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Original poster

Anyone just have electricity?

46 replies

FAQs · 31/08/2020 09:12

Morning,

I’ve put an offer in on a cottage which is only heated by electricity. It does have a log burner but I’m not sure how much heat that throws out.

No option for gas in the village.

Currently live in a gas centrally heated new build. Gas and electricity combined is around £40-50 per month.

If you run a house in electric how much do you pay roughly per month?

OP posts:

Ifailed · 31/08/2020 09:20

apart from the log burner, how is it heated now (e.g. oil-filled rads, storage heaters etc)?

PigletJohn · 31/08/2020 09:21

Energy from electricity currently costs about four times as much as energy from gas.

If it is an older detached cottage it will have solid walls so heat loss will be greater.

If you have a wood store and can get dry hardwood at low cost, you could get a mutifuel stove with hot-water function, but because the heat energy of wood is much lower than coal, it will have a voracious appetite if you want to run radiators off it. But very handy for heating a hot-water cylinder at negligible extra cost.

It will probably stay in overnight, but if you are out at work all day you may have to relight it on your return.

Modern clean-burn multifuels are more efficient than traditional stoves.

SoloMummy · 31/08/2020 09:25

I have in two homes.
One had storage heaters. And tbh a huge damp problem too, partly I think due to never getting warm enough.
The second I live in. I had gas put on here.
If it has wood burner, what other heating does it have? I'd request to know their December electricity bill, to gauge the cost.
What sort of walls? This home is a nightmare because it's not bricks and had it been bricks with no gas heating, it wouldn't have been so bad.

SoloMummy · 31/08/2020 09:26

Fwiw a friend lives in a similar home and has installed electric central heating. They too had storage heaters and a calor gas fire.

HoratiotheHorsefly · 31/08/2020 09:27

We used to, we had a house that was heated and hot watered by a ground source or air, I can't remember, heat pump. It was only marginally more expensive than the gas central heating we currently have.

Original poster

FAQs · 31/08/2020 09:27

That’s useful thank you, I work from home, have down for over 10 years although I’m fairly hardy and chuck on extra clothes.

It’s an end of row cottage and yes solid walls, very thick window sills. It has double glazing recently put in and they’ve insulated the loft.

Just a few small storage heaters placed in each room currently.

It was cold when we viewed on a warm day although I guess the set up works in reverse?

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StrongTea · 31/08/2020 09:27

No gas here, too far from mains. Have a multi stove and storage heaters. Only use storage heaters in the 2 halls in the winter and wedge the unused bedroom doors open so warm air gets in. Unless really cold I light the stove lunchtime and that warms up the house nicely. Can keep stove going overnight with a shovel full of smokeless fuel if really cold. We replaced the old storage heaters with modern ones so more efficient.

Original poster

FAQs · 31/08/2020 09:29

Just storage and the wood burner currently, gas isn’t available in the village although I noted some of the houses have huge gas cylinders outside?

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EvilPea · 31/08/2020 09:29

If it’s storage heaters & an immersion it will be really really expensive to heat (ours was over £300 a month and we were still cold)
Whip that out and get electric central heating in.
Or is there room for oil?

Frankley · 31/08/2020 09:32

I have lived in an all electric house for many years. I was dreading last winter as the house was always cold and miserable in spite of having electric storage heaters. I had replaced the old big ones for thinner modesty ones and they did not seem to work so well.
Someone told me to chuck it all out and get gas central heating, which l did last autumn. I can't believe the difference! To think that folks have had this convenience
and warmth for years and l didn't know.

If there is no gas available to the cottage l would be doubtful. Electricity , even off peak, works out a lot more expensive.

Original poster

FAQs · 31/08/2020 09:32

@StrongTea I don’t suppose you have a link to the modern ones for me to look at, that would be useful. I don’t tend to feel the cold, it has to be really cold for me to close my bedroom window where as my daughter (16) will have four blankets on in the same temperature !

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Ifailed · 31/08/2020 09:34

huge gas cylinders outside some people run a boiler off LPG, its slightly more expensive than oil, but still cheaper than electricity.

Original poster

FAQs · 31/08/2020 09:34

Good idea to ask for the bill, the owners live overseas now and it’s been on the market since Nov 19, part of me thinks this is the reason, however the whole village relies on just electricity.

I’ll look at the oil option as well. House is under budget so I have a few thousand to improve the situation.

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EvilPea · 31/08/2020 09:35

We replaced ours with modern ones and although better at keeping us warm we’re not cheaper to run.
We didn’t have double glazing or a log burner though.

Justanother123 · 31/08/2020 09:35

We lived in a big end terrace where they replaced the storage heaters for wall mounted Electric plug in Radiators. We froze and for the pleasure of £500 a month over winter! I have lived in a flat with storage heaters too and found that it was too hot when we woke up in the morning but the heat was gone by the evening when you need it most.
I will never live in an electric only property again.

EvilPea · 31/08/2020 09:36

Aren’t they banning gas boilers in the future? Or did I imagine that?

The good thing about oil is you order it, pay up front and it’s done. You then watch it going down, so it’s a good physical reminder to put a jumper on not the heating!!

SpringFan · 31/08/2020 09:39

We live in a village without gas, I have just had my 22 year old oil boiler removed and replaced with air source pump. At the moment my electricity usage is about the same as previously. We are expecting the use to increase in the winter. From reading around am expecting electricity to increase to about £80 per month from £50. We were spending £1500 per year on oil.
You might be able to get the benefit of the new green voucher scheme which offers £5k towards installing it, and I don't know whether you would be eligible for the RHI allowance. The RHI is dependant on the EPC , which you have probably seen . If you look at Which trusted traders you can find a reluable company to discuss whether it is a possibility.

AnnaMagnani · 31/08/2020 09:41

Only electricity but it's central heating from an electric boiler + a wood burner and immersion heater.

You can manage with just a fire for a couple of months but after that you really want the heating on.

How old are the storage heaters as that makes a difference too - I've lived in a property with aged ones and they are worse than useless but modern ones are much better.

I don't really miss gas now, it was going to cost a fortune to replace my oil boiler or convert to LPG so am more than happy to be without.

combatbarbie · 31/08/2020 09:50

We run off oil (no mains gas here) for the heating. Our house is 200yrs old with 70cm solid walls. We are mid way through taking all the walls back to stone and putting in insulation boards, the difference in the rooms already done is vastly noticeable.

ODFOx · 31/08/2020 09:54

We had oil in a previous property and it worked well. Slightly more expensive than gas and you need to keep an eye on your tank level but it was much better than our neighbours with storage heaters!
I agree with pp who said that putting in insulation boards makes a big difference in an old property too. Just because it's a character property doesn't mean you can't improve the efficiency and comfort overall.
If you wfh both will be a sound investment.

Original poster

FAQs · 31/08/2020 10:26

Oh goodness this is sounding expensive.

I’ve emailed a local heating engineer for advice and to ask if they are able to assess the property for options. Oil seems the best solution.

@SpringFan can I ask if your ASHP is noisy, it’s an incredibly quiet area, I’d worry I’d annoy the neighbours.

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PanamaPattie · 31/08/2020 10:48

We live in an all electric 3 bed/3 reception house. We have an open fire and 8 storage heaters. Our electricity bill is approx £200 per month. We only turn all the heaters on when it is really cold.

notapizzaeater · 31/08/2020 10:53

MAny years ago we had storage heaters, we where boiling in the morning and freezing by the evening. Also you need to know what the weather was going to be like the next day,

We've a log burner now and it hears the whole house up nicely.

Original poster

FAQs · 31/08/2020 11:07

@combatbarbie the owners have done that in the attic, the attack is huge and all boarded out, it felt the warmest room when I viewed!

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Original poster

FAQs · 31/08/2020 11:07

The log burner is sounding a saviour in this.

EPC rating is E.

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