Installing Wet Electric Heating Economy 10 in a Very Small flat

[Graham Brooker]

I have a very small bedsit flat of about 40 sq m that needs a new boiler. It has an old Biasi Prisma combi boiler designed for a 3 bed house that is on its last legs and will have to go. An electric boiler would run the existing 3 radiators because I hate night storage heaters.

The flat is high up in an old Victorian building with 18 inch thick flint/stone walls and single glazed sliding sash windows. It gets quite warm from the larger modern gas heating system in the large flat below. There is no chance of adding extra insulation or double glazing.

There are good reasons relating to the building layout why electric heating is much more convenient. They say Economy 10 is popular in old peoples flats as it is cheap to run. If I remove the gas supply and use single fuel then there will be only 1 standing charge.

Assuming I set the timers correctly will my running costs by reasonable or will I get a nasty shock with the first bill. I am aware of the installation costs of the new equipment and meter. Does anyone know if it is a feasible exercise. The electricity supplier says it is a sensible option but they would.

Any comments welcome.

Thanks

Graham

[mockendo]

Graham,

....it very much depends! There are a couple of things to consider:

- What's your total heating consumption. Gas is at least half the cost of electric per unit of energy. However as you rightly pointed out you would save approx £100 per year standing charge by removing gas. On high usage properties gas still makes sense.

I live in a flat where gas isn't allowed, so wet electric heating ('normal' radiators filled with water, and an electric boiler) is an excellent solut ion for me. I use the economy 10 tariff, and have the heating coming on on ly during these hours. Also have a digital thermostat fitted so that it do esn't overheat during these times. Probably saves me about 20% on my total energy costs.

Check out

for some useful info.

Cheers, Mark

[Andy Champ]

That'll be Mark as in Mark, Founder, economy10.com will it? It seems to be a non-commercial site, but you really ought to say if it is.

Whatever his solution was he decided on it. His post is just coming up for 2 years old.

Andy