I don't use the washing machine much, being single, and I don't have a tumble dryer or dishwasher. I was thinking more of storing the cheap power (batteries) for release throughout the day, e.g. for running the computer, running the Hoover. Not for cooking, obviously.
MM
Most UPS are sized to allow time for a clean shutdown in the event of power loss, not continual running. Depending on your PC, it's likely you'd need a surprisingly large UPS to store enough energy to run your computer throughout the day on energy stored during the E7 night period.
Allow say a 250VA load, you'd be looking at e.g. one of these
The type of UPS batteries actually don't like being discharged regularly and would require regular replacement (not the 3-5 quoted life if discharged daily).
Also the total power taken would probably be higher allowing for charger/inverter inefficiency.
Dustbuster?
Obv.
Yes, I was on a lower rate but the standing charge, on low useage, was a significant burden. Tried another supplier - that went to front-end loading and I was always within that band. Ebico was a tad more per unit but cheaper overall.
I must look at my bill again. I am on E7 but have much less than 30% on night rate. I stuck with it as I've a storage heater - kept it as standby if the combi breaks down. Can a combi 'sense' when there's no back-up?
Had the same here. 'Borrowed' a bit of insulation from the loft to insulate the front panels and there was heat until late evening and no overheating in the morning. My doubts were not realised, as nothing packed up or burnt out.
With the money you have wasted on your electricity bill for the back-up heating you could have switched over to a standard rate of electricity and used the money saved to have a second combi installed as a back-up.
Possibly not that good. B-) But being on E7 unless you really are using a good deal of cheap rate lecky is daft. E7 with a (singular) storage heater only switched on if/when the primary heating fails does not make economic sense. E7 with a single storage heater in normal use is almost certainly more expensive than a decent normal tarrif over a year.
Sorry, I meant to add, the easiest way to get a few hours battery driven use of a PC during the day would be a laptop charged overnight, but I wouldn't get E7 just to allow that.
But you don't have to stick with it. This house had it when we bought it, we just changed to the same supplier as at our old house and onto the same tariff we had before. It's an economy 7 meter but we just add the figures together.
I take readings from the meters every week and run a spreadsheet of weekly/montly/annual cost - our E7 use (washing machine diswasher + assorted backup servers etc) is about 30% - I regularly (weekly) compare cost against the cheapest non e7 tariff and tbh there is not much in it - some months (summer) would save a £1 (a month) but in winter months it would cost more on a non e7 tariff by about £2/month - we have one 16 yo all the time and 3 under 12's 6 nights out of 14 so one load of washing and dishwasher every night at least - rarely use the tumble dryer
Yes, but this is normally for just a few minutes while the hot water is being delivered and not likely to have much effect on room temperature, unless people are in the habit of spending half an hour under the shower.
I think most of the early combis were poor - both on reliability, and on the ability to heat water adequately as it flowed through the heat exchanger. Newer combis have far more efficient heat exchangers - and the condensing boilers are even more efficient. Also, when people are changing a boiler it becomes a 'distress purchase' and they tend to go for the cheapest that is suitable - and hence they end up with one that is only just adequate in terms of power.
The recommended 'power' for my house was 27/28kw - but I went for a 30kw CDi which will heat 13.1 litres of water per minute at a 35 degree temperature rise. It has proven to be excellent and, so far, all my concerns about adequacy have been unfounded. The two thermostats on the boiler (one for hot water and one for heating) are both set at about 1/3rd up from minimum (the 'economy' settings) - and yet the rads get too hot to touch and the water from the taps is piping hot.
The boiler is now 2.5 years old and has been 100% reliable so far. Obviously I cannot tell how reliable it will be in the future - but Worcester Bosch do have one of the best reputations in the business.
Indeed - but for how long do you have a hot tap running? The effect upon the house heating is minimal in practice - particularly if your house, like mine, is well insulated.
All combi boiler manufacturers insist on a system flush before their boilers are installed. Very few installers will actually do it unless you are standing over them and pointing out that they haven't done it (which happened in my case). It takes time to run the system with a flushing agent in it for sufficiently long period to ensure most of the sludge is circulating and washed out. All they want to do is get your new boiler in and get on to the next job.
But nowhere near as efficient, or as cheap to run, as a modern, good quality, combi!
Mine's brand new - I didn't have a choice about the make as it was installed under the government's Warm Front scheme. After it was installed, I looked up the boiler and it's about 5 from the bottom on the list of reliability - there are numerous threads on forums about the scheme, and it seems that the government bought a job lot of cheap boilers to use on this scheme. It might have been better to give us a voucher to use to choose (our let our plumber choose) which boiler to install, and possibly would have been cheaper also.
I once lived in a house that had storage radiators. They were utterly utterly useless - particularly in Spring and Autumn when temperatures tend to fluctuate considerably.
They heat up overnight - and so if the next day is mild, you are having to throw the windows open to release some of the heat because the house is so hot. They tend to have lost most of their heat by the middle of the afternoon - and so you then have to rely on additional (usually expensive) heat sources to keep the house warm for the rest of the afternoon and evening. For a couple that both work and are out of the house for most of the day - they are simply a nonsense because the house is nice and warm while they are out - and not warm enough when they get back home.
Yup, especially the condensing types.
Absolutely. I spoke to several plumbers before deciding on our boiler. Worcester Bosch and Vaillant were the two makes most frequently recommended for reliability.
I'd be very interested to have some suggestions on alternatives. I'm in a reasonably well insulated mid-terrace house with E7 and just 2 storage heaters - 1 in the hall and 1 in the lounge. I'm retired so here all the time, no statistics yet as I moved in a month ago today. Electric is the only option, no gas and nowhere for an oil tank. The 2 bedrooms have electric panel heaters, I turn the one in my bedroom on an hour before bedtime and turn the electric blanket on at the same time. I turn the heater off when I go to bed and just get dressed PDQ each morning. Would I be better off with non storage heaters on a normal tariff and just turn them on when needed?
Agreed, a voucher for x hundred quid to be "spent" with the plumber of your choice against the cost of a suitable boiler and associated works.
Many tales of woe about slapdash, shoddy, work from Warm Front installers. I suspect they get paid a (lowish) flate rate per install to include parts and labour. It is therefore in their interests to get the cheapest boiler that will meet HMG's spec and install it as quickly as they possibly can (surface running pipes etc).
Not often I completely agree with you, Kev, but I do here. I once rented a flat with storage radiators, which induced in me a lifelong loathing of the damn things for the very reasons you state.
And if I looked at a house that had storage radiators, I'd want the price reduced by the amount required to tear them out and put a proper heating system in.
You should see my boiler installation! No way I can hide the extensive pipework. I don't know what I'm going to do with it except perhaps cover it with a fancy curtain.
Apparently the work for my house was costed at 2.5k - that is an Isar boiler, 6 new rads installed on existing pipework. Seems a bit expensive to me, but hey. There are rules about not hiding pipework, even if the installee offers some extra money - makes the job quicker, and Warm Front installations is all this plumber does. The boiler pressure keeps dropping to under 1 Bar over a week, so perhaps there is a leak somewhere, but the one year check showed they weren't interested.
Having said all that, I am grateful for it - we went all last winter without heating or hot water and it wasn't funny in all that freezing weather we had, with 5 children in the house. I have paid twice previously for new boiler/installation of entire heating system (in my last house), but we just aren't able to afford it anymore.
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