Electric Heating!?

rqy99g · 21 July 2019 at 1:04PM

In the next 12-18 months I will be moving to Anglesey where only around 25% of homes are on mains gas supply. Having only ever had houses which are gas centrally heated I'm concerned bout using alternative fuels.

I've always believed that electric heating should be a last choice as it is prohibitively expensive however recently I talked to someone who has Fischer electric heaters and they said that they didn't find them expensive to run and they avoided the issues of the old storage heaters of the past (i.e. hot at night when you least needed it). The person said that the only issue was that they are expensive to install.

Does anyone on the forum have experience of modern electric heating with Fischer (or other similar brands)?

matelodave · 21 July 2019 at 2:55PM

PLEASE< PLEASE< PLEASE read this thread - not all of it but I'm sure that a you'll get a good impression of what people think of Fischer and other heaters filled with magic fairy dust, clay, exotic oil and other strange unguents.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3516223&highlight=fischer&page=34

rqy99g · 21 July 2019 at 8:40PM

Thanks, I'll have a read but by the tone of your message I think I know where it is going: )

rqy99g · 21 July 2019 at 8:50PM

Thanks again @Matelodave, I've struck that thought from my mind. Fischer sounds like a classic con!

silverwhistle · 21 July 2019 at 11:26PM

As always start by keeping the heat in!

I'm in the south so that makes a difference, but I only use 1000kWh of gas a year as I use spare solar for water heating and a wood burner as my main source of heat.

If my gas boiler ever went pop I'd investigate electric heating as gas is only a top up for me at the moment. I might investigate one of the time of day tariffs (see elsewhere on these forums) and mop up some cheap units using intelligent plugs - which can be programmed to turn on according to preset parameters, and maybe a storage heater and gas filled heater. Not always when you might want it, but keeping up the temperature of the fabric of the house is a good starting point. These last few years I've had no heating on upstairs as the wood burner helps the temperature in the whole house and I like a cool bedroom.

Ebe_Scrooge · 22 July 2019 at 8:19AM

It's not clear from your post what heating is already in the property. Is it already electric, and you're just wanting to replace the radiators ? If so, then all the above advice is sound. The cheapest way is to make use of off-peak electricity, which usually means storage heaters. Whilst it's absolutely true that there's no magic pixie-dust that can make any form of electric heating more efficient, what you can try and do is find a heater that will store the heat for longer, without too much of it "leaking out" when you don't want it. This basically comes down to how much insulation is built into the radiator, and how controllable the outlets are.

On the other hand, if you're looking to bite the bullet and install a whole new heating system from scratch, then you've got a few options. You can look at Ground-Source or Air-Source heat pumps - though a ground-source pump is a lot of work to retro-fit. You could look at bio-mass/pellet boilers. But probably the simplest option is oil heating - it's generally reckoned to be a close second to gas in terms of running costs, and is convenient to use. Of course you've got the up-front costs of a boiler and oil tank - as well as radiators and pipework, though you'll have those elements if you switch from electricity to any form of water-filled system.

Your third option is to investigate the possibility of having gas installed. It's not going to be cheap - but if there's, for instance, gas pipes at the end of the road, it may be worth asking for a price. But if the nearest gas is a couple of miles away, then that'll be a non-starter.

A few options - hope it gives you food for thought.

rqy99g · 22 July 2019 at 1:08PM

Thanks for the further replies and it is good to read other thoughts. I haven't yet made the move and so all options are open.

I didn't realise that oil was reasonably competitive with gas! I know that there are a few cooperatives on Anglesey where people buy oil in bulk to reduce costs.

If I had my way I'd build from scratch, not a grand design but a fairly standard house with good modern insulation techniques.

Electric Heating!?

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