Purchasing a new home with electric heaters

hrm1987

Hi there,

I am looking to purchase a period property and have come up against an EPC with an F rating (there appear to be 2 recent EPCs and the agent has shared the better one which is a concern in itself, but still F). The house has double glazing, loft insulation, energy efficient bulbs and a log burner. It also, however, has solid walls (assumed) and a Fischer heating system and immersion heater. There’s no gas as it’s a rural property.

I am a complete novice to this, though my mum has storage heaters (just been sold a new system through Fischer which I am trying to get her to rethink within he 14 day cooling off period - another story) so I know a little about. Her house is cold.

What are my realistic options? Will the log burner keep me warm, will it be really expensive, should I consider internal wall insulation, or is a heat pump or installing oil an option? 

I love the house and I love period properties, so I fear this kind of thing could be an issue anywhere. I just want to know if it’s possible to overcome, if I should be negotiating on price, and if this should be a big red flag? 

It seems a minefield out there and you read about grants but then heat source pumps being expensive and still inefficient. Same with solar for massive initial outlays. 

Thanks in advance for any guidance - I realise there’s a lot in there with the Fischer issue and everything else.

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

It's a bit of a red flag.  They are NOT storage heaters and they use daytime electricity.  Virtually nothing is more expensive for space heating.

You'd need to consider Night Storage Heaters on Economy 7 (e.g. Dimplex Quantum), a heatpump, oil or LPG. Check whether heatpump grants are available.

Tell your mum to cancel immediately and to keep the storage heaters.  Do the Storage Heater Sanity Test for her.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3516223/fischer-storage-heaters

Mark_d

Oil is likely your best option but with this type of property you're going to have to get used to the cold and get use to high bills.  It's certainly worth exploring options for solar and heat pumps as while there will be costs for installation, running costs should be relatively low.
Rather than keeping the whole house warm, I'd think about oil radiators and fan heaters - so you only heat certain rooms at the time you're using those rooms.

debitcardmayhem

For the other story i.e. Mum, I don’t think Fischer sell storage heaters, she would probaly be better off upgrading her existing storage heaters to HHR one e.g. Dimplex

You could use similar, or an ASHP, 

But the experts on HHR and NSH will probably be along soon.

Robin9

Why is your mum changing her storage heaters?

Gerry1

Mark_d said:

It's certainly worth exploring options for solar and heat pumps as while there will be costs for installation, running costs should be relatively low.

Solar may be useful in the summer and you can sell the excess you don't need, but it won't be much use for heating in the dull short days of winter.

matelodave

Fischer, Rointe and any other magic dust "efficient" heaters are the most expensive way to heat a house exception an electric flow boiler or directly burning £20 notes in the grate.

THE ARE NOT STORAGE HEATERS - they cannot take advantage of off-peak tariffs in the same ways as a storage heaters so they have to use peak rate electricity.

As Gerry says, get your mum to cancel Fischer before its too late and learn to use her storage heaters properly or even replace them with something like a Quantums. She may feel her bills are high at the moment but they'll be significantly increased with the cost of buying and running Fischer heaters.

Likewise if your heart is set on your new house then you need to factor in the cost of replacing your Fischer heaters as soon as you can, either with proper off-peak storage heaters, or radiator heating with an oil boiler or a heat pump.

hrm1987

Thank you for all the feedback so far. On the Fischer heating, I am going to try and persuade her to cancel. She’s within the cooling off period. I really dislike these sales people that try and take advantage of older people. I suspect this is what has happened in the property I am looking to buy (older lady, on her own, sold down the river). The only good thing is it might have helped save my mum making the same mistake.

Would storage heaters be a good option in the property I’m looking to buy? As I said, my mum has them but they are old so I suspect they are inefficient and her house is chilly. Oil is something I’m open to exploring, it just feels impossible to find out what kind of cost this would be to install (I know the cost of the oil itself). 

Finally, is this all a moot point if they are solid walls?! Like someone said, it might still be cold. 

Thanks, I’m a complete novice in this!!

Gerry1

Old Box-of-Bricks NSHs are inefficient only in the sense that they leak heat when it's not needed.  They wouldn't be ideal for people who are out at work five days per week.

However, they’re probably not too bad if your mum's at home most days.  It's quite likely one of more elements have failed, but they’re very cheap and easy to replace.  Make sure they're all working properly before changing anything.  Also make sure she knows how to operate them effectively.

EssexHebridean

A solid vote here to really push your Mum to cancel her order for the Fischer heaters.

If she has been told they are "more economical to run" - this is a lie
If she has been told "they will cost her less to run" - this is a lie.

She is going to bitterly regret this change - if in doubt, do a quick forum search on Fischer or Rointe - you will find a LOT of threads! 

hrm1987

Looks like the solution for my mum is easier.

For me I need to decide on whether oily central heating or changing to storage heaters is the best option. And whether wall insulation is also needed!

On storage heaters v oil, is there any concern with the latter being ‘phased out’? I don’t even know what costs I would be looking at for either of these - it’s so generic online. If it’s circa £5k I’m ok.