Storage heating alternative

LolekUK

Hello,

Couple of months ago we have moved into a property with storage heaters. Due to the move (craziness and sorting everything else out) I haven't kept an eye on electric meters and am now faced with £1000 bill (2.5 months). Switched all heating off straight away! We are on economy 7 (0.11p per kW at night) with storage heaters only collecting power at night.

We were thinking of switching to Rointe radiators as you can manage them better but may not be able financially to do it before next winter (would need around £3500 for radiators to cover the house - with installing them myself).

Are there any other alternatives you could recommend? We have 2 children (1 in school). One parent working full time, second part time to cover childcare. But still not eligible for any grants or help. After taking mortgage, bills payments out, cost of living, there isn't much left to save and upgrade the heating system soon enough.

Are there any other grants available that not necessarily require to be on any kind of benefits to apply for?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

dimbo61

What tariff are you on ?
Who is your energy provider ?
Are they taking into account your Economy 7 heating system or are you paying an expensive rate 24/7 ?
Contact your energy provider in the morning.
Read your meter and see if it has 2 readings 
Daytime and Night ( economy 7 )
Use one of the comparison websites or MSE energy comparison and which Provider and Tariff.

dimbo61

Sorry should say SWITCH not which provider !
Spell heck !!!

Slithery

Do you know how to use storage heaters correctly? Rointe radiators will cost more to run than a properly configured storage heater setup.

Is gas an option?

You'll probably get more responses if you post this in the Energy or DIY sections of the forum as this has nothing to do with buying or selling property.

JJR45

Air source heat pumps (via radiators or heat/AC units) . Not cheap to fit, but cheap to run and likely to be able to get a grant.

AdrianC

£1,000 in 2.5 months is £13.33/day.
At 11p/kWh, that's 121kWh/night.
Assuming that is indeed over 7hrs, then that's over 17kW constant load, 75A.

You need to look further than your heating.

theartfullodger

Look at photos of meter readings when you looked in.  Pray they weren't estimated.

Nebulous2

You need to check the bills to ensure they are accurate for a start. Look for estimated readings, take regular readings to monitor usage. Id be taking daily readings at the same time every day for the next couple of weeks. 

There is a lot of good advice in the energy forum here if you post there.  

There is no magic solution of changing radiators. Any claims presented by companies about efficiency is a case of smoke and mirrors. 

AnotherJoe

Can a Mod move this to the energy forum? Nothing to do with house buying. Though offhand 11p off peak seems very high to me, my standard tariff is <14p and off peak (only 4 hours admittedly) is 5p.

JJR45

Nebulous2 said:

There is no magic solution of changing radiators. Any claims presented by companies about efficiency is a case of smoke and mirrors. 

Not entirely true, we had electric underfloor heating in out old conservatory. We put in an air source heat pump (initially for air conditioning) but was miles cheaper to run than the under floor heating. Was around 2-3 times (you get 2-3 X the heat energy per kw electric used.)

Davesnave

AnotherJoe said:

Can a Mod move this to the energy forum? Nothing to do with house buying. Though offhand 11p off peak seems very high to me, my standard tariff is <14p and off peak (only 4 hours admittedly) is 5p.

And Rointe heaters have their own thread over there, for the reason that (along with Fischer et al ) they're regarded as expensive snake oil.

"Ye cannae change the laws of physics, captain!"

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2148437/anyone-used-rointe-heaters/p1