Electric Combi Boilers

[coonster]

Hello all

I'm looking into buying a flat for myself to either rent or live (i'll decide nearer the time) It's not a bad flat but there is one slight problem; it has no gas inlet (and neither does any of the flats within the block) also there is currently no central heating, heating comes from plug electric rads! Also a Key meter....

So i'm looking for advice as to what my options are:

I was thinking about storage heaters but i'll not really be there during the day when they actually let the heat out
Underfloor heating? Cost i'm sure would be astronomical
Getting gas pipes in....but i've been told a small fortune would be needed to get this done by local gas company!

My last option was an electric combi boiler, expensive to run i know but i'm looking into different tariffs offered by electric companies (eco 7 etc)
But the cheapest i've found is about £1400, then there is the cost of pipe work and rads for the rest of the system!

Does anybody know anything about these systems? Who can install them? Anybody recommend which to buy?

Or can anybody think of alternatives to save us some money!!

Many thanks in advance

 

[coonster]

i've been reading through some other posts on this website and i notice there are different types of electric combi boilers??? Christ i'll be having a headache soon!

What are these heat air exchangers??? Sound interesting if they're 300% efficient!

Thanks in advance fellas

 

[ban-all-sheds]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&q=air+source+heat+pump

 

[OwainDIYer]

Electric boilers are pretty much the worst of all worlds - peak rate electricity costs, and the leak risk of wet radiators.

Options:

- storage heaters - not so good for someone out during the day, as you say
- fan assisted storage heaters - store the heat for longer, but bulkier and more expensive
- storage/peak combination storage heaters eg Dimplex duoheat - best with an E10 or similar tariff for daytime boost. More expensive that storag eheaters to buy and fit as both peak and offpeak wiring required to heaters.
- thermal store - can do hot water and wet radiators, use off-peak electricity
- air source heat pump - may be siting and noise issues for the external units in flats, may need planning permission for external unit. But may be eligible for attractive Feed In Tariffs now or soon.

If you are renting out then probably ordinary storage/panel heater mix would be simplest and most reliable for tenants to use with manageable running costs

 

[electronicsuk]

I'm not sure why you think that an electric boiler is any better than what you already have. An electrical heating element is as good as 100% efficient, so unless you opt for a heat pump, all forms of direct/immediate electrical heating will cost more or less the same to run. If anything, an electric boiler is worse, as you're heating the water which then in turn heats air. That gives opportunity for heat loss in the pipework, there's the risk of leaks which has already been mentioned, and the high install costs in comparison to other forms of electric heating. Unless you already had CH pipework but no gas supply, I would never even entertain the idea of installing one of these.

Storage heaters on an E7/E10 tariff will be cheaper to run than immediate electric heating such as that provided by panel/fan/oil filled heaters if properly controlled to release the heat when required. However, if you don't plan on spending much time at home, panel heaters run for a couple of hours a day on peak-tariff may still be cheaper to run. That said, even when you're not at home, the heat released during the day from storage heaters will help keep away damp, and should also heat the thermal mass building fabric, which can be released later in the day.

 

[coonster]

I'm not sure why you think that an electric boiler is any better than what you already have. An electrical heating element is as good as 100% efficient, so unless you opt for a heat pump, all forms of direct/immediate electrical heating will cost more or less the same to run. If anything, an electric boiler is worse, as you're heating the water which then in turn heats air. That gives opportunity for heat loss in the pipework, there's the risk of leaks which has already been mentioned, and the high install costs in comparison to other forms of electric heating. Unless you already had CH pipework but no gas supply, I would never even entertain the idea of installing one of these.

Storage heaters on an E7/E10 tariff will be cheaper to run than immediate electric heating such as that provided by panel/fan/oil filled heaters if properly controlled to release the heat when required. However, if you don't plan on spending much time at home, panel heaters run for a couple of hours a day on peak-tariff may still be cheaper to run. That said, even when you're not at home, the heat released during the day from storage heaters will help keep away damp, and should also heat the thermal mass building fabric, which can be released later in the day.

I defo see you point but i'm going to completely gut the place and i want to do it once and be done lol! I believe there is another tariff over 18 hours with scottish power that give three parts of the day at low peak prices so need to coincide with this i think...

What type of storage heaters can be controlled to link with these off peak periods, any suggestions?? Would love if i could connect to heat pumps and soloar units but i don't think i'll be allowed considering it's a small block of flats...

Thanks again

 

[pjcomp]

Have a look at http://www.electric-heatingcompany.co.uk - same idea as panel heaters but look like wet radiators. Don't know how good they are, or costs, just had the leaflet for them arrive with something else. But they look good, and if they work as claimed could be a viable alternative to NSH etc

PJ

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Have a look at http://www.electric-heatingcompany.co.uk - same idea as panel heaters but look like wet radiators. Don't know how good they are, or costs, just had the leaflet for them arrive with something else. But they look good, and if they work as claimed could be a viable alternative to NSH etc

PJ

They will cost several times more to run than gas CH will because electricity is several times more expensive per joule than gas is, and no type of direct electric heating can do anything about that.

There are only 2 ways to reduce the price of using electricity for heating:

1) Pay less for it.

2) Use less of it, i.e. use heaters which are more than 100% efficient, i.e. heat pumps.

 

[coonster]

I believe there is another tariff over 18 hours with scottish power that give three parts of the day at low peak prices so need to coincide with this i think...

Its called 'economy 10' the cheap rate is from midnight - 05.00, 13.00 - 16.00 and 20.00 - 22.00, so the boost periods should overcome the historical problem of loss of heat in the evenings.

There is no viable alternative to night storage, heat pumps are too noisy for a standard domestic environment.

Make sure you install secondary glazing, decent thermally lined curtains and if possible insulate external walls.

And don't get flat on the grd or top floors - biggest heat loss.

Typical, it is a top floor flat! Ok so insulation it is then!

Can anyone recommend good starge heaters???

Thanks again everyone, starting to look at other properties that have GSH!

 

[electronicsuk]

As already suggested, check out Dimplex DuoHeat. They look reasonable compared to the majority of storage heaters, are controllable by pilot-wire from a 4-channel controller/timer, and have an on-peak element should an additional boost be required. I haven't fitted these myself, but did quite a lot of research into them before finally biting the bullet and installing gas CH to my own house.