Need help choosing a new heating system!

Talldave

matelodave said:

Talldave said:

OP is using the second immersion element overnight, so on cheap rate - provided they're not in a "2 peak hours in the middle of the night" region.

AS Macman suggest the place is probably wired with a separate e7 circuits for heating and hot water and so there's a better than even chance that all leccy that's not fed via the off-peak contactor is being charged at peak rates. Some older setups don't get the advantage of off-peak leccy to the rest of the house overnight.

The OP has a smart meter. I'm not aware of smart meters that simultaneously count on both peak and off-peak registers?  All consumption will be counted on the off-peak register when its active regardless of whether it's consumed on the 24hr or 7hr output of the meter.

hozza94

Talldave said:

The OP has a smart meter. I'm not aware of smart meters that simultaneously count on both peak and off-peak registers?  All consumption will be counted on the off-peak register when its active regardless of whether it's consumed on the 24hr or 7hr output of the meter.

That's what I thought as well! 
For OP to save money and get it done cheaply:

1. Get the immersion water heater element fixed, should only take an installer half a day at max. I have an open-vented cylinder and the heat do retain very well, considering that it is over 20 years old. 
2. NSH are even easier to fix, one of mine has a faulty cut-out so I am replacing it myself with the part costing just £35 (disclaimer: only do it if you know fully what you are doing). Elements or wiring are also very simple for the older NSHs (unless your model has asbestos!) 

I don't know whether OP has an off-peak circuit or not. If not then the timer will need to be checked to make sure it is aligned to the meter. I am on a 5-port meter so they only switch on when they are supposed to. Coupled with Octopus Agile these can be very cheap to run with much better efficiency than gas systems, especially overnight price can be as low as 4p/kWh or even 0. 

Jules2054

macman said:

Jules2054 said:

macman said:

Get the 3 NSH's fixed or replaced, any other option requires capital outlay, which you don't have. Stop using any form of electric heating on peak rate E7, it's literally 

*If you had read other posts, you would know that the other 3 NSHs were removed, so not possible to fix them! 
*as for you mentioning that any other options would require capital outlay, which I can't afford, is just telling me what I already know, and stated in my originally post, And comes across as patronising. 
* also mentioned previously in other posts, was that my E7 immersion heater hasn't worked for some time, and thats why I'm using the booster for my hot water atm. This will be rectified when I have a new heating system fitted.  

Jules2054

Gerry1 said:

Make sure you know your meter's E7 switching times accurately.

Some meters have a two hour gap at peak rate, e.g. in the Seeboard area it's 2230 - 0030 and 0230 - 0730 GMT so if you switch on the boost immersion heater at midnight GMT then much of its consumption is likely to be at peak rate.

Yes, mine runs a bit behind too, about 10mins! 
I replaced all the electric terminals next to the NSHs, to ones with a light, so I can see when the E7 turns on or off. Same for the immersion heater. 

Jules2054

Right, after reading all of your posts, can I please stop you from diverting from my original 2 questions that you'll find in my original post! 
I am not an o.a.p, and nor am I stupid when it comes to understanding how E7 works!  I have rewired NSHs before, as well as setting up my home WiFi security system,  cameras etc....to give you an idea of my competence!  I also change supplier every year online, to get the best deal.
My house is partly cold because I don't have enough money, so I applied to get a heating grant, which has been confirmed that they will cover all the costs for a new LPG heating system to be put in my home. 
I have since done the research myself and found that the bulk LPG  is viable, but the Cylinder LPG wound be too expensive to run. 
This is what I basically wanted to know,  so that I wasn't left with a new heating system that would cost me more than replacing the NSHs or a different system all together! 
Some of you have been very understanding and helpful with your suggestions, and I very much appreciated that! Thank you! 
Jules. 

macman

Jules2054 said:

macman said:

Jules2054 said:

macman said:

Get the 3 NSH's fixed or replaced, any other option requires capital outlay, which you don't have. Stop using any form of electric heating on peak rate E7, it's literally 

*If you had read other posts, you would know that the other 3 NSHs were removed, so not possible to fix them! 
*as for you mentioning that any other options would require capital outlay, which I can't afford, is just telling me what I already know, and stated in my originally post, And comes across as patronising. 
* also mentioned previously in other posts, was that my E7 immersion heater hasn't worked for some time, and thats why I'm using the booster for my hot water atm. This will be rectified when I have a new heating system fitted.  

You say that the house is cold because you have no money. But your bills are unnecessarily high because you continue to use the boost 'for some time' rather than spending a modest amount now to fix the immersion. All your hot water heating is costing you 300% more than it needs to. You have also been using peak rate E7 for most of your heating for an unspecified period since the old NSH's were removed: again, this is at a very high rate. It is possible to obtain used NSH's at little or no cost, and the install price would be low, as you already have the wiring in place.
Together, this has probably cost you more in extra billing over time than the one-off cost of replacing the failed items.
One final point: the running costs of an LPG wet CH and DHW system are not going to be any lower than that of an E7 system such as you originally had installed. Can you actually afford to run the LPG system enough to give you the warm house that you need, given that you will have to finance bulk purchase of LPG, assuming a bulk tank?

Talldave

macman said:

All your hot water heating is costing you 300% more than it needs to.

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, the OP is heating water overnight at E7 off-peak rate!

macman

OK, point taken re the smart meter. But is the OP really staying up until midnight or 1am in order to switch on the immersion boost, and switching it off before peak rate cuts back in? 
And, if so, they are only getting a small amount of hot water heated on each cycle from the top boost. 
My point is, this is a bodge, and one that is so easily remedied.

Talldave

macman said:

My point is, this is a bodge, and one that is so easily remedied.

Agreed, but one person's easy is another's complicated.  It's easy to put off spending money on a fix that might be pointless if a whole new approach is going to be taken. And after a couple of years, a bodge becomes a way of life!

Talldave

macman said:

My point is, this is a bodge, and one that is so easily remedied.

Agreed, but one person's easy is another's complicated.  It's easy to put off spending money on a fix that might be pointless if a whole new approach is going to be taken. And after a couple of years, a bodge becomes a way of life!