Storage Heaters

Sadly it was a very bad decision to go for all-electric property: it will cost an arm and a leg because off-peak electricity is about three times as expensive as gas, and peak about five.

Economy 10 is more bad news because it will probably be phased out quite soon, and there's little or no competition anyway, as you've discovered.

If it's a purchased property, gas is available and finances permit it then a wet gas central heating system would probably be the best bet. Much of the cost would be recovered because the property would be much more attractive and sell more quickly.

If not, you'll probably end up with E7 sooner or later depending on whether you jump or are pushed. Unfortunately, as they're on E10 it's likely that the heaters are old style boxes of bricks that aren't well insulated and are low capacity; on E7 they are likely to be too cool by late evening.

You could always try finding out the E7 times in your area (dial 105), waiting until the weather is really cold, turning the input control right up, the output control low (except late in the day), and manually switching the radiators off outside the E7 cheap rate times. If the results are acceptable then you could just switch to E7 (make sure the automatic switching hours are also changed). But be careful, once you've moved to E7 there's no going back !

If, as is probable, the old heaters are not happy with E7 hours then your best bet would be clever storage heaters such as Dimplex Quantum, provided that they are correctly dimensioned and programmed. They are more efficient because they waste less heat when it's not needed at night and have a fan to boost the output late in the afternoon and evening. If all else fails then you can top them up (sparingly !) with full price electricity.

Start giving meter readings straight away, otherwise the DD may rocket if she hasn't been paying her way. If she's also on a deemed tariff that will be mega-expensive, so act fast.

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

- fan usually blows on demand high price energy.

The instructions suggest that it normally uses only off peak energy (apart from the fan itself, which will use a negligible amount), and it only uses expensive peak electricity if Boost is selected.

No doubt Malc will be able to give full details next week, but I fear the choice is between Economy 7 and bankruptcy ! Once you've left E.On's E10 tariff there's no going back, and it's at best doubtful whether anyone else will offer it to a new customer. So right now she's paying a fortune (i) because it's a standard tariff rather than a deal, and (ii) because it's peak rate 24/7.

With an E7 meter you'll be able to switch to any E7 supplier. However, you may need to call an electrician to arrange that the storage heater circuit is only live during the E7 night rate periods.

Ideally there should be two immersion heaters, one on the switched (night) circuit for normal use and one on the permanent circuit that can be switched on if the water goes cold in the day. If there's only one immersion heater, make sure it's on the permanent circuit. It needs to have a local timer; make sure it's adequately rated and is not the mechanical type without battery backup that will switch at the wrong times after a power cut.

As she won't yet know her annual consumption it may be better to start off on an E7 tariff without onerous exit penalties. Also, think about the Priority Services Register and Warm Home Discount, if applicable.

Change a smaller one for a 16 bricker and it will be capable of about 24.0kWh maximum input flat out over 7 hours and it will deliver 3.5kW per hour.

Fit (easy to wire an extra spur) any additional of any size and get the extra cheaper electricity "banked" kW needs supply needed. My existing ones are 31 years old, I have considered replacing with Quantum but I am 75 and this is MSE (grin)

gerry1 wrote: »

from a supply at 50hz per second? :d

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