Underfloor heating dilemma

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Economy 7.

bursterman

Hi everyone.
 I’m open to suggestions on my dilemma. I live in a rural area and am getting on for 86 years old. I only have electricity to my bungalow.
My heating is underfloor and is divided into 10 zones. Each zone uses 1kw per hour and is on for 7 hours during the night. 

There’s no way to control the heating as it is either on or off. Also it takes about 3 days to build up the temperature, so if the weather forecast says we are in for a cold snap, I have to decide how many zones to put on.
I have a log burner, but it costs me £1000 in logs, plus I still have at least 3 zones on as well.
I have looked into having oil central heating installed, but I can buy a lot of electricity for the cost of the installation, plus oil is not cheap these days and I’m not getting any younger.
So I’m doing an experiment. I have 5 Zones on at the moment and I’m not using the log burner. I’m saving the logs for when the under floor heating is not adequate, which will mainly be in the evening.
So any suggestions would be appreciated please.
bursterman

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

High Heat Retention Night Storage Heaters (e.g. Dimplex Quantum) would be far more controllable.  They're not cheap to buy but you could start with one and get more later if you like it.

Running costs likely to be lower because they blow out heat only at times when you want it, so no need to waste money being warm as toast at 3am.

Shedloads of roof insulation would also be a good idea in a bungalow, whatever heating you have.

bursterman

Thanks Gerry1 for your suggestion. I will look into them. 

I already have about 12” of loft insulation. 

Bursterman

Scot_39

Judging by your age you should at least be getting the extra WFP this winter, and may even be entitled other govt or supplier help.

So contact your supplier, citizens advice or council - espeically if worried about bills.  And get on your suppliers priority register - if not already done so - if nothing else in an emergency it should mean they prioritise reconnecting you.

You might be entitled to lower bill rates or grants - or improvements to insulation or heating etc.

If 5kW of underefloor heating on now - if really on for all 7 hours - not thermostatically limitted - depending on where you are in the country is worrying though re potential for winter. Thats 35kWh.

I havent got any fires / heating on today - it was sunny earlier - but have used for 1-2 hrs max a 1kW oil fired radiator - on a couple of days recently - but then have a desktop PC and old LCD TV heating my living space as I type this - busily consuming c 250W-300W between them - most of which is essentially just heating the room.

Sorry re your mix question - wood vs underfloor - sadlly have no idea about the heat output from log burners - vs cost cf electric.

And you mention 7 hours - so assume you are on an E7 style of alternative legacy TOU tariff. 

Do you know your tariff type and prices - and the mix of your energy usage (many firms quote annual split usage figures when issue bills or new annual pricing annuals - like for the Oct change to cap pricing)

You might also find - that changing a supplier - depending on your E7 mix - could lead to significant savings - particularly if are a heavy off peak heating user (altohugh £1000 of logs might change that mix - perhaps dramatically).

 

At least 3 major suppliers table their regional flat rate and E7 pricing.

EOn

https://www.eonnext.com/electricity-and-gas/tariff-prices

EDF

https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default/files/dm1903_standard_variable_deemed_and_welcome_rate_card._for_customers_with_standard_e7_smart_payg_and_prepayment_meters.pdf

Octopus

https://octopus.energy/blog/energy-price-cap-oct-2023/

Check their rates in your region with those you currenly pay your own supplier - Although swapping may be daunting - again perhaps someone like citizens advice might help you through it.

Every penny per kWh matters when you are likely a heavy - and I assume a heavy off peak - energy user.

Oh and check if paying the cheapest methods rates - prepay now overall iirc closely matches DD far closer - standard credit - paying on recipet of paper bills - carries a non trivial price premium (or if you prefer - doesn't attract the DD discounted rates).

Ectophile

So any suggestions would be appreciated please.

Find a cheaper supplier of logs.

Gerry1

Another reason in favour of HHR NSHs is that oil, heat pump and most other systems would require wet radiators.  Their installation is likely to involve a fair bit of disruption and tidying up which you may wish to avoid.  The extra wiring for NSHs should be much simpler, especially if you start with just the one.

Don't forget to come back and tell us what you decided and how it went !

littleteapot

bursterman said:

Hi everyone.
 I’m open to suggestions on my dilemma. I live in a rural area and am getting on for 86 years old. I only have electricity to my bungalow.
My heating is underfloor and is divided into 10 zones. Each zone uses 1kw per hour and is on for 7 hours during the night. 

There’s no way to control the heating as it is either on or off. Also it takes about 3 days to build up the temperature, so if the weather forecast says we are in for a cold snap, I have to decide how many zones to put on.
I have a log burner, but it costs me £1000 in logs, plus I still have at least 3 zones on as well.
I have looked into having oil central heating installed, but I can buy a lot of electricity for the cost of the installation, plus oil is not cheap these days and I’m not getting any younger.
So I’m doing an experiment. I have 5 Zones on at the moment and I’m not using the log burner. I’m saving the logs for when the under floor heating is not adequate, which will mainly be in the evening.
So any suggestions would be appreciated please.
bursterman

What region are you in? If Eastern and not already with EDF you could save a huge amount of money by switching to EDF as their Economy7 off-peak rate is only 9p compared to about 16p for every other supplier. However if you are in a different region unfortunately this 'special' rate doesn't exist.

Qyburn

bursterman said:

 

I have a log burner, but it costs me £1000 in logs, 

Ectophile said:

Find a cheaper supplier of logs.

How are you buying firewood, and what do you typically pay per cu.m? It can be marginal whether it's cost effective if you don't have your own supply, and live in an area where prices are high. As an example round here £1,000 would get around 10 cu.m of hardwood, say 14,000 kWh (just over 7p/kWh). Mail order kiln dried could be costing twice as much, or even more.