Electric boiler, energy usage and cost per month

DaveGDave

matt_drummer said:

Assuming much of the electricity use is your heating and that you own the bungalow maybe you should consider an alternative heating source.

An air source heat pump would be an obvious answer, much more efficient, either air to water or air to air.

Either way, you would require a hot water solution, probably a hot water tank, do you have space for one?

Looking at your bills, any capital expenditure would be repaid very quickly.

Thank you we will look in to a heat source pump I think We are about to start a loft conversion so can look in to space for a tank, and we are going to insulate the whole roof with better insulation so i hope that makes a difference too. 

matt_drummer

Good luck with it all.

I would keep an eye on your usage and try to see what is going on.

Whatever happens you can only make things better, what you have is about as expensive as you can get.

The cost of any changes will be repaid very quickly.

I hope you let us know how you get on.

Spoonie_Turtle

Doing the quick sums, assuming single rate is 34p (I don't know, probably lower in a lot of regions) you'd have been marginally better off in January and February, and significantly better off in March on single rate.  Only December's usage was slightly cheaper on dual rate (I'm surprised!  But I think the relatively narrow split between night and day is what managed it).

So either you need to shift lots of usage onto night rate, or try to find an even narrower day/night split, or just go onto single rate, whichever would be most feasible for your family and lifestyle.

Reed_Richards

DaveGDave said:

 would oil be cheaper? 

Heating oil is the cheapest fuel you can get at current prices, although this is something new and the situation may change in future.  But you would need to install not only an oil boiler but also an oil tank and a buried pipe connecting the tank to the boiler.

An electric boiler is, and has always been, the most expensive way there is to heat a home.

At current prices the running cost of an Air Source Heat Pump should be roughly the same as that of a gas boiler.    

macman

I have to ask: you purchased the property, despite  knowing it was an electric boiler that was going to cost you 350% more to run than mains gas?
I cannot understand why such a system would be installed and then run on a dual rate tariff: all your heating outside of the cheap rate hours is costing you a premium rate.
The short term solution is to get off E7, but the long term solution is to ditch this system and switch to oil, LPG, ASHP or NSH's and an immersion heater, none of which will be cheap to install.
You don't need to run the CH all night just because you have a baby in the house. You just need to maintain a reasonable bedroom temp, which could be done with a single oil-filled rad.

shinytop

OP,

As a cheaper alternative to a normal ASHP you could install something like this.

https://www.orionairsales.co.uk/panasonic-air-conditioning-wall-inverter-heatcharge-kit-vz12-ske-nanoe-35kw12000btu--install-kit-16992-p.asp

It might not heat the whole house nor would it do hot water but it would mean the electric boiler would be used a lot less.  It will use about 1/4 of the energy to produce the same heat as your boiler.  Some people I know of fit these to reduce gas CH usage and you have a much better financial case than them.

That one is a premium brand; you can get them a lot cheaper like this

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/tf-12000ch/telefunken-tf12000ch-air-conditioner-air-conditioner

You'll have to find someone to fit it.  You don't need planning permission as long as it's not used for cooling (or you don't tell anyone!)

If you've stayed in a hotel with a combined AC/heater in your room, that's what these are.

matt_drummer

shinytop said:

OP,

As a cheaper alternative to a normal ASHP you could install something like this.

https://www.orionairsales.co.uk/panasonic-air-conditioning-wall-inverter-heatcharge-kit-vz12-ske-nanoe-35kw12000btu--install-kit-16992-p.asp

It might not heat the whole house nor would it do hot water but it would mean the electric boiler would be used a lot less.  It will use about 1/4 of the energy to produce the same heat as your boiler.  Some people I know of fit these to reduce gas CH usage and you have a much better financial case than them.

That one is a premium brand; you can get them a lot cheaper like this

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/tf-12000ch/telefunken-tf12000ch-air-conditioner-air-conditioner

You'll have to find someone to fit it.  You don't need planning permission as long as it's not used for cooling (or you don't tell anyone!)

If you've stayed in a hotel with a combined AC/heater in your room, that's what these are.

You can get these with at least five indoor units, it could heat the whole bungalow.

It has already been suggested to the OP by me.