Buying a 60s GF flat ideas for heating

robbrown92 wrote: »

Hi all, i have been trawling the internet looking for options. Basic run down is i am buying a one bedroom ground floor maisonette. going to be gutted pretty much, carpet throughout, bathroom kitchen and paint.

- There is NO GAS SUPPLY at all.
- Currently fitted with NSH that are as old as the flat most likely.

I am planning to install underfloor heating (electric) into the bathroom and kitchen under tiles as neither is heated currently and as the floor is coming up it made sense to do it.

what sort of floors have you got and what are you going to replace them with. electric heating mats are expensive to run and will usually use peak rate leccy unless embedded in concrete and used like storage heaters with off-peak electricity. Whatever you use you need to ensure that they are insulated underneath to avoid wasting heat downwards into the ground or underfloor void.

The issue i have is heating the bedroom 4m x 3m and the living room 4.7m x 3.3m and also heating the water.

Most people only need to heat the bedroom for a short while when getting up and going to bed so a fan heater would do the job. Although a panel rad on a timeswitch might look nicer but would still use peak rate electricity. You could use an electric blanket if the room is really cold

Currently there is an immersion tank fitted and it is also very old and takes up a LOT of potential kitchen real estate.

Heating your hot water overnight using off-peak leccy is the cheapest way to do it. Using a flowboiler is OK for small volumes but uses peak rate electricity when in operation. You could use a kettle for washing up and an electric shower in the bathroom

I see it i have a few options though not sure which is best.

-Install an electric boiler and run wet radiators in the bedroom,living room and hall. This would also supply hot water to the taps/bath. i could also get rid of the large tank and just have the boiler hidden in a cupboard.

An electric boiler is probably the most expensive way to heat your place as it will use peak rate leccy for both heating and hot water. It will also involve a lot of plumbing to locate it and connect it to the radiators and hot water taps

-Modern storage heaters,,, i am out of the house from 06:30 until 18:30 monday to friday so feel that nsh would waste all that heat in an empty flat.

Modern storage heaters would store most of the heat during the night using off-peak electricity and being more efficient than the older ones would still retain enough heat to keep the place warm in the evenings as well. Any other form of on-demand heating would use peak rate elctricity so you'd probably be better off on a single rate tariff if you are using most of your energy during peak times and can't benefit from the off-peak periods.

-Electric economic radiators perhaps by fischer

Please dont even consider these - extremely expensive to buy and even more expensive to run as they still use peak rate leccy. You wont get much if any change out of £500 each for them and you'll still get the same amount of heat as a £20 oil filled rad. Panel rads or even convectors will give the same amount of heat.

-Infrared electric heaters

these heat stuff that they are pointed at, so although you might feel warm at the front you'll be cold at the back (think of a coal fire)

Im not looking to spend more than ideally around £1500.

The cheapest option would be to replace your existing storage heaters and possibly the hot water tank. Anything else will either involve plumbing or rewiring. Even installing underfloor heating wont be everso cheap if it's being done properly

Wondering what people recommend, yes i know buying a little oil heater for £20 will do but that is not the finish i am looking for.

I'd guess that most people would go for NSH as probably the cheapest way to do it - especially as the place is already wired for them. Doing anything else might involve some rewiring and it's highly unlikely that you'd get a wet system for £1500

robbrown92 wrote: »

Thanks, really helpful reply.

The UFH mats will be laid in a screed and tiled over with insulation underneath so should be fine.

Only worry i have is that i have read that the economy 7 tarriff may not be around for much longer as more power stations shut down there is less of a surplus and as such energy companies could just charge more?