Central Heating or Electric Panel Heaters

11fernsroad

Hi

We need to refurbish bedrooms of our 2 BR flat.Given that the gas bills are rising,I was wondering if closing off old radiators and fitting Electric Panel heaters may be a good idea.Often only one of the bedroom will be used.

We do have working combi which at present supports all 5 radiators in the flat in total.

Many Thanks

Alnat1

If you haven't got TRVs on your radiators, spend the money getting them fitted. You can then adjust the temperature separately in each room. Keep the room you use most the warmest and the others cooler or off.

Panel radiators are very expensive to run.

11fernsroad

Alnat1 said:

If you haven't got TRVs on your radiators, spend the money getting them fitted. You can then adjust the temperature separately in each room. Keep the room you use most the warmest and the others cooler or off.

Panel radiators are very expensive to run.

Thanks for your input.I was told that was the correct thing to do till about March.But with increasing gas prices,is it not better to move to electricity dependant heaters?

stewie_griffin

Electricity prices are also expected to increase significantly. It will still be cheaper for you to use your existing central heating and if there’s nothing wrong with it then there’s no point in spending money.

Reed_Richards

A lot of power stations run on gas.  Until that changes if gas prices go up the electricity prices will go up.

QrizB

11fernsroad said:

We need to refurbish bedrooms of our 2 BR flat.Given that the gas bills are rising,I was wondering if closing off old radiators and fitting Electric Panel heaters may be a good idea.Often only one of the bedroom will be used.

Panel heaters (or any other electric heater which isn't a heat pump) run on day-rate electricity are among the most expensive ways to heat a property.

TRVs or a smart heating system (Hive, Nest, Drayton Wiser etc.) will let you selectrively heat your home without the expense of electric heating.

See my calculations from earlier in the year here; I'm hoping to update that post again when the new October cap is announced.

markin

By refurbish i hope you mean fitting 30mm or more of insulated plasterboard and not just slapping on some paint.

Ultrasonic

Definitely stick with your existing radiators.

matelodave

A 1kw radiator will cost around 8p an hour from a gas boiler at todays prices whereas the same amount of heat from an electric panel radiator is around 30p. I reckon you could anticipate 12p for gas and 45p for leccy come October.

You do the math, as the Amercans would say

Ultrasonic

Replacing the existing radiators with electric heaters would also devalue the property should it be sold.

Mstty

If it's a flat the difference is marginal, having sold 2 2 bedroom flats in the last year with panel heaters paid for by government grants neither were valued less than comparable flats with gas and elec.

I agree, for the informed here, it's a red flag and we would all value properties differently. But the majority of the public have no idea of running costs of panel heaters til it's too late.