Heating your house

[Joe_Fox]

Have you got radiators or electric heaters? Have you ever lived in a place with electric heaters? What about economy 7? Ever lived in a place with that?

I'm moving house and the place is an all-electric place so there is electric heaters, economy seven, etc.

I'm looking for advice on how electric heating compares to gas heating. Price wise, quality wise, etc.

Your help could prove vital.

Thanks,
Joe_Fox​

 

[Melton Fox]

My first (bought) house in Essex had storage heaters. I will never have them again.

I found them totally unreliable, and very difficult to control. That said, they were old, and not in the best condition.

I prefer flexibility and the option to turn the heating on and off whenever I like. I'd choose that over price every time.

Bog standard gas fired central heating system for me anyday.

 

[Matt_B]

Any internal heating is for wimps. If it gets to sub zero temperatures and you feel a chill just put on another t-shirt

 

[muzzysgal]

I've got Economy 7 and it was great to get a timer and set the washing machine to come on around 5am so that it finished when I got up.

Can't do that with my latest washing machine though, so the E7 is wasted.

Did seem to get lower bills when taking full advantage of the E7, so I think it's a good thing to have.

Think I'm correct in saying that E7 kicks in between 1am and 8am.

 

[Matt_B]

I think the times for E7 vary on supplier. But also it is worth checking how much extra you pay per unit outside of the E7 hours, as it is normally higher than you would pay on a non E7 package

 

[Hazzman]

Recently when doing some research for a project of many I found an article on Building Magazine which answered some of your question. I think I bookmarked it at home rather than at work....I'll have a look later.

 

[newtonfox]

Out here in the middle of no where we dont have gas at all ,got electric .coal cost so much more than any otheir heating ,the avarge price of coal per 50kg bay is anywhere from £13-£16 ,we get through 2-3 bags of coal per week .

the main problem you have two temps with coal,very hot and ****ing very hot .

The price of changing to oil or a gas tank is unreal :icon_cry:

 

[muzzysgal]

Maybe I should add that I changed my central heating system last year, and even though I have E7, I never entertained the idea of having electric heating for a second.

 

[Nottingham Fox]

Out here in the middle of no where we dont have gas at all ,got electric .coal cost so much more than any otheir heating ,the avarge price of coal per 50kg bay is anywhere from £13-£16 ,we get through 2-3 bags of coal per week .

the main problem you have two temps with coal,very hot and ****ing very hot .

The price of changing to oil or a gas tank is unreal :icon_cry:

Newts after you've finished with your fish, maybe this could be your next challenge

 

[fcukcov]

Electric storage heaters traditionally have a bad rep for being costly to run and difficult to control. TBH they have become more efficient in recent years and much easier to control. So really it depends on how old the system is. Some of the modern flat developments are moving back to electric as it can be difficult to get the gas supplies to every flat (recent changes in legislation say that the gas supply has to run on the outside of the building and then into the flat, meaning ugly pipe all over the face of buildings). There are some very good modern electric systems but if it was my house, I wouldn’t entertain the storage heaters as I have friends who have them and hate them.

 

[highland fox]

Don't have gas up here so its either oil or electric,I have electric heating on E7.Storage heaters are terrible to control and the more modern heating the better IMO but I have no choice.

 

[Steven]

Don't have gas up here so its either oil or electric,I have electric heating on E7.Storage heaters are terrible to control and the more modern heating the better IMO but I have no choice.

Peat?

 

[highland fox]

Peat?

I'm not that remote Steven.Kinlochleven was the first place in the UK to have street lighting I believe

 

[Joe_Fox]

Thanks guys, keep the advice coming if you will.
How does economy 7 work then? Heats up the water in night and then stores it in a big insulated tank?

What happens if I want a bath in the evening though? Do I have to pay shed loads to heat up a big tank?

 

[Melton Fox]

Thanks guys, keep the advice coming if you will.
How does economy 7 work then? Heats up the water in night and then stores it in a big insulated tank?

What happens if I want a bath in the evening though? Do I have to pay shed loads to heat up a big tank?

No, it's just cheaper electricity through the night.

Like mg said, it's a good time to get your washing machine going. If you have storage heaters they will be heated up overnight. If you have E7, than these will be heated on the cheaper rate.

 

[fcukcov]

I'm not that remote Steven.Kinlochleven was the first place in the UK to have street lighting I believe

Is that because its total darkness for 6 months of the year?

 

[Joe_Fox]

I've only ever lived in places that have radiators. I suppose this way I'll onyl get the one bill rather than electric and gas bills. Does it work out cheaper if not a little bit more hassle?

 

[Hector]

We went through several stages. When we bought the house it had a back boilder running on solid fuel (coal or peat) and it was hopelessly inadequate for a 4-bedroomed detached house, so we used to spend most of our time sitting within six feet of the fire! We then got a Parkray installed - still solid fuel (anthracite and the like), but quite effective - tedious and messy though.

Then, many years ago now, when we having a number of alterations to the house we installed oil-fired heating, which we have been very pleased with. A few years later piped gas finally came to the area and there were low cost special introductory offers and lots of hard sell. We tried to get a dual (oil/gas) system, in which you can switch if there are problems with either, but the gas company refused to co-operate with that! Therefore we have stuck with oil which we find effective, quick and (as fuel prices go) not excessively expensive.

 

[highland fox]

Is that because its total darkness for 6 months of the year?

Not farr off the truth but on the plus side this time of year we get very long daylight hours and in June its midnight and still light..ish

 

[Matt_B]

Not farr off the truth but on the plus side this time of year we get very long daylight hours and in June its midnight and still light..ish

Doesn't that mess with your sleep patterns a lot? I couldn't sleep well if it was still lightish at midnight.