Best electric heating options

Yorkie1974

I'm just having a garage converted into a home office, and have done all the insulating of the floor, ceiling, walls, etc.

As I only use the office when I'm not in the house, it seems a waste of time getting central heating put in - I need heating during the day, rather than morning and evening.

So, which type of heating would be most economical? The space is around 2.5m wide by 4.5m long and 2.5m high with a window the full width of the room.

I've previously used mobile oil heaters, but wonder if that is the best option for daily use? I've also looked at wall-mounted storage heaters (expensive to buy) and IR panels. Which is going to give me the most comfortable working space for the lowest running cost?

I've checked the forum, which seems to erupt with newbies whenever questions like this are asked, so I still have no idea which would be the best option for me, and which is just sales patter.

Carrot007

Anything. It maskes no difference. It's just personal preferance.

keith969

I have a home office, not quite as big as that (3.6 x 2.5m) and use one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B016C04Z3E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

EachPenny

Yorkie1974 wrote: »

I'm just having a garage converted into a home office, and have done all the insulating of the floor, ceiling, walls, etc.

As I only use the office when I'm not in the house, it seems a waste of time getting central heating put in - I need heating during the day, rather than morning and evening.

If it is well insulated and you will be using the space during the day, then it sounds like night storage heaters might be a possibility, especially if you could find a second-hand one which suits your needs.

You'd need to do some sums to work out if getting Economy 7 would make sense though. But even if you only had the one NSH then I think you'd be able to make it stack up if you are using the heating every day through the cold months.

molerat

Depending on boiler and garage location I would honestly look into the logistics of adding an extra zone onto the CH.

Yorkie1974

EachPenny wrote: »

If it is well insulated and you will be using the space during the day, then it sounds like night storage heaters might be a possibility, especially if you could find a second-hand one which suits your needs.

You'd need to do some sums to work out if getting Economy 7 would make sense though. But even if you only had the one NSH then I think you'd be able to make it stack up if you are using the heating every day through the cold months.

Thanks for the suggestion - I hadn't thought of Economy 7.

Do you need to get your electricity supply modified for Economy 7? I've just had the wiring done for the new garage - it would probably cost quite a bit to get another power ring put in.

Yorkie1974

molerat wrote: »

Depending on boiler and garage location I would honestly look into the logistics of adding an extra zone onto the CH.

This would mean heating the office in the early morning and evening - but I need it all through the day, when I don't need the house heated. Can you get different zones on central heating working at different times of the day?

molerat

Yorkie1974 wrote: »

This would mean heating the office in the early morning and evening - but I need it all through the day, when I don't need the house heated. Can you get different zones on central heating working at different times of the day?

Yes. The boiler will run when a particular zone requests heat - water and heating are in effect 2 zones and you can run them separately - so adding an extra zone could be fairly straightforward and will likely have the lowest running cost. A lot depends on your set up and controls of course.

Carrot007

Yorkie1974 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion - I hadn't thought of Economy 7.

Do you need to get your electricity supply modified for Economy 7? I've just had the wiring done for the new garage - it would probably cost quite a bit to get another power ring put in.

No (modern) E7 is just TOU. Older meters did send a signal to strorage heaters (etc) to tell them to start. but they don't like to do that these days.

molerat

Yorkie1974 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion - I hadn't thought of Economy 7.

Do you need to get your electricity supply modified for Economy 7? I've just had the wiring done for the new garage - it would probably cost quite a bit to get another power ring put in.

A separate radial circuit would be needed for a storage heater.

EachPenny

Yorkie1974 wrote: »

As I only use the office when I'm not in the house, it seems a waste of time getting central heating put in - I need heating during the day, rather than morning and evening.

Can you please clarify something - I assumed 'not in the house' meant the garage was detached from the house rather than built into the house.

That, plus you asking about specifically about electric heaters, is what made me suggest E7/NSH - on the basis getting central heating pipes out to a detached building would be complicated and potentially inefficient.

If the garage isn't detached then apologies... what molerat is saying about having a separate zone on the CH makes very good sense.