Electric Boiler Advice

seanius

Hi,

We currently have an Oil based heating system. We live in a mid terrace house with no access to our rear garden. As a result this means we have our oil tank in front of our home which is somewhat unsightly.

We have had a quotation for a new, smaller oil tank for £2,000 but we are considering whether to switch to an electric boiler which would negate the need for an oil tank.

I am concerned that the running costs for the electric boiler would be excessive, but I understand that the newer boilers are very efficient.

I would appreciate it if anyone could share there experience with electric boilers and also recommend a dealer for further advice.

Many thanks in advance.

Seanius.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

There is a huge amount of misleading information being circulated about these 'newer electric boilers' - mainly by those trying to sell systems.

You are absolutely correct they are extremely efficient - in fact 100% efficient.

The catch - well all electrical heating is 100%; even, to use a term much used in this forum, your Granny's old 1/2/3 bar fire!

So for a given cost all forms of electrical heating give out the same amount of heat.* So there is absolutely no point in paying the £thousands that lots of these new systems with their extravagent claims cost.

If you intend going for electrical heating using a daytime tariff - which as you say is extremely expensive to run - you will get exactly the same amount of heat from £30 oil fired radiators.

* Storage heating using economy 7 is cheaper as the costs of the electricty is cheaper. Also excludes Heat Pump Systems.

I appreciate you are new to the forum, but if you do a search you will find lots of posts on this - including from salesmen trying to sell their wares!!

However as said above, it is an absolute fact that you get exactly the same amount of heat for your buck from any form of electrical heating.

tomstickland

What about heavy electricity?

seanius

If you intend going for electrical heating using a daytime tariff - which as you say is extremely expensive to run - you will get exactly the same amount of heat from £30 oil fired radiators.

Hi thanks for the advice. Not 100% sure I follow what you are saying re: £30 oil fired radiator comment. Can you please elaborate.

Many thanks.

Cardew

seanius wrote: »

If you intend going for electrical heating using a daytime tariff - which as you say is extremely expensive to run - you will get exactly the same amount of heat from £30 oil fired radiators.

Hi thanks for the advice. Not 100% sure I follow what you are saying re: £30 oil fired radiator comment. Can you please elaborate.

Many thanks.

There are loads of electrical heating systems costing £thousands being marketed with claims that they are modern and efficient and can warm a room for xx pence an hour etc etc.

They run however on daytime electricity rates and produce EXACTLY the same amount of heat(for the same cost) as a simple oil filled radiator that you can buy for £30 or so and plug in to a normal wall socket with a 13 amp plug.

So what I am saying is if you decide to change to electrical heating with a 'normal' tariff, then any form of electrical heating will produce the same heat and you are wasting your money buying these new systems if you think they produce more heat - they don't.

I am certainly not recommending that you do use electrical heating - unless it is storage heating - as it is extremely expensive to run. However don't compound the problem by falling for the marketing patter about these new systems.

GromitFan

Hi there.

My sister switched from an LPG gas system to an electric wet central heating system just under 2 years ago. She seemed to think that last quarter their bills were about £150 less than if they'd been using LPG. Sure the saving wont be as much other quarters as that was most likely the heaviest usage.

We at present have an oil-fired central heating system, though are soon moving to a house which at present has electric panel heaters. We definitely will not be installing an oil-fired heating, especially with the escalating costs of oil.

If you do look at going electric though I would advise you to get your electricity changed to an economy10 tariff as I believe this to be a much more useable tariff for electric heating than economy7 tariff (unless of course you were to be using storage heaters). I know it is economy 10 that my sister has.
It depends on your electric company the exact timeslots, but I'm pretty sure most offer a cheaper rate in very early morning (or in the middle of the night), then they have a cheaper slot in the afternoon for a few hours and then in the evening for a few hours.
Economy 7 on the other hand is only cheaper in the middle of the night, so only really of use for storage heaters (unless of course you want your heating on in the middle of the night and not in the day or evening).

This thread is very useful at comparing the costs of oil against electric:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=645429

Only with the cost of oil as it is now (about 50p per litre) is an electric system looking as though it would cost about the same to run. Then again I believe that oil prices are going to keep escalating and whilst I believe that electric prices will also rise I'd be surprised if they go up at the same rate.

HTH.

Cardew

GromitFan wrote: »

This thread is very useful at comparing the costs of oil against electric:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=645429

Only with the cost of oil as it is now (about 50p per litre) is an electric system looking as though it would cost about the same to run. Then again I believe that oil prices are going to keep escalating and whilst I believe that electric prices will also rise I'd be surprised if they go up at the same rate.

HTH.

I read that thread earlier and would agree it is one on the most informed on MSE.

There is clearly an argument for electrical heating, particularly for those who have low consumption - small property, little time spent in house etc.

Provided you know the efficiency of your oil boiler it is not difficult to work out
the cost to produce a kWh. Taking oil at 50p a litre your 'raw' cost is approx 5p/kwh. Therefore your cost per kWh is approx 5.5p for a 90% efficient boiler to around 8p/kWh for a 60%-65% efficient boiler.

That still compares favourably with standard tariff electricity at today's prices, but as you say who knows what tomorrow will bring.

The other factor is of course the servicing/replacement costs of an oil burner.

E10 is not much use for those who are at work and not at home during the afternoon boost period(unless you have storage heating)

Personally, if you decide to heat with electricity, I cannot see the point of having E7 or E10 without having storage heaters. With the higher cost of daytime electricity you will be paying a lot more to produce the majority of your heat.
Storage heaters are not that expensive and if you do need to top them up during the day, you are paying no more than you do with panel heaters.

Anyway the oil v electric, whilst an interesting subject, is not the issue I was addressing.

My aim was to point out that if you do decide to use electricity, beware the misleading blurb about these 'modern' boilers.

seanius

This is a great thread - after doing the maths - it looks like it will cost over twice as much ongoing to switch to an electric boiler - looks like the oil tank is staying ;-)

Thanks to you all.

samtheman1k

You could try an air source heat pump that you could mount round the back of your house out of sight, more expensive to install than electric, but cheaper running costs.

JuniperBerry_3

Don't assume you can get Economy 10 (which is like Economy 7 but with a 3 hour boost during the day, normally late afternoon) it is not available in some regions. Also because it is not covered by the energy comparison websites it tends to be more expensive than it should be, both unit cost and standing charges.

There is a way to get the best out of Economy 7 with a normal (wet) central heating system. You fit a Thermal Store. This is a big tank of water, as much as 500 litres. This is heated overnight by cheap electricity. This stored energy is then used to heat the house during the day. With care, good design, and a well insulated house, it works well.

LDL_2

Help! I am an Architect who has recently moved in to a rural property in West Oxfordshire. The property uses an electrical wet heating/hotwater system with hot water radiators and two Heatrae Sadia Amptec boilers. I understood this type of system was supposed to be reasonably cost effective. However, having reviewed the electricity consumption of the previous tenant with Npower (the energy supplier) the property is using a whopping 20,000KWh units per annum at a cost of £3000.00. Npower have confirmed this is more than excessive for a two-bedroom house with one/two occupant(s) and is equateable to the consumption of a commercial property. They have suggested I contact Heatrae or find a mechanical services company to have the system investigated. Has anyone had a similar experience with electrical wet systems? Can anyone suggest a services company? Any response would be appreciated.