Storage heaters

[amber90]

Some of you may remember about 2 months ago I posted in AIBU regarding my extortionate electricity bill with First Utility. This complaint is still ongoing and thats the 8 weeks gone now with no resolution so it'll be passed to the ombudsman. Anyway, following on from this I am looking to replace the storage heating (which doesnt work) in my house. I have no idea what will be required here and am trying to work out costs and who to contact. I had some amazing advice the last time I posted here so hopefully someone can help..

I have a small 1 bed flat with no gas mains in the area but the heating which was in the flat is at least 15 years old so I'm assuming nowadays they are more economical? Does anyone have any advice on who the best companies to contact are and how much it is likely to cost for the installation if anyone has had them fitted/replaced recently (2 heaters in the living room, one in the hall and a small one in the bedroom). Will I need a new boiler? and are they any better or just as bad as the old ones?

Thank you in advance

why don't the old ones work?

You are best off looking for a recommended local electrician. If the heaters are 15 year old it would be good to have the cable to the heaters checked as new ones may draw too much power.
Get several quotes.
New panels will be more economical and efficient.

I don't really understand as you don't have a boiler with storage heating.
Are none of them working? this is a bit strange. Are you sure it's not an electrical problem?

If you have no gas mains I don't think you would have a boiler

We have storage heaters and an electric boiler, the two aren't connected so you won't necessarily need to replace boiler (unless it needs replacing anyway). I am unsure about new storage heaters sorry , but make sure you are using the old ones properly. But storage heaters are expensive to run to we mainly use our stove. Goodluck!

In my last year in the UK I had one of these
m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-Fireplace-Fire-Wood-Flame-Heater-Stove-Living-Room-Log-Burner-Fan-Heat/362105014494?epid=1068935943&hash=item544f2408de:m:mqQuji0Sk7LSqqdNqi_SLUA
The single door 1800w version. I had a 2 bedroom bungalow and it heated the whole place well, I'd have it on high for about an hour then turn it off. It was great, pretty cheap to run too.
I had it for about 11 months/a year because my boiler was condemned and I couldn't afford to have it replaced. It worked really well for me.
I'm not sure if you'd want to have it long term but it'll certainly get you through winter.

Some people call a hot-water cylinder a boiler.

We had a similar problem with our old flat. We ended up going with water-based electric radiators from this company and really rated them. They were quite expensive but it was just like having 'normal' gas central heating.

www.dimplex.co.uk/quantum

I live in a cul de sacred with no gas pipes. It's housing association property.
I hate my storage heaters and don't have them on. I am sure they affect my daughters asthma but H/A say it shouldn't.

I tend do to have a small oil filled radiator on.
The H/A fitted the quantum heaters above for my neighbour and she likes them.

Chocolate. Did you install those water ones yourself? After the initial payment out were they expensive to run?

beware of adverts and salesmen saying "our expensive electric heater is more efficient and more economical."

because of the way they work, all electric heaters are 100% efficient. You put 1kWh of electricity in, and you get 1kWh of heat out, and it costs you 14.5p (less if cheap overnight rate).

A £10 heater from Argos has the same efficiency as a £500 heater from Magic Heating Ltd. German design and Italian aluminium do not change this. You can save money be turning it on less, or using a less powerful one, but the saving in electricity will 100% match the reduction in heat.

It's possible you will get an additional warm glow from your pride in having bought a more expensive product.

Chocolatespiders We hung them ourselves and then got an electrician to connect them to the mains (I think it cost about £180 for him to connect them all). As far as electric heating goes, I thought they were fairly efficient in monetary terms - we had them on 4 times a day in a 2 bed flat and spent approx. £70 a month on electricity (which also included using the cooker and electric shower everyday). The great thing about them was that the water inside them retained heat after they were turned off so you could put them on for an hour but because of the residual heat you essentially had heating for 2 hours.

Dear PigletJohn

I notice you have and still do make regular comments about electric heating.

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to respond and share your knowledge so generously!

I have searched so many different topics and discussions and you appear on about 75% of them!

Could I please ask a question without causing offence?

Some of us do not have an option of gas. Oil and LPG prices fluctuate rapidly so electric is our only option for heating.

Without sounding rude, you are constantly telling others to be careful - £20 Argos heaters are no different to expensive electric radiators. 1 Kw is 1 Kw etc.

Whilst you might be right - it is a little disheartening to see you posting these same messages on so many topics. Seeing your name appear yet again on another post - I instantly know I’m going to read something negative about electric heating.

Do you have any helpful, positive ideas? I have read and researched and would like to explore actual experiences of owners of this....

I hope I have not offended you but I just thought I would mention to you. We too are sad we can’t get gas but now me must explore what options are available.

Any help would be great!

a kilowatt is a kilowatt, being 'positive' doesn't change the science. Many on MN do find facts rude, hopefully you have more sense. The flashy back-of-the-ragtop ads for super-dooper electric heaters are all lies, a kilowatt is still a kilowatt.

look at the insulation of the house (you can improve that) and don't buy one that never sees any sun.

installing an oil or LPG system obviously costs. If you had oil for the last five years you would have had much lower running costs than mains gas. Oil prices are now going up again but it is still comparable. I don't know about LPG as I don't have it.

options:

• install LPG
• install oil
• get economy 10 if you can to use with night storage
• improve insulation
• consider air source, ground source etc, maybe with solar to generate the electricity; still a big investment.

Here we are, positive thinking.

I am positive that energy from electricity costs more than energy from gas

I am positive that 1kWh of electricity in a £20 heater produces exactly the same amount of heat as 1kWh of electricity in a £500 heater.

I am positive that1 gallon of water in a 50p bucket is exactly the same amount as 1 gallon of water in a £10 bucket.

I am aware that there are people who for one reason or another are obliged to heat their homes and water with electricity, and I can try to help them by suggesting such things as as insulation, draught-stripping, and not wasting your money on overpriced appliances.

Your lifestyle/daily life does also have some bearing on the best heating system for you 1. Are you in all day? because if you are most storage heaters come on in the afternoon/early evening. Are you a night bird? Cos they usually come on in the early hours or in the morning so useful 2. Do you stay in all evening ? Then gas is better cos the price does not vary according to the time of day.

storage heaters should be wired to the economy tariff - economy 7 or ideally economy 10.

Economy 7 'comes on' overnight for 7 hours, sometimes in two separate times. You have to ask your supplier when the times are and they can change.

Economy 10 gives you an extra 3 hours in the middle of the day.

at these times the heaters will be charged up. The controls should be set for high input and low output. Turn up the output when you want the heat.

I got some wall mounted German made electric heater to replace some old night storage heaters. They work better and are cheaper than the storage heaters were (also in a flat with no gas supply)