Electric only new build flats

MattMattMattUK

snowqueen555 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

I am in a new(ish) build flat, built four years ago, EPC C, electric only, 110 sq. meters, middle floor, others on two sides (corner). I live alone, shower an average of nine times a week, dishwasher on twice a week, washing machine runs on average 5-6 times a week and have quite a bit of tech (smart home) as well as a high end gaming PC etc. I historically used around 3,700, this year I am actually more likely to use closer to 3,100 as I am in the office more. I do not tend to have the heating on much, I have not had it on yet this winter, not a huge amount last winter. Now that could well change if we have a really cold winter and I would then expect my costs to increase around £50 a month for really cold months, but currently my average is around £85-90 a month. 

That sounds like an exception to the norm, very good, but then again I think having he middle floor flat really makes a huge difference. Would you say you would be happy long term with electric heating?

I suppose I have completely overlooked hot water as well, I think running an immersion heater or whatever modern electric systems these days must be really expensive as they are just large kettles.

I wish that they had installed by default, or at least given the option for a heat pump instead, doing it at the build stage would have probably only added around £4-5k to the cost which would have been worth it, but trying to do it how would be prohibitively expensive, £10-15k. 

With things as they are I was ok with it at the time, but then when I moved in in 2019 I was only paying 11p per kWh so that made a big difference, I also never planned on being here long term, originally my plan was five years and then move to a house, but Covid and Brexit cost me £140k between them and something else entirely outside my control, entirely unforeseeable and unfortunately unmitigatable this year has cost me another £20-25k so not only am I £160k down on where I should be, but my borrowing power for a new mortgage is significantly decreased for the next few years. With hindsight I would still not have had a problem buying in the same development, but I would have gone for a one bed rather than a two bed to reduce overall costs. When I do finally get to buy a house though I will be getting solar, batteries and a heat pump. 

ProDave

MultiFuelBurner said:

ProDave said:

BeerSavesMoney said:

New build flats are usually well insulated, in the one bed we rented previously our annual usage was around 5500 kWhs. 

That is shocking.  That is as much as I use in my self built (almost passive house) 3 bedroom detached house.

It is equally shocking that a new builds now are being built to such a poor standard that they only get an EPC C.  again mine has EPC A

The mass market builders still need a kick up the aris and be told to build properly.  If I can do it as a non professional self builder they really have no excuse not to build better.

I would suggest if you use 5500kwh in a self built almost passive house then it's not as efficient as your EPC grade A suggests.

That is absolutely shocking that amount of energy use for a passive house.

When you break it down, it's 1400kWh to heat the house (I am in the Highlands, so somewhat colder than you might be used to) and 1000kWh for hot water.

The other 3000kWh is just "stuff" like washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer, fridge, freezer, electric oven, and so the list goes on.  I agree that is too high but I can't pin it down to anything that is not performing a useful function and can be turned off

So heating is a small fraction of my total usage.

Even at the current high electricity price I am spending £378 per year to heat the house.  When I moved in a few years ago when electricity was cheaper, the annual heating bill was £200

And to put this into perspective further, my previous house was burning 2000 litres of Kerosene every year to heat it.

snowqueen555

silvercar said:

There are some new blocks where the flats are electric only, but the central heating is from a communal boiler. Billed according to usage but not electric heating as such. This seems to be the way forward as it saves on individual boilers heating up and maintenance costs.

Unfortunately most good things in other countries get abused here. There was a new build with gas communal heating but you need to run for the hills for those as well. It made me decline the purchase. The prices were set by market rates, so every couple of years the management company needs to put a bid out for anyone who wants to supply gas that developement. You are stuck on prices and no chance to change as the heating management company then set the price and when I checked the standing charge was twice the typical rate and the gas cost per unit was twice the cap.

Then there's the issue of there not being enough hot water to supply the development, or heating systems going down for weeks at a time, because it is a new system lots of things can go wrong.

snowqueen555

Albermarle said:

I'm not convinced it will be cheaper. Electricity generally costs 4x that of gas per kwhr. Unless your heat pump had an actual COP above 4, then it won't be cheaper.

That is correct, a heat pump is more energy efficient, but as it uses electricity which is more expensive, there are no real cost savings.

I had watched a few videos analysing this, and it seems at most the savings are about 10% off your gas bill, so not really worth it right now.

EssexHebridean said:

Panel heaters? I would suggest you run for the hills….or rather, for a different property with a far more sensible heating system…or indeed, a heating “system” of any description! 

I am viewing the development this week so will enquire. i am worried about the hot water because that is supposedly just as expensive depending on what is being used.

BeerSavesMoney

silvercar said:

There are some new blocks where the flats are electric only, but the central heating is from a communal boiler. Billed according to usage but not electric heating as such. This seems to be the way forward as it saves on individual boilers heating up and maintenance costs.

We are currently living in a flat with this setup and in theory it sounds great but is a rip off. You are limited to one company and have to pay whatever they charge you.

We are stuck with Community Utilities, thankfully moving out very soon.

snowqueen555

Hi all,

Negotiating on one of these new builds, what is the benefit for hooking up to solar panels, they have said this would cost £3k to rewire, and would guarantee an EPC C.

I think it sounds like money not well spent, better off not being connected to the solar panels, which would be owned by the management company?

My offer is on the 1st floor flat terraced, surrounded from all sides, it was definitely warmer than the ground floor flats so hoping it will be well insulated and reduce the need to use electric heating.