Storage Heaters

[tomatoada]

My granddaughter is about to rent a flat.   She has found one which is suitable, rent, distance from work etc., but it has storage heaters.   Are these expensive to run?  Do you need to use them in a certain way?  EG leave on all the time.   Anyone got info. please.  She feels the cold as she works in a warm office all day, and she lives in the peak district where it is always 2-4 degrees colder than here.   Warm clothes I know, but should she look for radiators.  It  an upside down flat.  Bedroom and bathroom below kitchen and sitting/dining area.

[tomatoada]

[Rallychef]

We live in a housing association (rented) bungalow in a rural area, the only source of heating are storage heaters.  Our bungalow is very small (total internal footprint 32ft x 25ft) but we still find our electric bill very high.  Ensure you have economy 7, cheap night rate, when the heaters 'load up their heat' as the economy 7 is on a timer the heaters are kept on all the time, but are only powered 11pm-7am (aprox) and release the stored heat throught the day.
as my wife has a long term illness I have no choice to run the heating throughout winter (and we are in rural Cumbria) despite looking for the best deal and changing suppliers our DD is still £100/month.

regards Ian D

[tomatoada]

Thanks for that.  Does £100 cover cooking and hot water or are you using gas for those?

[rokerman1973]

Hi, agree with Rallychef, you must ensure that you have an Economy 7 tariff. As an employee for a utility company, not customer service so don't hold it against me please. The storage heating will store the heat during the off peak period, usually as stated 11pm to 7.00am. This is know as the off peak or night rate which is charged at a cheaper rate than the 'day rate' which is therfore more expensive. She can also take advantage of the off peak rate to use  electricity for the washing machine, tumble drier and dish washer, if she has. This obviously has to be in the off peak times. If your daughter has neighbours they may moan about the washing machine on during the night, she will have to make that decision. In order not to have to stay up until 11.00 pm she  could use time switches to start the appliances during the off peak period. Pity it's an upside down flat as the heat from the main living area is is not going to migrate upwards to the bedroom for the period when she is in bed. As a very personal opinion I would opt for a wet central heating system, using gas, although she obviously has no choice in the matter. Depending on the age of the storage heaters will determine how efficient and therefore how cost effective they are. Hope this helps. Alan

[tomatoada]

Thanks.  Its a refurbished block.  Old building but completly gutted inside, and new small one bedroom apartments.  I will ring the agents about meters etc..

[dtw]

That's a myth about being able to use other electrical devices at night on the cheap rate.
The heating and hot water are on the economy 7 circuit and all other devices are on the other rate.
So unless you run a cable from the economy 7 circuit to the device you want to use, it won't be any cheaper.

I have heard of people getting up really early to boil a kettle and put the water in a flask to use to make tea later in the day to save money. They were doing this for years before they found out the truth.

[Chrispy]

That's a myth about being able to use other electrical devices at night on the cheap rate.

There are different of peak types.
Economy 7 gives you 7 hours of off peak on everything, but there are other tarrifs that only give cheaper electric for your heaters, and for slightly different durations.

I have economy7 so I will put my washing on first thing when I get up while it is still cheap, thats up until 8:30am in the summer.

[Rallychef]

Thanks for that.  Does £100 cover cooking and hot water or are you using gas for those?

Yes that covers everything, we have no other energy source in the house, as I said we are out in the sticks (wouldn't change it for the world),

That's a myth about being able to use other electrical devices at night on the cheap rate.
The heating and hot water are on the economy 7 circuit and all other devices are on the other rate.

economy 7 gives cheap rate for ALL our power at night so we do have our washing machine on a timer (just remember when the clocks change to adjust the timer accordingly)our meter gives a main and secondry rate reading. Although you did worry me so I rang my supplier to confirm this is the case.


Regards Ian