Summer heat

[PaulAH]

A question for you sages: In summer, which is more economical / efficient / desirable: HW from the boiler (oil) or from an immersion heater (no off-peak)? Similarly if there was an off-peak meter.

Thanks

 

[kevplumb]

get your boiler serviced and commisioned properly

tight git

 

[PaulAH]

I will, Kev, I will. Just trying to work out how to save enough money to pay for it

 

[kevplumb]

shouldnt have been snotty to oilman then

what system you got paul
cant be bothered to search

 

[PaulAH]

I'm never snotty to Oilman. He gets snotty with me, no matter how often I tell him how brilliant he is.

Boulter Camray 5 60/90k btu (never sure which figure they mean). It's mounted up a ladder alongside the oil tank

 

[kevplumb]

fully pumped

 

[PaulAH]

Of course. More control than Prescott.

 

[oilman]

BOILER UP A LADDER NEXT TO THE OIL TANK?????

No wonder you didn't want it commissioned.

60/90 (or whatever) is the range of heat output available which would be set by the commissioning engineer using secret information (unless you pay handsomly).

 

[PaulAH]

There, you see. He IS getting grouchy in his old age.

You haven't answered the question, Oilman. This is not like you. How can I possibly pay for someone to come round and increase the output by cranking up the pump pressure and/or fitting a bigger jet (yikes, the secret's out) unless you tell me whether I can save money by going over to the kettle in the airing cupboard?

 

[kevplumb]

belt up you pair
and behave had enough of this the last time

 

[PaulAH]

Ease up Kev, just harmless fun. But it was a serious question - I thought you nearly had the answer since Oilman's gone glum.

 

[oilman]

You seem happy to presume on my emotional state, why not just read my replies as they are, and not read emotion into them usless stated specifically?

You can measure the oil you have used over the summer if you wish, by having a delivery to fill the tank in the first year at the beginning of the summer and one at the end. In the second year you can use electricity, and read your meter instead. It is pointless our pontificating on the most economical regieme for you as we don't know what your usage is

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

Cant remember exactly where I saw it but it went something like this:-
Assuming reasonable efficiency of the power source
For £1 spent on natural gas you would spend:-
£1.20 on oil
£5.00 on LPG
£3.00 on electric
Without knowing the supplier you have and tariff you are on I can only guess that off peak electric would work out at £2 - £2.50 by comparison

EDIT :-

Just found this

 

[PaulAH]

You seem happy to presume on my emotional state, why not just read my replies as they are, and not read emotion into them usless stated specifically?

Captain Kirk is looking for a good second-in-command.

Thanks for your replies, chaps. Obviously the only way to nail this is empirically, as First Officer Oilman states. My question was partly theoretical. Although oil (or gas) may be more cost-efficient than electricity when running continuously, I wondered if (in theory) the waste caused by having to heat up a large body of water in the boiler and pipes, only to see it cool before the next cycle, would outweigh the benefits of a lower headline fuel cost. In theory.

Uhura

 

[chrishutt]

Paul,

Economy 7 electricity is much cheaper than normal rate, less than half price, so is clearly the cheapest option for summer months. You may be able to shift some of your other high load electricity consumption onto economy 7, for example by running your washing machine early morning.

However the cylinder may not be large enough to supply all your hot water from the amount heated and stored overnight, so you may need to top up in the evening, either day rate electricity or via oil boiler.