So I have been looking into other forms of heating the house when we are in and require heat. I stumbled upon electric radiators. Something that I would of guessed to be more expensive. But from what I can find (mainly from manufacturers) they claim to be cheaper and more efficient. Mainly due to the fact they can use a thermostat and also because you only use them as and when you need to. You can also control them via the internet to pre-heat your home for when you get back. But I am not sure if they are a good idea or not. Because I am new I am not allowed to post URLs.. so please remove the "(())" and spaces if you are interested in reading the post
economy-radiators((.com)) /blog/why-electric-radiators-are-nothing-like-storage-heaters
So my main questions:
- Are electric radiators any good? / Are they actually cheaper to run than storage heaters?
- Would I save money on ECO7 even though a lot of electricity will be used during the day?
- Do you know any cheap alternative methods of heating the home on an 'as and when' basis (electric only)?
- I plan on staying in the property for 5 years, so would I be better getting a gas supply?
Sorry if anything in this seems basic. I am new to all of this and I am open to all advice and suggestions.
Thank you in advance.
However I have some concerns with the heating system. Currently there is no gas supply to the property and there is one storage heater in the living room, and an immersion heater for the hot water. From what I have heard/read, these can be very expensive to run. I have done a lot of research and found that an ECO7 tariff would probably be the cheapest way to heat the home. But I'm not sure if that would be best for me.
The reasons for this is either me or my girlfriend will be in the property nearly all day most of the time. My girlfriend works shifts, so some days in the week she will be home all day or half the day whilst I'm at work, or I will be off on weekends whilst she's working. Which means we would use a lot of electricity during the days (not good on ECO7). If we do happen to get a weekend off together we will most likely be in during the days, especially in winter, and out during the evening. Some days we will both be out from 7:30am to 8pm. So there will be no pattern to when we will be in using the heat/hot water/electricity.
So I have been looking into other forms of heating the house when we are in and require heat. I stumbled upon electric radiators. Something that I would of guessed to be more expensive. But from what I can find (mainly from manufacturers) they claim to be cheaper and more efficient. Mainly due to the fact they can use a thermostat and also because you only use them as and when you need to. You can also control them via the internet to pre-heat your home for when you get back. But I am not sure if they are a good idea or not. Because I am new I am not allowed to post URLs.. so please remove the "(())" and spaces if you are interested in reading the post
economy-radiators((.com)) /blog/why-electric-radiators-are-nothing-like-storage-heaters
So my main questions:
- Are electric radiators any good? / Are they actually cheaper to run than storage heaters?
- Would I save money on ECO7 even though a lot of electricity will be used during the day?
- Do you know any cheap alternative methods of heating the home on an 'as and when' basis (electric only)?
- I plan on staying in the property for 5 years, so would I be better getting a gas supply?
Sorry if anything in this seems basic. I am new to all of this and I am open to all advice and suggestions.
Thank you in advance.
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Comments
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Hi all, I am new to this forum and also new to owning/running a home. As I am about to buy my first house (waiting for the paperwork to go through). I decided to go with a 1st floor, 1 bedroom flat and will be living there with my girlfriend.
However I have some concerns with the heating system. Currently there is no gas supply to the property and there is one storage heater in the living room, and an immersion heater for the hot water. From what I have heard/read, these can be very expensive to run. I have done a lot of research and found that an ECO7 tariff would probably be the cheapest way to heat the home. But I'm not sure if that would be best for me.
The reasons for this is either me or my girlfriend will be in the property nearly all day most of the time. My girlfriend works shifts, so some days in the week she will be home all day or half the day whilst I'm at work, or I will be off on weekends whilst she's working. Which means we would use a lot of electricity during the days (not good on ECO7). If we do happen to get a weekend off together we will most likely be in during the days, especially in winter, and out during the evening. Some days we will both be out from 7:30am to 8pm. So there will be no pattern to when we will be in using the heat/hot water/electricity.
So I have been looking into other forms of heating the house when we are in and require heat. I stumbled upon electric radiators. Something that I would of guessed to be more expensive. But from what I can find (mainly from manufacturers) they claim to be cheaper and more efficient. Mainly due to the fact they can use a thermostat and also because you only use them as and when you need to. You can also control them via the internet to pre-heat your home for when you get back. But I am not sure if they are a good idea or not. Because I am new I am not allowed to post URLs.. so please remove the "(())" and spaces if you are interested in reading the post
economy-radiators((.com)) /blog/why-electric-radiators-are-nothing-like-storage-heaters
So my main questions:
- Are electric radiators any good? / Are they actually cheaper to run than storage heaters?
- Would I save money on ECO7 even though a lot of electricity will be used during the day?
- Do you know any cheap alternative methods of heating the home on an 'as and when' basis (electric only)?
- I plan on staying in the property for 5 years, so would I be better getting a gas supply?
Sorry if anything in this seems basic. I am new to all of this and I am open to all advice and suggestions.
Thank you in advance.
Welcome to MSE
As you say; "I have done a lot of research and found that an ECO7 tariff would probably be the cheapest way to heat the home. But I'm not sure if that would be best for me."
I'm sure you are correct that it would not be best for you.
Spend your hard earned cash on the more efficient electric heaters you have researched. :cool:0 -
The reasons for this is either me or my girlfriend will be in the property nearly all day most of the time. My girlfriend works shifts, so some days in the week she will be home all day or half the day whilst I'm at work, or I will be off on weekends whilst she's working. Which means we would use a lot of electricity during the days (not good on ECO7). If we do happen to get a weekend off together we will most likely be in during the days, especially in winter, and out during the evening. Some days we will both be out from 7:30am to 8pm. So there will be no pattern to when we will be in using the heat/hot water/electricity.
Hi, welcome. Actually, if someone will regularly be home during the day, storage heating will work well for you. It gives out heat throughout the day. Storage heating and water heating using Economy 7 tariff is the cheapest electric heating other than having a heat-pump system installed.
The main problem with older storage heaters is that they tend to run out of heat by the evening. In this case you might use a conventional heater for the evening.So I have been looking into other forms of heating the house when we are in and require heat. I stumbled upon electric radiators. Something that I would of guessed to be more expensive. But from what I can find (mainly from manufacturers) they claim to be cheaper and more efficient. Mainly due to the fact they can use a thermostat and also because you only use them as and when you need to. You can also control them via the internet to pre-heat your home for when you get back. But I am not sure if they are a good idea or not. Because I am new I am not allowed to post URLs.. so please remove the "(())" and spaces if you are interested in reading the post
economy-radiators.com/blog/why-electric-radiators-are-nothing-like-storage-heaters
So my main questions:
- Are electric radiators any good? / Are they actually cheaper to run than storage heaters?
Don't believe information from manufacturers at face value. ALL electric heaters are 100% efficient at point-of-use. Storage heaters are cheaper than ordinary heaters because they use night-time Economy 7 rate, which is roughly half the cost of standard, single-rate tariffs.
For the water heating, again if it is done using Economy 7 rate, it is significantly cheaper than single-rate. If your cylinder is properly insulated, the heat loss from day to day is very low -- perhaps 15p a day if you don't use any hot water that day.
Air-source, ground-source or water-source heat-pump heating systems are cheaper still, but you would need to factor-in the initial installation costs.0 -
Thank you for your reply. I will definitely look into the alternative options you have mentioned.coffeehound wrote: »Actually, if someone will regularly be home during the day, storage heating will work well for you.
Going back to your first statement. Will the cost of "charging" the storage heaters over night and releasing that heat through the day (with ECO7). Balance out the additional premium that comes with using electricity throughout the day? We are both heavy computer users, and also watch a lot of TV during the day.
Sorry, I am very new to this.0 -
Hmm you've name-checked one supplier four times now -- do you have any ties with that company perchance?0
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Didn't realise they're a company.. I've seen people use ECO7 as an abbreviation for Economy 7.0
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Hi,
I was in a similar position to you about a year ago now and it's crazy when you get into the world of heating etc.! Like yourself I live in an electric only 2nd floor (top floor) flat, and also had an Eco 7 tariff when I moved in.
I think the initial question, which you have answered, is how often you both are in. I would liken your lifestyle much to myself and my partner's, being that we are out for the majority of the day time and then return from work about 8pm during weekdays. Only difference being that on our days off we will try to get out and do stuff.
I (& my mother) spent ages researching into these, we looked at brands of panel heaters that were very efficient (but also quoted us about £7k to kit out our flat during the refurb - rediculous). We looked at halogen heaters (not worth it - can be dangerous). We looked at new storage heaters etc. the list continues.
Finally we settled on electric radiators (as you suggested) from Dimplex (apologies if I can't say brands, I'm new here). They were the Q-rad range with open window technology, built in timers, 99% efficient and also come in various sizes.
We took the plunge (at up to £350 per radiator if it was a big 10kW one), but I believe it was sensible. We ended up purchasing 5 of these to scatter around the flat. One thing that I have noticed though is that we only tend to use the ones in our living room (very large room), and our bedroom. We also have them in the hallway, spare bedroom and the kitchen. The kitchen I believe has been used once in a year, and the one in the hallway hasn't even been turned on at the socket. We have the spare bedroom one in case people stay but that is the only time it is used. It is also worth noting that it was easy for us to do this as we were completely refurbishing the flat, so managed to take out the old Eco 7 board, and replace it with a single rate board. This also allowed us to set up a separate ring main for the heating (very much recommend with electric radiators as they can draw a lot of power).
Doing it again, I would rather take out the Kitchen radiator, and the hallway radiator as they are never used, and saves us about £600 (!!).
Bear in mind that this was easy for us to do as we were re-wiring the flat anyway, and for you to do something I would not like to recommend just spurring off a current power supply unit from a socket or something to introduce a new radiator.
In short - we have never had an issue with us and the useability of them suits our lifestyle (can be set to up to 28 deg.C which is plenty hot enough), and we haven't noticed a massive increase in charges whilst using them. I would also check the insulation that you have (is the flat a new build, does it have timber frame/steel framed/floor type)? Ours is a 40 yr old flat with minimal insulation in the roof, so we lose a lot of heat there, however we do get heated from below.
Happy to divulge more if required but this is a long post as it is! Please let me know if you need any more help
0 -
Going back to your first statement. Will the cost of "charging" the storage heaters over night and releasing that heat through the day (with ECO7). Balance out the additional premium that comes with using electricity throughout the day? We are both heavy computer users, and also watch a lot of TV during the day.
The usual figure quoted is that if ~40% of your electricity can be used during the off-peak period, then Economy 7 will save you money. The best way to check is to put actual annual usage figures from the day and night rates from meter readings into a comparison site. So in your position I would run the existing system for a year, do the comparison and go from there.0 -
YoungDumbNBroke wrote: »In short - we have never had an issue with us and the useability of them suits our lifestyle (can be set to up to 28 deg.C which is plenty hot enough), and we haven't noticed a massive increase in charges whilst using them.
Thank you very much for your reply YoungDumbNBroke - btw your name cracked me up!
How long was you on Economy 7 for before you switched to the electric rads? Also what size rads did you buy and how often do you use them?0 -
Going back to your first statement. Will the cost of "charging" the storage heaters over night and releasing that heat through the day (with ECO7). Balance out the additional premium that comes with using electricity throughout the day? We are both heavy computer users, and also watch a lot of TV during the day.
Yeah, of course. My one bed flat used about 5500 night rate and 1600 on day rate per year. Telly on 24/7 when I was out of work.0 -
YoungDumbNBroke wrote: »Hi,
I was in a similar position to you about a year ago now and it's crazy when you get into the world of heating etc.! Like yourself I live in an electric only 2nd floor (top floor) flat, and also had an Eco 7 tariff when I moved in.
I think the initial question, which you have answered, is how often you both are in. I would liken your lifestyle much to myself and my partner's, being that we are out for the majority of the day time and then return from work about 8pm during weekdays. Only difference being that on our days off we will try to get out and do stuff.
I (& my mother) spent ages researching into these, we looked at brands of panel heaters that were very efficient (but also quoted us about £7k to kit out our flat during the refurb - rediculous). We looked at halogen heaters (not worth it - can be dangerous). We looked at new storage heaters etc. the list continues.
Finally we settled on electric radiators (as you suggested) from Dimplex (apologies if I can't say brands, I'm new here). They were the Q-rad range with open window technology, built in timers, 99% efficient and also come in various sizes.
We took the plunge (at up to £350 per radiator if it was a big 10kW one), but I believe it was sensible. We ended up purchasing 5 of these to scatter around the flat. One thing that I have noticed though is that we only tend to use the ones in our living room (very large room), and our bedroom. We also have them in the hallway, spare bedroom and the kitchen. The kitchen I believe has been used once in a year, and the one in the hallway hasn't even been turned on at the socket. We have the spare bedroom one in case people stay but that is the only time it is used. It is also worth noting that it was easy for us to do this as we were completely refurbishing the flat, so managed to take out the old Eco 7 board, and replace it with a single rate board. This also allowed us to set up a separate ring main for the heating (very much recommend with electric radiators as they can draw a lot of power).
Doing it again, I would rather take out the Kitchen radiator, and the hallway radiator as they are never used, and saves us about £600 (!!).
Bear in mind that this was easy for us to do as we were re-wiring the flat anyway, and for you to do something I would not like to recommend just spurring off a current power supply unit from a socket or something to introduce a new radiator.
In short - we have never had an issue with us and the useability of them suits our lifestyle (can be set to up to 28 deg.C which is plenty hot enough), and we haven't noticed a massive increase in charges whilst using them. I would also check the insulation that you have (is the flat a new build, does it have timber frame/steel framed/floor type)? Ours is a 40 yr old flat with minimal insulation in the roof, so we lose a lot of heat there, however we do get heated from below.
Happy to divulge more if required but this is a long post as it is! Please let me know if you need any more help
Welcome to MSE.
Can you believe there are some people who just don't believe in coincidences.?
(not me though :rotfl:- I can see you chose your MSE user name with great thought too.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:)0
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