Bought new flat - Storage Heaters

Leigh1980

I am in the process of buying a new 2 bed 2nd floor flat in Crystal Palace.

We absolutely love everything about it but we are a bit worried about the fact the place has storage heaters.

Currently we are on Gas/Electric with Bulb and pay around £45 in the Summer and £85 in Winter per month. 

I am currently working from home full time and we also have a lodger who is a gamer so on his days off he will have his console and tv on all day and most of the night. 

So we use just as much energy during the day than we do in the evening when all 3 of us are at home. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on a better heating system to install or the best tariff to be on? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks 

Robin9

Learn how to use them - don't be tempted to replace with magic dust heaters or your bills will rocket.

You need to put some consumption figures into a comparison site like Citizens Advice or Which

I assume gas is not available.

The usual things re moving in - read you meters, contact the present supplier - then switch

Neil_Jones

If the flat has storage heaters it's almost certainly going to be all electric.  Which is expensive.  Probably far more than what you're paying now.

However that being said, hot air does rise so you may benefit from the heat generated from the flat below, but this isn't guaranteed as it depends on the insulation in place.  You may not even notice anything, you never know.

Talldave

Without gas you're really just going to have to concentrate on getting the best deal for the potentially large amounts of electricity you'll be using.  Keep a spreadsheet of weekly meter readings - hopefully the meter will be a two rate E7 meter that'll allow you see the ratio between peak and off-peak rates.

Most suppliers can cope with E7 meters used for non-E7 tariffs so you should also be able to switch between E7 and non-E7 tariffs as rates and your consumption vary. It might even be worth being on E7 for winter and non-E7 the rest of the year.

However, some suppliers single rates (eg Symbio 10.9p) make it very difficult to justify a pricier E7 rate. As soon as you have some consumption figures you can extrapolate, fire them into a decent comparison site (eg Citizens Advice) and see what pops up.

PS welcome to Crystal Palace, do check out the dinosaurs and lovely hot dogs in the park, but leave the car at home as Croydon Council appear to actively hate motorists! 

Gerry1

Bulb are far from the cheapest, so find a better supplier this time !

macman

Your lodger's TV and gaming console usage will be negligible, even when running on peak rate E7. As long as you are using a minimum of about 33% on night rate (taking a full year average), then E7 is still the cheapest option for you.

Gerry1

macman said:

As long as you are using a minimum of about 33% on night rate (taking a full year average), then E7 is still the cheapest option for you.

E7 can be cost effective with night rates as low as 15 - 20% with some suppliers.

macman

Correct. As you say, it does depend on the rates.