Electric Heaters in new build home and lack of insulation

MultiFuelBurner

Panda126 said:

Hi everyone,

Here’s the radiators models we have in the house.

And here’s where they are located:

This is our usage last week:

We left the heating on for a few hours at night (till 3am and achieved 19 degrees) at 3 am the radiators went off and we woke up around 8am and we had 14-15 degrees in the house.

The usage is without heating up the bathrooms, we don’t cook too much and we weren’t home all day on Wednesday and Friday (only used heating in the bedroom to not freeze at night)

And this is the temperature we have without heating all night

This is downstairs and upstairs so completely different rooms.

Ok so now we know the builders skimped on heating as these are just panel heaters I believe. The most expensive heating you can have and in a house that size a nightmare.

There must be a loophole on the EPC for your heating to get a decent score what does it was for heating on your EPC?

You are likely going to be better off with tracker than agile over winter with this type of heating but it still won't be cheap.

If you have some money left it might be worth getting Octopus to quite for a wet heat pump system but this wil involved on wall pipes to every room and ruin the look of your new house. But there is a £7500 grant towards this option and I presume you have an expensive all electric boiler for hot water as well?.

The other option is to replace these panel heaters with storage heaters and stay on Agile or more likely an economy 7 tariff.

(Someone correct me if these aren't panel heaters I do hope they aren't)

MultiFuelBurner

To add to the above you could consider a multi split air to air heat pump system as all the pipework can be outside.

markin

Solar can bump the score quite a lot, house builders also don't have a building inspector checking every house, Maybe 1 as a model and then are trusted to do a good job on the rest.

If we discount general use and a big water tank the average for the week has 'only' been around 35kwh a day, with outside temps of -1c/ -3c ?

MultiFuelBurner

markin said:

Solar can bump the score quite a lot, house builders also don't have a building inspector checking every house, Maybe 1 as a model and then trusted to do a good job on the rest.

If we discount general use and a big water tank the average for the week has 'only' been around 35kwh a day, with outside temps of xx??

Yeah but they say they haven't been in two days only minimal heating to fit with Agile pricing overnight (part presumed part said) then just putting some on as to not freeze overnight. 

Sounds like heating survival not new home let's warm it up.

That's how it reads to me anyway.

Got visions of them freezing in arctic sleeping bags.

Panda126

Netexporter said:

As has been previously mentioned, I suspect the thermal mass of the building is the key. If it is traditional timber frame, with the insulation in the inner leaf of the walls, it would heat up quite rapidly. If it is constructed with masonry inner leaf with external insulation, then there is a lot of thermal mass to fill with heat before you "feel the benefit". However, the latter type of construction is very good for passive temperature regulation, keeping you cooler in summer and storing a reserve of heat in winter. 

As you are on Agile, I think I would put the heating on all day, for a week, except in the evening peak (16:00 to 19:00) when prices are very high, and see what happens. And keep your fingers crossed the wind is blowing and keeping half-hourly prices low!

In short, you really need to find out the construction method of the house to determine how best to proceed. 

This is all the structural information we have. If we keep heating on all the time we'll pay £20+ a day and we've been trying to keep the house warm but recently it became impossible. 

Panda126

Our monthly usage in non winter months was around 100 kWh

Netexporter

Thanks. That's pretty standard construction. Not what I'd call an an eco-house. The Thermalite (aerated concrete) inner skin might still be holding a fair amount of moisture. A dehumidifier might help.

born_again

MultiFuelBurner said:

Panda126 said:

Hi everyone,

Here’s the radiators models we have in the house.

And here’s where they are located:

This is our usage last week:

We left the heating on for a few hours at night (till 3am and achieved 19 degrees) at 3 am the radiators went off and we woke up around 8am and we had 14-15 degrees in the house.

The usage is without heating up the bathrooms, we don’t cook too much and we weren’t home all day on Wednesday and Friday (only used heating in the bedroom to not freeze at night)

And this is the temperature we have without heating all night

This is downstairs and upstairs so completely different rooms.

Ok so now we know the builders skimped on heating as these are just panel heaters I believe. The most expensive heating you can have and in a house that size a nightmare.

There must be a loophole on the EPC for your heating to get a decent score what does it was for heating on your EPC?

You are likely going to be better off with tracker than agile over winter with this type of heating but it still won't be cheap.

If you have some money left it might be worth getting Octopus to quite for a wet heat pump system but this wil involved on wall pipes to every room and ruin the look of your new house. But there is a £7500 grant towards this option and I presume you have an expensive all electric boiler for hot water as well?.

The other option is to replace these panel heaters with storage heaters and stay on Agile or more likely an economy 7 tariff.

(Someone correct me if these aren't panel heaters I do hope they aren't)

Dimplex Monterey MFPE Electric Panel Heaters

https://www.heatershop.co.uk/panel-heaters/dimplex-mfpe-monterey

Panda126

we have dimplex edel (heat pump for the water)
Is there anything we can say to the developer to 'inspect' what the issue is? 
We spent all the savings for the house and it wouldn't be possible for us to invest another thousands just to get the house warm as when buying a new build house this is what you would expect. 
We have solar panels but they won't work in winter.
I believe EPC rating was A but they mentioned poor heating.

MultiFuelBurner

Panda126 said:

we have dimplex edel (heat pump for the water)
Is there anything we can say to the developer to 'inspect' what the issue is? 
We spent all the savings for the house and it wouldn't be possible for us to invest another thousands just to get the house warm as when buying a new build house this is what you would expect. 
We have solar panels but they won't work in winter.
I believe EPC rating was A but they mentioned poor heating.

Can you check your epec here

https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate

And what does it say about heating on that link specifically scroll down to



That may give you some indication of your costs per year.

If you knew they were putting in panel heaters then not much you can do about that. They have built the house to the spec you were expecting.