supplement heating?

bernardh_2

Winter approaches.My house has storage heaters which do not seem very good.Last winter,I was told that I have Raynauds and spent most of the time wrapped in blankets to prevent hands going blue.
Can anyone suggest back-up heating - calor gas /fan heaters etc.I am hoping that they will be cheaper at this time of year.
Used to have gas central heating in old place.Lovely,but not connected now out in the sticks.Thanks in anticipation.

weekendwarrior

Hi,

Ideally you could do with a oil fired combi boiler and radiators but it would be expensive.

Calor gas should work out cheaper than fan heaters as they consume lots of electric and are not very good.

ooo000ooo

we have a wee cheapy oil filled electric radiator we bought from b&q for about £20 that we used in our last (cold) house rather than using the (very inefficient) oil fired heating all the time. I always got a headache off a calor gas heater after a short period of time and i think fan heaters give off a "dry" heat which gets uncomfortable after a while?

mah_jong

Hi there

I got oil heating and can say its helped no end. Yes...Its expensive to install. Check out to see if you can get a grant towards the installation of it. Its great having instant heat in a second!!

mah

cattie

I've always felt the cold intensely, due mainly to medical reasons, so know how you feel. I once lived in a flat with only electric heating & struggled to keep warm. I bought myself a calor gas heater, which was wonderfully efficient & quite economical to run.

As you mention living in the sticks though, would it be easy for you to get the gas refills if you went for one of these heaters? If not,then perhaps consider a convector heater with a thermostat, which is what I now use to supplement my central heating in the winter when I'm feeling chilled to the bone. Fan heaters are ok for short periods to quickly heat a room, or to thaw your feet out, but it is a very drying heat & they are costly to run for long periods.

Just had a thought, if you are on a benefit such as IS or DLA, you may qualify for a grant to have the heating in your home upgraded or for it to be better insulated. I know this scheme was running last year, so have a look to see if it is still in operation https://www.warmfront.co.uk

robowen

If you have the money, I would look into getting an oil fired boiler with an oil tank outside. Failing that option you could get a LPG tank and compatible boiler.
You need to sort out a proper heating system for your home. Small radiators and fan heaters are not long term solutions to your needs.

Look at options available to you through grants.
If there are more residents locally, you could petition Transco / BG to put in a gas supply.

HTH
rob

bernardh_2

Thanks for the replies.I saw a house for sale in the next street and,being nosy,looked it up on the net.It is advertised as having gas central heating so I will give the gas people a ring later to see about costs to install heating.
As I live 200 yds from my kids school and so have no intention of moving till they leave in 4 years,the initial costs should be worth it and maybe even add value to the house.