Cheapest way to run immersion heater

snowqueen555

The EPC says it is standard tariff, and there are basic heaters installed so pretty sure if isn't economy 7 otherwise I would be expect storage heaters in the flat.

QrizB

snowqueen555 said:

The EPC says it is standard tariff, and there are basic heaters installed so pretty sure if isn't economy 7 otherwise I would be expect storage heaters in the flat.

How it's heated is something to keep in mind when choosing a flat.

This coming winter, for example, standard-rate panel heaters could cost £700 (or more) extra to run, for the same heat output, when compared to E7 storage heaters.

I did some calculations - see here - for a three-bed semi, based on the current capped variable tariff. The difference will be smaller for a flat but, at the same time, electricity prices are expected to increase by 50% from October.

macman

snowqueen555 said:

The EPC says it is standard tariff, and there are basic heaters installed so pretty sure if isn't economy 7 otherwise I would be expect storage heaters in the flat.

So the LL has probably tripled your heating costs to save some money by not installing NSH's...

Mstty

macman said:

snowqueen555 said:

The EPC says it is standard tariff, and there are basic heaters installed so pretty sure if isn't economy 7 otherwise I would be expect storage heaters in the flat.

So the LL has probably tripled your heating costs to save some money by not installing NSH's...

I suspect this is all down to the silly grants the government dished out to renters on benefits that had them rip out storage heaters for the futuristic panel heaters. 

QrizB

macman said:

snowqueen555 said:

The EPC says it is standard tariff, and there are basic heaters installed so pretty sure if isn't economy 7 otherwise I would be expect storage heaters in the flat.

So the LL has probably tripled your heating costs to save some money by not installing NSH's...

OP says they're looking to buy, not rent.

Mstty said:

macman said:

snowqueen555 said:

The EPC says it is standard tariff, and there are basic heaters installed so pretty sure if isn't economy 7 otherwise I would be expect storage heaters in the flat.

So the LL has probably tripled your heating costs to save some money by not installing NSH's...

I suspect this is all down to the silly grants the government dished out to renters on benefits that had them rip out storage heaters for the futuristic panel heaters. 

That's possible, or it's been converted recently and the developer either didn't know or didn't care.

snowqueen555

Electric heating is very common for flats these days, kinda surprised there isn't more uproar about the cost, but maybe this winter we will see it.

I'm going to bite the bullet and put an offer in. I think the top floor flat will benefit from being very warm, the insulation is really good according to the epc but it gets a D rating due to the terrible panel heaters and immersion heater, so hoping I won't need to use the heating so much.

Don't have any choice anyway it seems, electric it is.

mumf

I am electric, and immersion heaters are not as scary as the Penny Pinchers will have you believe! Mine is set with a digital timer ,to come on at chosen times for 15 minutes at a time. That gives us enough running hot water for our needs. Simple and effective.

snowqueen555

mumf said:

I am electric, and immersion heaters are not as scary as the Penny Pinchers will have you believe! Mine is set with a digital timer ,to come on at chosen times for 15 minutes at a time. That gives us enough running hot water for our needs. Simple and effective.

That's good to know. Looking at my habits currently, I only need hot water in the evening to shower and wish the dishes so I will only need to turn it on once a day. I am surprised 15m is enough time?

As for the panel heaters in Winter, we shall see 😩 

Alnat1

@snowqueen555 Keep cutting it down a bit each day. When it gets to the point your shower isn't warm enough or runs cold, you know you went a cut too far. Then you use the previous days time.

Also, the water supply in winter will be colder than in summer so you might have to give it a bit longer then.

Mstty

wittynamegoeshere said:

We moved into a house that's electric only, no mains gas available in the area.

We had a massive tank with an immersion element.  It cost stupid amounts to heat, and lost almost all of its heat within 24 hours, despite it having foam insulation, it was ridiculous.  IMO hot water tanks are a thing of the past, a relic from the days of cheap energy, unless you've got solar panels.  Most heat pump installations use one, but even then I'm not sure whether they make sense or not.  But it sounds like a heat pump is unlikely to be an option in a flat anyway.

The cheapest way to run an immersion heater is to not have one at all!  Get rid of the stupid tank altogether and get something like this...

https://www.hyco.co.uk/products/hot-water/aquila

We've got one, it's great.  It's plumbed into a basin and mixer shower.  It just heats what you use, when you use it.  You need realistic expectations - basically you can have hot water that's pretty slow or warm water that's totally usable.  Forget filling a bath, and you may need the assistance of a kettle of boiling water to soak the greasy oven trays.  But, if you just want normal everyday hand washing and showering then they're utterly adequate.  You're also getting fresh clean water instead of stale water from a tank, which is nice to know.  Plus you'll get a nice new cupboard where the tank used to be.

It looks like it's the size of a boiler, in fact it's about as big as a shoe box - basically slightly bigger than an electric shower.

It needs a 40A feed, most electricity supplies are typically 60-100A in total.  You can only have one per property realistically and not in addition to an electric shower.

As you are promoting this and I haven't looked into it fully yet.

How much is a shower costing you from this 9.6 kw model? What are you running costs for it for a couple of showers and washing up? What temperature is warm 40oC 45oC?