Electric Heating!

magicgirl1 · 17 January 2019 at 11:12PM

Hi

I'm trying to find out more about smart electric heating systems. I have a two bedroom flat which I own and there are two of us living in the property. There is no gas supply to the property so the heating system is electric and currently using older version of altantic convector heaters. My electric comes to a whopping £165 per month! (bearing in mind that water system is electric to!) . I'm considering changing to altantic oniris smart system but can't find any customer reviews on this. Also looked into greenvision energy company to purchase from and to install these but there are not many reviews about them .

Have tried freestanding oil filled heaters in the past but these did not make a difference to the bills. Just want to invest in an efficient system that might bring my bills down! Please help! Thanks

AndyPK · 17 January 2019 at 11:25PM

On economy 7 ?

A_Nice_Englishman · 18 January 2019 at 12:03AM

I doubt if the proposed heaters will make any difference to your electricity bills, just as the oil filled ones didn't. Each one turns every bit of electricity it's fed into heat.

To save money you need to use less electricity or buy it more cheaply. Think about improving the insulation so less heat escapes and buying thermal garments and sweaters so you can have the room cooler without feeling cold. Keep the doors closed and only heat the rooms you're using.

Failing that, look into storage heaters which heat up using electricity bought at night on a cheaper tariff such as Economy 7 which AndyPK mentions and release the heat when you want it.

Richie-from-the-Boro · 18 January 2019 at 12:25AM

Brand of these magic heaters please. All electric heaters use exactly the same amount - a kW is a kW is a kW - regardless of smart / oil filled / grannies one bar fire.

The difference in price is your tarrif for example E7/E10 etc.

matelodave · 18 January 2019 at 9:30AM

Dont beleive what anyone says about "efficient" elctrical heaters. They are all 100% efficient whether they cost £20, £200 or even £2000.

A space needs a certain amount of heat to keep it warm so the trick is to either not keep it as warm, ie turn the heating down or off, stop the heat from escaping by improving the insulation or finding a cheaper way of providing that heat.

As said above the way to go is to get storage heaters that run on and E7/E10 tariff - you'll still need the same amount of energy to heat the place but as it is being used at the off peak rate it will cost you half as much as it does as using peak rate energy.

Another alternative is to use a heat pump which is actually the only method of heating in which you do actually get more out that you put in. Between 2-4 times depending on what type.

They do work but are expensive to install and can be difficult in flats as they need an an external compressor unit - like an air conditioner which may not be acceptable.

honizz · 19 January 2019 at 4:51PM

I have seen this so much recently that I am completely confused.

1kw is 1kw but a 1kw iron won't provide the heat for a room that a 1kw heater will. So efficiency cannot be about the power, but it must be about something more -

Design, thermostats, timers, internal gubbings Ie oil / no oil / clay / ceramic etc.

So if I had a 1kw cheap heater costing £30, perhaps with a thermostat but no real internal designs that make the more effective, it may be on for 50 minutes out of an hour.

If I had a well designed expensive heater that cost £100's. But it was well equipped with internal ceramics storing a little heat, maybe it only needs to draw energy for 30 minutes per hour.

This would then mean that it would cost less to run the more expensive one simply because it isn't drawing as much electric per hour.

I read this yesterday and it made sense.

https://www.electrorad.co.uk/blog/electric-radiator-running-costs-and-energy-usage

I need to buy an electric rad soon, so do I buy a cheaper one or more expensive one? At what point might the cheaper one breakeven with a more expensive one?

Robin9 · 19 January 2019 at 4:58PM

honizz wrote: »

................... At what point might the cheaper one breakeven with a more expensive one?

Never - the combination of capital cost and running costs means that the cheaper one will always be lower.

molerat · 19 January 2019 at 5:25PM

All the "internal ceramics" do, exactly the same as oil, is smooth the energy use. It uses no more or less energy but provides a more consistent temperature heated surface. Again a better quality thermostat improves the consistency of the heat by reducing the on / off temperature gap. The increased capital costs of these "improvements" will likely never pay off especially in the premium priced ones that make a big point of it.

Thomas_Edison · 19 January 2019 at 5:50PM

Don't know much about improving the efficiency of your heating, but I would check your tariff and whether you have 2 MPAN's.

Richie-from-the-Boro · 19 January 2019 at 8:05PM

honizz wrote: »

I have seen this so much recently that I am completely confused.

1kw is 1kw but a 1kw iron won't provide the heat for a room that a 1kw heater will. So efficiency cannot be about the power, but it must be about something more -

Design, thermostats, timers, internal gubbings Ie oil / no oil / clay / ceramic etc.

So if I had a 1kw cheap heater costing £30, perhaps with a thermostat but no real internal designs that make the more effective, it may be on for 50 minutes out of an hour.

If I had a well designed expensive heater that cost £100's. But it was well equipped with internal ceramics storing a little heat, maybe it only needs to draw energy for 30 minutes per hour.

This would then mean that it would cost less to run the more expensive one simply because it isn't drawing as much electric per hour.

I read this yesterday and it made sense.

https://www.electrorad.co.uk/blog/electric-radiator-running-costs-and-energy-usage

I need to buy an electric rad soon, so do I buy a cheaper one or more expensive one? At what point might the cheaper one breakeven with a more expensive one?

That can't be true my friend. Magic clay or Marmite / Platinum or Aluminium the warm up cycle and the cool down cycle are equivalent depending on density.

Example :

- compare a wardrobe sized heater and a suitcase sized heater
- the wardrobe might take 6 hours the suitcase 1 hour
- the wardrobe might take 6 hours to cool the suitcase only 1 hour

Joyful · 19 January 2019 at 9:20PM

I have recently had a problem with my gas boiler so went and bought a couple of electric heaters. Even on 2KW they warmed up my room or hall after a couple of hours . I then brought a smaller one from my Therapy room the next day and within 10 mins each room was heated up to my satisfaction. So for people that say it does not matter what you buy, I disagree.

Electric Heating!

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