Storage heater recommendations

[Deleted User]

Hi 
I'm glad I stumbled across this thread 
I have two old vent axia storage heaters, one in my lounge and one in my bedroom which both belt out lots of heat but aren't controllable, but one has a manual over ride if I need it during the day. So far in 16 years I've never had to use it. They're still giving off good heat.  I'm out at work all day so I don't use them every night. Or if I do I manually switch them off half way through that night to save electric.

But I'm looking into a new heating system in the future (before I retire) so im reading this thread with interest. I have a few years to go so I'm in no hurry unless the storage heaters break. 

I was thinking of GSH but these new electric heaters seem a lot less faff and possibly cheaper to install (as I'd have to have gas pipes installed into my flat from outside) as well as no boiler and pipe work.

This thread has given me a few ideas.
I'd like to ask could I install another 2 heaters in other rooms on the same E7 circuit when I replace my old ones eventually?

Gerry1

Ground Source Heatpump?

QrizB

Gerry1 said:

Ground Source Heatpump?

Gas Sentral Heating.

ImDoingItForMe said:

I'd like to ask could I install another 2 heaters in other rooms on the same E7 circuit when I replace my old ones eventually?

Yes, if you want to stick with storage heaters there should be no problem adding a couple more. They should each have their own circuit(s), but your electrician will take care of that for you.

[Deleted User]

sorry I meant GCH not GSH.
I've been online looking at so many options my brain is tired 🥴

Stubod

..we are still very much undecided as to which way to go. Can't find anybody who can offer independant advice. 

So many mixed reviews regarding air source heat pumps. A builder friend is of the opinion they are not cost effective unless you live in a very modern, well insulated house and have underfloor heating. 

Both gas and oil seem to be the devils fuel" and on the way out. Solar also does not appear to be that cost effective, so what options are left?? 

Our rather old NSH seem to be OK for now, but just expensive to run. We only have 2 on normally and use a mutli fuel burner ti give a boost in the evening. 

I am currently monitoring our coal / wood costs, but coal has also gone up significantly post pandemic, as has timber. but again, neither is particularly "eco friendly". 

Just looking for somnebody who can offer some good advice rather than just peddling more loft and cavity wall insulation...

ArbitraryRandom

Given what you've said about your situation, the advantages of staying with storage heaters (and upgrading) seem to be the new fancy ones can automatically take advantage of cheaper ToU tariffs, and you can replace one at a time as you have funds vs installing a new wet system which would be much more disruptive/expensive all at once (plus if there's a problem with your heating down the line, it'll be a unit that's not working right so you'll still have heating in the rest of the home while you're getting it fixed).

Disadvantages are the relative price of gas vs electricity (which I'd argue is mitigated by ToU and the shift away from gas nationally), perception if you wanted to sell the property, neither of which seem particularly relevant to you? 

Stubod

We may want to sell in the not to distant future, so this is also a consideration as to how the current heating system will be viewed. ie we could simply leave as it is and take a bit of a hit on the price, or look to "upgrade" the existing NSH. Our current electric bill is under £2k per year, but would hate to think what it would be if we actually turned on the NSH in every room??

ArbitraryRandom

Unfortunately (unless something has changed recently), any form of electric heating is scored poorly on an EPC and any form of heating you have will benefit from good wall and loft insulation... 

I'd suggest thinking about how likely it is you will actually move and how far into the future (next year vs 5 years). 

You say your current units are expensive to run, I don't know what your bills are actually like relative to your property size/potential bills, but you could do a fairly basic calculation looking at the cost of a new unit (say £1000) in the room you heat most and consider how much you could save over 1-3 winters using the advanced features on a more modern tariff? 

Re perception, you would certainly (IMO) need to emphasise in any listing they were the new high retention units, but you can never know what attracts or puts off a buyer. You could find that as many/more people are put off by heat pumps as they are still largely unfamiliar and people will have heard the negative stories re them being complicated to use and more expensive in some situations. Whichever you go for, as long as you have had the heating system for at least a year then if you get questions about it you could always pull up the usage and share it to demonstrate what the buyer might expect? 

GibbsRule_No3.

Pictures of the install for one of my QDRF G10s. My HA insisted I have one in my kitchen, where I had never had a NSH before, so I would think it would be easy to install one or two and then add others at a later date. They did need to add the extra switch to each QD for the E7 control, so no doubt as it is a HA they went the trunking route, rather than channel out and bury in a wall. I know some of my neighbours would not like the trunking. It really did not worry me. Not sure what others who have QDs installed found but they also added new fuse boxes, is this something that has to happen with QDs or did my HA just decided to update while doing the install?  My Nextdoor neighbour was in two minds about having his installed but after seeing mine, went ahead. He likes the resulting heat and control with the new QDs but due to moving some of his old heaters to different walls, his choice, there was more mess to the walls in the property than mine. 

lilac_dawn

Taff76 said:

lilac_dawn said:

Taff76 said:

Stubod said:

..Hi Lilac..(and a happy new year!!). No we have not taken the plunge yet, still thinking about it. We spoke to our electrician and he was a bit non commital about the best way to go, although he did suggest if we were goimng to change that Quantums are probably worth payijg the extra for over the other makes he has installed. 

The problem for us is that as we a re now retired and at home all day we actually need a bit of heat "leakage" through out the day. ie we don't really need super efficient insulation, and we don't really need all the (many) programming options. We just need a gentle heat through the day, so not sure whether or not the Quantums would offer anything significantly better than what we have now??....so the jury is still out!

I recently upgraded to 2 x Dimpex Quantum QM150RF's.  The heat 'leakage' is sufficient enough to heat my whole flat  without having to set the timer for the fan's.  I've not needed to set the heater to ON due to the residual heat that's released, I manually set to charge 4 hours every night, which is suffice.  If you are looking to join the Dimplex/ British Gas special Economy 7 tariff, make the your Quantums are Series G9 or higher.   I was sold G7 models last month and now waiting for them to be updated. 

That's so unfair, isn't it? Presumably, as I will have one brand new Quantum, one not-sure-which-series Quantum and 1 old but fan assisted Dimplex storage heater, I wouldn't qualify. Can you point me in the direction of the T&Cs for BG, please? Or did you have to phone them to get the correct info?

As long as you have 1 quantum series 9 or higher and the hub you should be good. 

Just Google British Gas & Dimplex and the British Gas page should show and there's a phone number on the page also.  

Just make sure you get Quantum series 9 or higher!

That's given me a bit of hope - thanks My living room's at 16 degrees, the 2 storage heaters are half cold already at 4pm and I know it's going to get much colder tonight so I'd like to upgrade one of them at least.