All electric flat w/ Electric heaters (Not night storage). Best option for hot water?

APCElectrichomeowner

Hi all, 

Here's where I'm at: 

I own a two all bed all electric flat. It has a Pulsacoil immersion boiler (approx 10 years old), and electric clay (not night storage) heaters with individual thermostats in each room, and I'm on an economy7 tariff. Heat pumps or solar panels simply aren't a viable option for me currently, because of the leasehold. 

I am aware that the most economical solution would likely be to replace the heaters with NHS, but this just doesn't suit my lifestyle and I appreciate the flexibility the electric heaters give me, which means I need to consider the boiler (and tariff). 

I live on my own, so I feel like I am wasting electricity and water heating a whole tank, even overnight, which I'm not using. To add, on days where I need to shower in the evening - it's lost quite a bit of heat. 

From what I can tell, this leaves me with two alternatives; an electric combi boiler, or replace the shower with an electric shower and do something similar with the kitchen sink, and in both cases, move off eco7. 

My questions right now are:

1.) Is there an option I haven't considered/have overlooked? 

2.) Can anyone who has experience of electric combi boilers advise on issues they've had with water pressure, etc. ?(Apart from cost, cost is unavoidable if I don't want to be stuck with NHS)

Thank you to anyone who can help! If you feel there are other elements I haven't considered, please do say so. 

QrizB

I'm going to guess that you're currently using far more daytime-rate electricity than night-rate.

At least for now, stick with what you have, but get off E7 and onto a single rate tariff. Heat your hot water in the evening, when you need it, rather than overnight when you don't.

MultiFuelBurner

What about air to air heat pump unit(some think of it as an air conditioning unit) just for heating and cooling not hot water. Would you be able to get planning permission for one outside unit and multi split that?

APCElectrichomeowner

Thanks both. I think right now I'm between both and I'm not sure going off eco7 in the current set up makes sense, which is why I'm considering replacing the immersion boiler. 

Heat pumps may be a viable option in the long term, but it's a managed property with 70+ flats across multiple buildings. Not to say it's impossible, but it's not something I could do with any relative ease. 

EssexHebridean

Aside from the immersion, what else do you run overnight to make the most of the off peak rate? 

Can you give us your readings from 12 months ago for both peak and off peak, and readings again now? 

It's pretty unusual to find people with standard electric heating who are going to be better off on E7 to be honest as it's just incredibly difficult to load shift enough to make it cheaper.  

APCElectrichomeowner

Good question. I have made it a habit of running the washing machine overnight, but again, it's annoyingly inconvenient. 

I've only been in the flat for a month, and the previous owners used it as a weekend holiday home once a month so any previous readings won't give a fair comparison. 

I do believe that with that, I'm shifting enough load overnight to make it workable, particularly on warmer days when I don't need heating. I do not believe that it's the most efficient overall due to the limited amount of water I usually need to use, which is why I'm looking for a better means of heating water on demand, rather than the entire tank. 

QrizB

APCElectrichomeowner said:

I've only been in the flat for a month, and the previous owners used it as a weekend holiday home once a month so any previous readings won't give a fair comparison. 
I do believe that with that, I'm shifting enough load overnight to make it workable, particularly on warmer days when I don't need heating.

OK, what were the two meter readings when you moved in? And what do they read now?

APCElectrichomeowner

Here are the three readings I can find online:

ricity meter read history

15 Dec 2023

Day reading

1,810

Night reading

568

Submitted by your smart meter

05 Dec 2023

Day reading

1,780

Night reading

519

Submitted by your smart meter

01 Dec 2023

Day reading

1,712

Night reading

495

Do these suggest I should be switching? 

Veteransaver

APCElectrichomeowner said:

Good question. I have made it a habit of running the washing machine overnight, but again, it's annoyingly inconvenient. 

I've only been in the flat for a month, and the previous owners used it as a weekend holiday home once a month so any previous readings won't give a fair comparison. 

I do believe that with that, I'm shifting enough load overnight to make it workable, particularly on warmer days when I don't need heating. I do not believe that it's the most efficient overall due to the limited amount of water I usually need to use, which is why I'm looking for a better means of heating water on demand, rather than the entire tank. 

Be careful running washing machine overnight in a flat, you may get a fair few complaints from neighbours!

APCElectrichomeowner

Fortunately the kitchen is in it's own section, well insulated, and the flats seem to be quite uniform so unless someone is sleeping in their kitchen underneath - I should be safe! That said, my ideal would be not to have to run it overnight!

QrizB

In a fortnight, in December, you've used 98kWh of day rate electricity and 72kWh of night rate.

That's 170kWh total, 42% at the cheaper rate. You're barely breaking even with a single rate tariff.