Has anyone used electric heaters ?

jvjack

@bigroundorange i dont know much about storage heaters. 
But those 2kw convector heaters on the Argos site you linked to are a loveley kind of heat. Much better than fans. Homebase usually do autumn sale on them. Cant see one yet.
At present prices probly 40p per hour on full but can turn down and will turn off when room reaches certain temperature, 

'e.g., if I'm away, so can't set it the night before, then there's no heating when I'm back'
If you have smartphone could get a wifi plug and turn it on 20 mins before you get home.
Argos do TCP Smart Wi Fi plug for £12.99

jvjack

Edit to my post.  Cant edit as im pretty new to forum.
So should meant to say 
If you have smartphone could get a wifi plug and turn on convector heater 20 mins before you get home.

Susan1942

Perhaps I should start a new post. I live in a 2 bedroom retirement apartment. I have got storage heaters and have lived in my flat for 23 years  Storage is the only source of heating. I have got no fire or any other source of heating available to me.   I have got 2 large heaters in my living / dining room.  One in the hall and one in each of my two bedrooms. One of the living room heaters has got a boost fan that I can use if need be but I seldom use it. Maybe in the evening in really cold weather.   With all the talk of huge electricity increases I just wanted to ask a question.  I only have my living room heaters on at the moment. Im not sure if it is more economical to have just one heater on at a higher setting or if it is better to have them both on a lower setting.  I never turn the heater off even if I am away as I would be frightened of burst pipes.  Obviously with the pandemic I have not been away this winter.  In times past I have gone to Australia for 6 weeks from end Nov until mid Jan.  I leave all the heaters on at a low level. 
I am on Economy 7 and my hot water tank has two heaters one that heats the whole tank and the other one heats the top part of the tank . The bottom one only heats on the E7 the other one heats if I flick a switch in my kitchen  the switch in the cupboard has to be switched on.  The top one is enough to give me water for a shower and daily chores but can be cool by the evening.  I live alone and but if I have people staying then I would need to flick that switch so that other people can have a shower.  I do not have any heatting in the kitchen it is small and the heat from the living room heats it.  Likewise my ensuite bathroom is heated my the bedroom one,  Currently I am paying £124 a month and have got just under £400 in credit. 
Sorry his is so long but I would appreciate any advice.   Sue 

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Susan you seem to know your set up, after 23 years you'll be well acquaint with things.

Suppose it comes down to your comfort level, is the place well insulated, double glazed, water tank well insulated?

Don't know what type of heaters you've got do you keep the output closed, to keep heat in?

Do you use the heaters in both bedrooms, if so you could maybe switch them off and leave doors open to let heat from hall permeate into the rooms.

QrizB

Susan1942 said:

... Sorry his is so long but I would appreciate any advice.   Sue 

For what it's worth, I agree with frugalmacdugal:

frugalmacdugal said:

Susan you seem to know your set up, after 23 years you'll be well acquaint with things.

If you find you are warm enough with only the living room heated, and don't get cold when going to bed, you can leave the bedroom heaters off. Once you're in bed you should be nice and snug and the temperature of your bedroom isn't important until you get up.

(I've lived in old houses without central heating and can remeber waking up to ice on the inside of my windows. I wasn't cold in bed, but it didn't encourage me to get out!)

Susan1942

Thank you both for your responses.  I have Creda heaters The building is well insulated.  Had double glazing built in 1989. It's a conservation area and has sash windows but also some small curved windows which are I suppose are dormer I replaced the double glazing about 5 years ago.  I only have my living room heaters on at the moment but will put the hall and my own bedroom on once the weather gets a bit colder. The spare room I really only put on when the weather is very cold.  I do open the living room vents in the evening but not always the hall and bedroom ones. I think the architect won an award for the ?energy ? insulation not sure exactly.  
I do watch the weather forecast every night and adjust the heating accordingly.  I am just wondering how much my bill is going to rise by

When I looked at Martin Lewis energy club it is saying that I will be paying £1950 I think currently I am paying around £1350.so £600 which is a huge increase 
Thanks again Sue 

Susan1942

I've just checked my account and I am paying £118 a month and I have £461 in credit

I am on a variable tariff with Octopus 
Sorry about that 
Sue 

wittynamegoeshere

How does your off-peak unit charge against the peak one?

When I looked into storage heaters I concluded that, based on the typical tariffs at the time, they weren't worth bothering with.

You get power at a lower rate but inevitably waste some, as they will always emit some of the heat when it's not needed.

My strategy is to use a lower amount of more expensive energy, by only heating when I'm actually there.

Don't know how to quote but in relation to jvjack's idea about using a smart switch I'd suggest that was not a good idea.  Partly because I wouldn't put a convector heater on when I'm not there but also because I wouldn't trust the typical wifi switch to be capable of safely carrying the sort of load a heater needs.  They're usually supposedly rated at 13A, but I wouldn't trust them to handle this, especially not as a heater is inductive so has a very high inrush current.  Either risk could result in your house burning down while you're not there.

QrizB

wittynamegoeshere said:

When I looked into storage heaters I concluded that, based on the typical tariffs at the time, they weren't worth bothering with.

You get power at a lower rate but inevitably waste some, as they will always emit some of the heat when it's not needed.

My strategy is to use a lower amount of more expensive energy, by only heating when I'm actually there.

That's a moderately expensive gamble, and contrary to most people's experience. I've not had an electrically-heated house for almost two decades but, checking my records, between August 1999 and August 2000 I used a total of 8682kWh, 1363kWh peak rate and 7319kWh off-peak.

If I used that much electricity today, on "Flexible Octopus October 2021 v2", the cost would be ~£1400 if E7 or ~£1800 if single-rate.

Of course you might be an exception and I guess you'll find out in due course!

Susan1942

I am just checking my bill now.  I know that 75-80% of my electricity is on economy 7 
Night is 10. 80p  and day is 17.74p  so it is worth it for me.  We have a laundry so I don't have the cost of washing or tumble drying clothes.   Thinking back to when I was 60 and at that time I can't remember now what it was called.  I was with them I think for 2 years and I leftt when the payment went up to £100. I then switched several time over the past 18 years and only in the  past couple of years I have reached £100 + .  Last year I got a refund of I think over £300 from Octopus.  I am retired and live alone so really need my heating to be on.  For now I am using my electric blanket but the bedroom heater will need to go on soon.
Sue