Electric Wall Heaters

[Jeff Gaines]

I've been living in this 1970's built house for about 4 months now, including the very cold spell, and I think I can specify what I would like for heating in the bedrooms (electric only, storage heaters in the hall and lounge which are quite effective). The house has double glazing but the air gap seems smaller than modern d/g, I am considering having secondary d/g added to give me triple glazing. The house is mid-terrace with insulated walls and loft.

The spec is:

Not storage heaters. Wall mounted. Must be less than 16" tall if they are to go under the windows, even then only 4" clearance below the curtains which could be a problem. Can be taller if they are fitted away from the windows (probably my preference). Would like them fan assisted for a quick warm up in the evening before I go to bed. Would like them to have a fan-less 'frost' setting for overnight use in extreme weather. Would like a built in thermostat and timer..

Has anybody come across anything to meet this spec? If not how close can I get?

Many thanks.

[John Stumbles]

Like the man says, peak rate is expensive. The only way to get off-peak without storage heaters is a system based on radiators (or fanned plinth-type heaters) with a heat bank heated by an off-peak immersion heater. And if you were doing that you could use it in place of your existing storage heaters downstairs. But it would be expensive.

I'd certainly go for massive insulation and draught-proofing, and perhaps heat-recovery ventilation, in any case. And then maybe peak-rate heaters used for a short period each day in cold weather wouldn't be too expensive to run. Perhaps you could take to going to bed an hour after the off-peak rate kicks in and heating the bedrooms on that? ;-)

[Jeff Gaines]

There's no gas here and nowhere to put an oil tank. I'm using a panel convector for an hour before bedtime then leaving an oil filled rad on overnight (on the frost setting). I was hoping to find something that would combine the functions of each of those. I'll have to live with the costs, but a heater for an hour a day is probably than frostbite in the goolies :-)

[Ronald Raygun]

Put an electric blanket under the duvet for 20 minutes before getting into bed, just to take the chill off. But switch it off and take it out before getting in yourself. The duvet[1] should suffice to keep the heat loss at bay for the rest of the night.

If the bed is still too cold, get a bedfellow. But be warned that the human variety tend to be what it is nowadays fashionable to refer to as "high maintenance", i.e. life-changing in a way not necessarily in your best long term interest. A cat is much better.

[1] If you're not going to heat the room, then it does need to be a decent duvet. An 8 inch thickness of goose feathers ought to do the trick.

Put your oil rad on a timer to come on an hour before you plan to get up.

[Jeff Gaines]

Mine goes on an hour before bedtime and then, in really cold weather, stays on all night at its simmer setting.

Yes, I had a couple of those, in fact I'm still paying one off so the bed warming gets more expensive each month although it stopped 12 years ago :-(

[Owain]

Dimplex EVS range are low profile intended for dwarf walls in conservatories. Height - 220mm.

If you can install a pilot wire between the heaters you can use a RX9911 Single Zone Pilot Wire Programmer to control multiple heaters, changing between comfort and set-back modes.

Otherwise this has a timer and fan boost, not sure about frost stat

[Jonathan]

Have you considered a heat pump, I believe they are meabt to be quite cost-efficient.

[Jeff Gaines]

[ARWadsworth]

I fitted one of those today. It seemed fine.

[Richard Skeen]

I'm on Economy 7. Regarding storage vs non-storage heaters - I don't think there's any point in having a storage heater in the bedroom, since the hours you're likely to want heat more or less coincide with the off-peak rate anyway. Obviously for sitting room etc. you want the storage to get some heat during the day, but unless you're working night shifts, that's not what you need in the bedroom.

Rich.