Electric storage heaters

[GertieLawrence]

DC is struggling to find a flat within budget in London and is considering a second view on one previously discarded from their list as it has electric storage heaters.

My only experience of these was back in the early 90s and I had huge electric bills, plus found them generally inconvenient, so I can’t offer any positive input.

Has anyone had any more recent experience?

Can they be “upgraded” in any way? EPC report suggests they could be replaced with an updated version which would improve heat storage, but it would still only move the rating from an F to an E.

If you were buying (when they sell on say in 5 years for instance), would this immediately put you off?

TIA for any thoughts.

My thoughts would be to go to look again - if there is a gas supply to the property ? Consider an offer based on the aditional costs of installing a combi boiler and radiators. If on the other hand the home DOESN'T have a gas supply then you were right to discard it and should just keep looking. The cost of heating a property with such a low epc using electricity is eye watering even with more modern wall units.

Thanks, that’s what I was afraid of. The property is approx 50k cheaper than others but there’s no gas supply.

We have lived in our house for nearly 25 years with storage heaters. Yes it’s more expensive but it’s manageable, we have 2 storage heaters that are downstairs and heat the full house, no need for the electric heaters upstairs.

it’s all about being prepared for colder weather and knowing how to use the heaters.

we are planning on getting more efficient modern ones. We don’t want gas in the house.

50k buys you an awful lot of electric.

Why is it F and what could you reasonably and cheaply do to raise the energy efficiency (secondary glazing, loft insulation etc).

Will DC actually be spending time in it wfh or raising kids, or is it just a city centre crash pad ?

See if E10 is available.

Most NSH work on E7 which means they heat up overnight, are hot during the day and by the evening are loosing there effectiveness.
We had E7 for a couple of years but then moved across to E10 which gives you 5hrs cheap rate at night, 2.5hrs in the afternoon and 2.5hrs in the evening. Means you can turn the NSH down at night but then have them boosted twice during the day, often at times when you are actually there to reap the benefit.
Another bonus is that as the hot water tank is heating 3-times a day, you never run out of hot water and possibly (like us) you can get rid of the huge E7 tank and have a smaller one freeing up valuable airing cupboard space.

Had E10 for 20yrs before mains gas became available in our street and found it effective, controllable and not overly expensive (certainly no more than a duel fuel setup).

Thanks, v interesting to know.

F is due to the storages heaters being inefficient and immersion needing cladding (easy fix obviously).

Not a crash pad - young couple, no kids yet but can see it happening next five years. Both wfh hybrid.

Thanks, haven’t heard of E7 or 10! Will get DC on the case.

I replaced my night storage heaters with some energy efficient wall mounted electric heaters. I find them an improvement on the night storage heaters, as you can operate them instantly and you avoid the costs of gas. The guy that did my latest EPC said that they were very good heaters, very energy efficient, but they don’t improve the EPC rating as the EPC regulations and drop down list of items when doing the EPC doesn’t get updated as fast as technology improves nowadays.

E7 & E10 stand for Economy 7 & Economy 10.
Should have said.😖