Electric Heater Costs

anewloginapparently

Hi,
I've always had gas central heating but am moving into a flat that doesn't have gas unfortunately.
I'm aware of the different options (trying to install gas, storage heaters, panel heaters etc), but am trying to work out roughly how much electric (none storage) heating will cost. 
Now this link has proved extremely useful:
https://www.sust-it.net/heating-energy-calculator.php
However I don't use my gas central heating 6 hours a day as they're assuming you'll use panel heaters. 
Usually I put my gas heating on for an hour in the morning, leave it off when I'm at work, then have it on alternate half hours from getting home to bed in winter, & just a couple of short bursts in Spring/Autumn. 
Since modern electric heaters have timers & thermostats surely the same is possible heating a 1 bed flat with electric? Or do the heaters work in such a way that I'm going to need to leave them on more? 
I'm looking at heating a 3 x 3 bedroom 2 hours a day, a 3 x 3 lounge from 6 until 11 & a 3 x 5 kitchen maybe an hour a day. 

anewloginapparently

I meant to say I guess storage heaters would be a bit of a waste for me since I am out most of the day & only at home in the evening, plus they cost many times more & would mean more expensive electricity at other times than economy 7.

Verdigris

Electricity for heating is about 4 times more expensive per kWh than gas, assuming 100%  conversion efficiency for electric and 80% for gas. Some form of infra-rad heating would probably be most economical. You just heat yourself and nearby objects, rather than heating all the air in the flat.

An air-source heat pump would give a similar cost per kWh as gas, as you get about 4kW of heat out for every kW of electricity in but the capital cost is higher than for a gas central heating system. It depends how long you intend to stay and on whether you own the freehold/leasehold as to whether the expenditure can be justified.

QrizB

If you want the same amount of heating as you had before, multiply your gas costs by five and that's a reasonable first estimate. So if your gas bill was £200 a year and electricity was also £200 a year, your additional electricity bill will be £1000 a year for a total of £1200. (Assumes gas at 3p per kWh and electricity at 15p per kWh, with everything else being equal.)

Reed_Richards

Verdigris said:

An air-source heat pump would give a similar cost per kWh as gas, as you get about 4kW of heat out for every kW of electricity 

Not true.  It's nearer to 3 kW of heat out per kW of electricity and nowhere near as cheap as gas which is about 1/5 the cost of electricity.

Verdigris said:

Some form of infra-rad heating would probably be most economical. You just heat yourself and nearby objects, rather than heating all the air in the flat.

Well that's what the salesperson will tell you but I don't believe that is true either.  It's not physically possible to heat things or people selectively at a distance.  The strength of the infra red will fall off as the square of the distance so if you are two meters away from a panel you will get 1/4 of the heat you get at 1 m.   

Verdigris

The sun is 92 million miles away but it still warms you even when the air temperature is below zero.

Swipe

Verdigris said:

The sun is 92 million miles away but it still warms you even when the air temperature is below zero.

Are you not aware that the sun is hotter at the equator?

Reed_Richards

Verdigris said:

The sun is 92 million miles away but it still warms you even when the air temperature is below zero.

The planet mercury is an average of 36 million miles away from the sun and the average temperature in daylight is 430 C.  It's a lot hotter on Mercury because you are a lot closer to the sun.  Exactly the same principle applies with an infra red panel heater.  

anewloginapparently

QrizB said:

If you want the same amount of heating as you had before, multiply your gas costs by five and that's a reasonable first estimate. So if your gas bill was £200 a year and electricity was also £200 a year, your additional electricity bill will be £1000 a year for a total of £1200. (Assumes gas at 3p per kWh and electricity at 15p per kWh, with everything else being equal.)

One thing that might equalise the costs somewhat is the ability to isolate rooms & have more control over where & when I'm using heat.

At the moment I have a 15 year old boiler with one of the old clocks that you can set it on or off for any 15 minute period, but no thermostat or ability to easily isolate rooms. So I'm heating the whole flat even when I'm just in one room, or if I'm out unexpectedly in the evening.

Verdigris

Yes, I perfectly understand the inverse square law. It doesn't detract from the fact that a radiating body will heat solid objects within their vicinity, humans included, without having to directly heat the air. For intermittently occupied and/or poorly insulated spaces infra-red can be an economical means of heating.

Gerry1

anewloginapparently said:

QrizB said:

If you want the same amount of heating as you had before, multiply your gas costs by five and that's a reasonable first estimate. So if your gas bill was £200 a year and electricity was also £200 a year, your additional electricity bill will be £1000 a year for a total of £1200. (Assumes gas at 3p per kWh and electricity at 15p per kWh, with everything else being equal.)

At the moment I have a 15 year old boiler with one of the old clocks that you can set it on or off for any 15 minute period, but no thermostat or ability to easily isolate rooms. So I'm heating the whole flat even when I'm just in one room, or if I'm out unexpectedly in the evening.

Why can't you turn off the radiators in the relevant rooms?  They should all have a valve for that purpose. Just upgrade them to TRVs at minimal cost if you don't already have them.