Is Electric Central Heating more economical than gas now?

Maybe

formatting link
?

Reply to
dennis
Loading thread data ...

Heat pumps are maintenance free. Their proud boast in factoring in running costs.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

There are many Heat Recovery and Vent systems around. Even Baxi did, or do, one. Fitting them to existing hosue is venting it twice. You have to start to seal up the fabric of the building. Once pretty well air-tight then they shine.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

That may be an a/c system rather than heat recovery ad vent. The explanation is poor.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

The capital cost is an issue, but the maintenance should (dangerous word, I know) be minimal: my last fridge ran for 20+ years without any problems and a heat pump is really just an oversized fridge. If I were one of the 90% who doesn't DIY when it comes to CH I would have spent a good few thousand pounds on CH servicing, repairs and boiler replacement over that period.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

Electricity here (Windy and cold next to the North Atlantic, Eastern Canada) it costs the average homeowner an average of something around ten cents Canadian per kilowatt hour. (Unit). There are no cheap or off peak domestic rates.

Ours is a not untypical 1600 sq. foot (per main floor) all-electric house, built some 40 years ago using 'two by four' wall framing etc. Insulation and heat loss were not as well understood then by the average carpenter etc. So this house is inevitably a 'bit leaky'; especially in this windy climate. However there are no rot or mould problems as can occur in a too well sealed but imperfectly ventilated structure.

If built today this house would be to R2000 standards with 'two by six' thick walls, better insulation and well sealed vapour barriers and therefore inevitably a heat recovery air exchanger system.

This four bedroom unit has an occasionally heated underground full basement, and fully attached garage and store room.

Total energy costs are typically 12 x $208 =3D $2500/yr which includes all sales taxes and the per month account charge of around $16 per month, whether one uses any 'juice' or not.

The advantage 'To live better electrically', as it was advertised then was quite a major decision to make back in the 1970s. When electrcity supply was not as developed or as reliable!

Apart from simplicity advantages since them seem to have been similar energy cost to fuel oil plus electricity. Much lower maintenance costs; with no worries about cleaning or replacing combustion chambers, cleaning or replacing deteriorated chimneys or vents, fire, fuel tanks, fuel leakage, fuel delivery, gas leaks (piped in gas not available here) etc.

Also individual room/area thermostats permit adjustment.

Total electrical heating repair costs since 1970 have been three wall mounted (230 volt line) thermostats, one baseboard heater mounted thermostat that got struck by something and one circuit breaker; a total repair cost of less than $100. Electricity also very safe and electrically heated home insurance premiums are very low.

Elsewhere; especially where electrcity is used for AC, not needed here, we have heard cost can be up to 22 cents per unit.

Some homes have replaced fuel fired furnace hot water heating systems with 'electric furnaces'. Retaining their existing radiators or hot water baseboards. Energy costs said to be much the same and with no fuel tanks or chimneys to worry about require less space. Zone controls can often remain the same. Some newer homes have used electric 'central heating' with underfloor piping for in-floor heating.

Oil cost here (and gasoline) has been increasing; inevitably that will and has affected the cost of some of our electrcity production because not all of it, in winter anyway, does not come from hydro.

Info for comparison if of any interest.

Reply to
terry

=46rom that it sounds as though typical, cheaper rate, electricity storage heaters must be large enough to store sufficient heat to carry over from the cheap rate period (which I've read can be the six hours after midnight to, say, 6.00AM?) through the times of day when electricity is more expensive? Seems like (In a typical home working day time shifts etc.) such storage heaters would have to a) generate sufficient heat to at least warm house to sufficient level for sleeping from around 11.00 PM to, say 7 AM. And b) Also (and at same time) store sufficient heat for the other two thirds of the day? Is that how they are supposed to work? Then there is amortizing the additional cost of the storage heaters? In the same way that 'paying off' the cost of a heat pump system must be considered inlight of energy savings?

Reply to
terry

The Canadians have the R2000 standard, which is one the most advanced in the world, if not the most. The Canadians, say "build tight, ventilate right". No air leaks.

The Canadians don't just slap up the vapour control barrier, as they do here. It is meticulously installed and properly taped up. The Canadians are implementing the R2000 standard in the UK and Japan. Canadian companies have been involved with UK companies, as the UK companies just don't have the skills levels, or can't concentrate long enough to carry out detailed work, to make a house air-tight. R2000 done properly needs heat recovery and vent system. This means always a constant stream of fresh air in the house, keeping it fresh. They do provide a continuous stream of fresh air keep the smell of house always nice, as odours don't have an opportunity to soak into the building fabric giving out a permanent smell.

Follow the Canadian R2000 standard to the letter when building a house or extension (increase the insulation levels if you want) and you can't go wrong.

A typical heat recovery and vent system will have... Flexible aluminium ducts, fully insulated. The incoming air through a 4 stage filter then via an electrostatic filter which will take out particles at the micron level, smoke dust, pollen etc.

The cross flow non-contamination heat exchanger will have an electric pre-heater or in-duct copper coil heater, heated via the boiler, if incoming air too cold. Fans are variable speed low current devices.

An air conditioning unit (chiller), not big enough to provide full air-con, but can drop incoming temp by several degrees and dehumidify the air, can be incorporated easily if need be. Good house design will eliminate this need.

Having heat recovery and vent means ugly trickle vent windows are not needed and draughts eliminated from these.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

Looks to do both.

Reply to
dennis

That's how they're supposed to work.

In reality they're not put in bedrooms as that would make bedrooms too hot, and they've usually run out of heat by 5pm when people come home from work, so most installations also put fake electric logs in the lounge. There are fan-assisted storage heaters which have better insulation (so lose less heat throughout the day) and the heat is 'retrieved' by turning the fan on, which can be timer controlled.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.