What's the best, cheapest, safest source of heating?

Gerry1

Check out a few basics before committing yourself to high electricity bills forever.

• Have you recently had your boiler serviced and adjusted?  Altering the boiler thermostat and the pump rate might help, ditto the radiator valves.  These changes might increase the heat delivered, albeit at slightly lower efficiency, but with slightly inefficient cheap gas you'll still be quids in compared to cripplingly expensive daytime electricity.
• A gas fire in the living room might help.  As above, slightly inefficient but cheaper than plug-in electric heating.
• Are any boiler grants available, maybe even a grant for a gas fire?
• If all else fails, a new boiler on a payment plan or with a bank loan might still work out cheaper than sky high electricity bills.

Ectophile

For heating the person, you probably need a radiant heater, as they are highly directional.  If you're sitting in one place, then point the heater at you.  You will cook, while the rest of the room is freezing cold.

But those are also the sort of heater that can set fire to anything that gets too close to the heater for too long.

Brie

Thanks all - I appreciate the input even when it veers off what was requested. 

The boiler is new 18 months back and serviced since.  The radiators should probably be replaced with something bigger, newer but that won't be happening this year (it's complicated).  Heat pumps are not an option. 

What the place needs is better insulation but frankly I can't see where that might go.  Solid brick walls and very little space under the eaves where some might be bulked up but no where else.  

I will look at solar panels at some point but again not this year.  

Meanwhile I'm looking at how I can adjust the automated thermostat so the house doesn't get too cold during the night so we don't have too big a problem warming it up for during the day.  And then ensuring that the windows and doors are closed so there's no odd breezes about the house.  All not helped by someone being a smoker and feeling like they have to air the place out a bit while smoking (allowed only in very limited spots).  

I do layer up quite a bit - in part as I work elsewhere in an unheated environment so know how the layers help.  Keeping my eye out for Lidl etc to have those heated back/body warmers but will likely also go for a small fan heater for my at home work space.  

Gerry1

Brie said:

I will look at solar panels at some point but again not this year.

Unfortunately they're unlikely to make much difference in the winter when it's cold and dull or dark, just when you need the most heat. They might be useful in summer if you can use most of what you're generating or can sell it at a reasonable price, but its cost effectiveness must be in doubt.

When the existing system is failing to maintain a comfortable temperature, is the boiler running flat out the whole time?

Brie

Gerry1 said:

Brie said:

I will look at solar panels at some point but again not this year.

Unfortunately they're unlikely to make much difference in the winter when it's cold and dull or dark, just when you need the most heat. They might be useful in summer if you can use most of what you're generating or can sell it at a reasonable price, but its cost effectiveness must be in doubt.

When the existing system is failing to maintain a comfortable temperature, is the boiler running flat out the whole time?

We're on the south coast so rarely have snow or even much frost and our location gets a lot of sun most of the day so it might be worth the effort.  And because it gets the sun most of the day I will be looking into air conditioning at some point as well so will want this to make running something like that affordable.  

No the system doesn't run flat out.  I think it gets prompted by us walking about as there are warmer rooms and colder ones plus the solid brick walls are holding the cold so it's like that is released by the little whirlwind of one of us going past.  

Gerry1

Brie said:

Gerry1 said:

Brie said:

I will look at solar panels at some point but again not this year.

Unfortunately they're unlikely to make much difference in the winter when it's cold and dull or dark, just when you need the most heat. They might be useful in summer if you can use most of what you're generating or can sell it at a reasonable price, but its cost effectiveness must be in doubt.

When the existing system is failing to maintain a comfortable temperature, is the boiler running flat out the whole time?

And because it gets the sun most of the day I will be looking into air conditioning at some point as well so will want this to make running something like that affordable.

Do what the continentals do - external blinds or shutters !  Zero running costs.

zxzxzx

FreeBear said:

zxzxzx said: An air to air HP will give you a scop of 4 so your 25p per hour becomes 6p ish, comparable with gas…also cools in the summer.

Pick the right tariff, and you could be paying as little as ~7p per kWh. That would make a HP 4 times cheaper to run than a gas boiler. In reality, even with a cheap rate of 7p/kWh, daytime and peak rates are likely to be much higher. Looking at the Octopus Cosy tariff for East of England, currently at -

Day rate: 25.81p / kWh

Cosy rate (04:00 - 07:00, 13:00 - 16:00 & 22:00 - 00:00):12.65p / kWh

Peak rate (16:00 - 19:00): 37.42p / kWh

Correct, I am on Octopus Agile and paying just under 19p November so far (the highest since I started a year ago!) so effectively under 5p per kWh. My Midea is running now at 22c and using half a kWh so 2.5p. In reality it is running off my solar battery charged overnight at 15p!
 At 22:30 tonight I will be paid 4p to use it as Agile is going negative through to Sunday.

Gerry1

FreeBear said:

zxzxzx said: An air to air HP will give you a scop of 4 so your 25p per hour becomes 6p ish, comparable with gas…also cools in the summer.

Pick the right tariff, and you could be paying as little as ~7p per kWh. That would make a HP 4 times cheaper to run than a gas boiler.

Did you mean 'That would make a HP 4 times cheaper to run than plug-in electric heating?

matelodave

Assuming that you can get a COP of four (although three is more realistic unless you are a dedicated geek) then leccy at 7p/kwh = 1.75p/kwh for heat which is may be achievable but if you need the heatpump to run through the peak hours as well (which I guess most people would) then it could cost you more. 

Octopus Cozy has three rates (equivalent cost per kwh using a COP 3 heatpump in brackets)

Cheap at approx 12.5p (4.1)  between 0400:0700, 13:00-16:00 and 22:00-00:00 = 8 hours but generally not when most people would heat their homes unless you are at home all day where the afternoon bit would help and you might get the hot water overnight and possibly a bit of heating before you get up (although most heatpumps don't heat hot water at the same time as they provide heating)

Most of the rest of the time its around 26p (8.66) except for three hours between 16:00 - 19:00 when most people want to get home from work/school, cook dinner and heat the place when it goes up to around 37.5p (12.5)/kwh.

I'm not saying that you cant make it work but it needs more faffing around with your schedules than most people could be bothered with.

My heating turns down over night and I use it during the day and the evening so apart from the cheap bit in the afternoon I couldn't really benefit much from the overnight bit and I'd be hammered during the peak time which is when we lose any solar gain through the windows and the house cools down more quickly.

At present I pay around 24.42p/kwh so assuming that I get a COP of 3 then a kwh or leccy costs me 8.14p if I was luck enough to get a COP of four the it would work out at 6.1p around the same price as gas

In fact I've just done the sums base on our hourly smart meter data for last Thursday (it was ever so cold) and without any cooking Cozy would have cost me an extra 20p over 52kwh. I could probably have tweaked the timings of some stuff but it wouldn't really have saved all that much. Had we cooked our evening meal at our usual time in the peak period would probably have added another 12-15p

Brie

@matelodave
I think I understand about 1/3 of what you've written!!  Not a techie at all, me!  

Anyhoo - I've been to Lidl and they have a nice looking (because that counts right?) ceramic heater in black for £17.99.  I could have got the desk top fan heater for a tenner less but the one I got has the "fan only" option so will do for summers blowing a bit of air about should that be required.  

I'll look towards getting something bigger and better in the rad department and also thermal type blinds that would help in summer and winter.  

Thanks again for all the input.   It's always a help to get my thoughts out and let people take a bit of a poke at them even when I don't understand all the answers.