This may have been posted before , my half working computer lacks the facility to search and check.
has anyone any experience of this new electric heating system that I am seeing advertised?
It claims to be cost efficient and the new electric central heating system with heaters that are designed to be the new night storage heaters?
I have economy 7 and a solid fuel fire system ( no choice - no mains other than electric and found oil and LPG disproportionate in cost ). I need an extra heater in one of my rooms . Is this system worth it? I am concerned because it seems to be on all day ( expensive electric for me on a duel tariff).
How do these new heaters work exactly?
Thanks for all input in advance. Advice much appreciated on this topic.
heaters I have been looking at are a totally dry system. It just connects to an ordinary socket and are claiming to run for no more than fifteen minutes in any hour witha floor level thermostat.
They claim to be the " new generation of night storage heaters" according to the bumf I have. Short of getting them out to do a survey ( which I dont want since I am not changing the system, just want to add a single heater in one room) I cant find any further info on them.
just another storage heater then. SHs are one of the most expensive ways to heat in most cases. if you do end up with them, check out an ac unit as well, which will run at arund 300% efficiency during milder weather and save money.
Which is saying "if sized correctly"... Which is not saying "how many kW" the thing is...
This sounds like the French electric oil filled radiators? They draw peak rate electricity, LCD hand remote control? If so - ideal for cold spell in southern France, useless UK :-)
About the only viable PEAK electricity heating... o Kitchen -- 2kW wall fan heater or plinth heater o Control -- ideally setback/comfort PIR on wall (£40-60) o Cost -- small "lean-to" kitchen costs avg 20p/day Nov-Mar
Simply because PEAK electricity is 10p/kWh, off-peak 4p/kWh.
To calculate what size storage heater... o Go to Dimplex website, find heating / storage heater section o Look for the storage heater tables, in a PDF as I recall o They work on room-size + desired-temp + insulation
Storage heaters come in 3 types... o Old - limited insulation, leak lots of heat, low capacity, huge o Modern - good insulation, leak less heat, high capacity, slim o Combo - as above, but also PEAK rate top-up heater
Dimplex DuoHeat is a modern combo... o Small Off-Peak storage heater -- typically 0.9-2.55kW o Small ON-PEAK direct heater -- typically 0.9-1.5kW
Work by a user setting a desired room temperature... o On the heater itself or on a central LCD display wall programmer o As the storage heater runs out, direct ON-PEAK heater turns on
Undersizing the heater will cause *lots* of PEAK electricity usage. Oversizing the heater will slowly cook you overnight :-)
DuoHeat PDF has a chart showing storage heater output decline o Storage heater output declines from midday onwards o Temperature maintained by ON-PEAK heater turning on o If ON-PEAK cycle is 100% it's 90p/day, if 50% it's 45p/day
Creda to a similar system, Credanet-II. These systems are really for small well insulated flats & such. Any peak rate heating is 4x more expensive than gas.
If the system you are looking at is not a true storage heater, it will most probably prove even more expensive to run. o 2.5kW storage heater draws 18kW over 7hrs at 4p/kWh o Heater leaks 9-10kW during charging - warms room o Heater stores 8kW which it releases over remaining 12hrs o So avoids drawing 8kW during the day at 10p/kWh :-)
You essentially want to add an extra storage heater to a room. o Automatic will save 15-20% on energy usage during charge o Automatic ensure they DO charge if you forget to set them
Look carefully at the literature re what type it *really is*. If it is a DuoHeat or CredaNet type with PEAK heating element, they are a little more difficult to size. They really could do with sample case studies showing real bills, by BBA - they don't do :-)
Im ripping out a storage heating sytem, they are not economically viable, anything below zero in winter and the heaters cant cope, the heaters are not in every room, you will always be backing it up with
3kw peak heaters. The amount you would save with central heating and a modern condensing boiler would pay for a loan spead over 7 years to pay for the central heating installation. Plus you would have a system that worked with controllable temperature, you can demand heat where and when you want it.
Not to mention the increase of value on your property, change it tomorrow wether you have the money or not.
Economy 7 was something that was tried in the 70's that was a failure, it might be ok in a pensioners flat, or to build a house on the cheap, but as a serious heating system in the uk forget it.
Just one extra room, my recommendatiuon would be to look into an Air Source Heat Pump. Very energy efficient heating and more controllable than storage heaters. These things are very common in Scandinavia and in the States, but not so common here currently. A good option if you are off the gas grid. Try my renewable energy questionnaire to see what heating and generation technology would be suitable for you at
Indeed... o For a house their only practical value is for a hallway o They are really for small well insulated 530sqft flats & such
Economics are against them... Peak rate electrical heating is 4x more expensive than gas. E7 rate electrical heating is 81% more expensive than a 94% efficient gas boiler - inherently re distribution losses involved.
Design is against them... Even in a small well insulated 530sqft flat you still have the problem of a) oversized & cook overnight b) undersized & run out of heat by 7pm. The insulation is insufficient despite modern silica & the core temp (density) is limited to 690oC.
I believe the OP was Off-Grid, which is the problem.
I would feel sorry for anyone relying on storage heaters, they are really quite useless without supplemental heating.
Reading the EA Technology research on Credanet/Duoheat it lists 15% better efficiency than Manual storage heaters. However plain Automatic storage heaters have a 15% gain over their Manual counterparts. So the electronic system is higher capital cost (£170 controller, £80 per heater) & offers slightly better control over on-peak electrical heating. That is with a single point of failure re radio signalling systems.
I dug through them with lots of spreadsheets re relatives looking at apartments with them vs versus those without. If people are out all day, returning at 6pm, they will quite literally wonder what the bill they get is paying for :-)
For off-grid the choices are still oil/lpg/wet-E10. That is unless you believe UK will never go
3kw peak heaters. The amount you would save with central heating and a modern condensing boiler would pay for a loan spead over 7 years to pay for the central heating installation. Plus you would have a system that worked with controllable temperature, you can demand heat where and when you want it.
Actually I dont have any problems with my economy 7. Its cheaper than the gas ( mains) central heating I had in a previous house. I rarely have to back it up.
All I want is one extra heater in one room. Economy 7 is not the state of art any more as you say and consequently getting anything to add on is proving difficult.
I guess at this rate I'll be getting a halogen heater and letting that do the job.
Storage Heaters... o Creda o Dimplex o Simple Manual, Automatic, Electronic, Programmable
Direct Heaters... o Halogen, Radiator, oddball French system o Wall fan heaters, overdoor heaters
Heating controls section... o "Prefect" PIR/Setback/Comfort thermostat is on there o Identical to the Dimplex branded version I notice o Can be found new on Ebay for £12-18 if lucky
At least useful as a catalog to see what is on offer. No connection with the company.
If you have not already done so... o Check your insulation levels if cavity wall & in the loft o Full grants are available with means testing o Partial grants exist without any means testing o Electricity supplier may have an discount on
If you go for a simpler conventional direct heater or such, look at Argos as you can at least "see how it looks" & return it if not liked.
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