All Electric Heating

Calegirl

Hello
Our bungalow is all electric. There is no mains gas and we do not want LPG etc. We have an electric shower and the water supply for the sinks runs off a small under sink heater therefore no large water tank. I am looking for advice on heating options. The home is occupied all day. Didn’t really want night storage as the daytime tariff tends to be really high. Any advice or recommendations please?

MWT

Calegirl said:

...The home is occupied all day. Didn’t really want night storage as the daytime tariff tends to be really high.

Not sure I follow your concern, the whole point about night storage heaters is that they heat up using cheaper off-peak power and then release it during the day when the power is more expensive.

As the home is occupied all day you would seem to be an ideal candidate for properly sized night storage heaters...

What are you using for heating at the moment?

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

Hello.  Can you also advise please:
How many rooms to be heated, large/small?
Is the building well draught-proofed and insulated?
Do you tend to use the shower in the early morning?
Whereabouts in the UK?
Would you consider having a hot water cylinder fitted?
Roughly how long do you intend to stay at your current home for?

These sorts of questions affect what might be the best way to go.

Gerry1

Is it owned or rented?  That makes quite a difference; not much point in a tenant investing in someone else's property, but if you're the homeowner a cost effective heating system will improve your property's value, make it more saleable and lower your bills.

matelodave

As MWT says, properly sized storage heaters, used correctly together with a hot water tank that's heated overnight on off peak leccy is likely to be a significantly cheaper than running panel rads, convectors or fan heaters during the day and evening especially as you are home all day.

The same with hot water - storing a tank full thats been heated using off peak leccy should be much cheaper than using an electric shower and instantaneous hot water heater on a daily rate.

Gerry has a good point - who owns your place. If it's rented then the best option is to move unless you can persuade your landlord to put in something that's bit more efficient otherwise, spending some money to sort it out could pay dividends if you are intending to stay there.

Electrical heating will always be more expensive than gas although LPG is quite expensive and oil can go up and down (it's everso cheap at the moment) so you need to look at your options very carefully

macman

Without LPG or oil, E7 and NSH's with an immersion heater are the obvious solution. You only need to use about 30% on cheap rate to make it pay. Your objections to E7 make no sense-what will you be using during the day that will make it uneconomic in your opinion?
It's also a much cheaper install cost than any of the alternatives.

Gerry1

macman said:

You only need to use about 30% on cheap rate to make it pay.

It can be a lot less now.  I use about 22% and E7 is often cheaper, it often changes each time I switch.  Remember that you can switch back to single rate and still keep the E7 meter.