Electric System - Advice Please

[glidetrack]

For various reasons I have decided to go for an electric heating system.

My options are (that I am aware of)

a) Wet System with radiators. Looking at an EHC Fusion 12Kw boiler with radiators. Plus- Cheaper for parts. Cons- Have to run pipes, find a location for the boiler. Single thermostat unless I fit thermostatic valves to each rad. We have all the floors up and walls down, so running pipes isnt a big issue.

b)Haverland TT Electric Radiators. Plus-Very easy install and each unit has a thermostat so, in theory, more precise control. Cons - Higher purchase price.

Anybody got any advice/opinions?

 

[dcawkwell]

Forget those.

Get those yourself an air source heat pump.

 

[flameport]

Unless you have some specific reason to install a wet system, might as well have individual heaters for each room. This has the advantage of when one breaks, the others will still work, unlike a single electric boiler.

Don't be fooled by claims of 'energy efficient' electric radiators - they are all 100% efficient in that if you put 2kW of electricity in, you get 2kW of heat out of them.
The only differences are in how they are constructed:
- convectors have an element in the air, so when on, heat comes out, and as soon as they are switched off, there is no heat at all.
- those with oil, gel or other substances inside take far longer to heat up, but when switched off, they will stay hot for a long time.
- radiant heaters emit infra red radiation which only heats objects in front of the heater, so when standing in front of it heater you are roasting hot, move to the side and it will be freezing. Totally unsuitable for a house, typically used in warehouses and by morons who think that heating their outside patio is a sensible idea.

The other alternative is storage heaters, which will be far cheaper to run, however does have the disadvantage of having to set the input controls today based on the estimated heating requirements for tomorrow.

A 12kW boiler is a substantial load, and the electrical supply to your house may not be suitable for it.

Individual radiators should be on their own circuits, so new circuits and a consumer unit will need to be installed for them. Same would apply to storage heaters.