Which method for heating my house?

[alexeix]

Hi,

I live in an area with no piped gas and am living in a bungalow without heating, on a plot which has detailed planning permission.
The plot will be going on the market shortly, but in the meantime, since I'm living there and it's getting cold, I need to sort out some kind of cheap, re-usable or re-sellable heating.

There's no point installing an LPG tank, so I think my only option is electric.

I have already fitted a log burner, but now the temperatures are dropping, it can't raise temperatures throughout the house.
I also want to have some kind of automatic back-up, so that I can go away for a week, should I want to.

So can anyone suggest how I could do this?

I've considered wiring in some heaters mounted on the wall, but would I then need to get an additional electric meter fitted?

OR should I just buy some plug-in electric heaters with thermostats and use timers to control when they come on?

Essentially, I'm looking for the cheapest overall system to run and install.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[jj4091]

What's wrong with portable bottled gas heaters? I know they smell a bit but will be a lot easier to re-sell.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Bit of an issue with condensation too...

 

[alexeix]

I considered bottled gas, but I don't feel I could leave the house with a heater left on and anyway, I don't think they're available with timers.

Or am I wrong about that?

 

[AndyPRK]

if you want cheap and tempory you could try these:

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=HG0034567


Wouldn't leave them on while out the house though

 

[Steve]

Just buy a load of electric convector heaters. Cheap to buy and plug in.

 

[alexeix]

But expensive to run?

This is my question...what's the cheapest method? Are oil-filled heaters better? Or panel ones?

This is going to be really expensive to run, hence the query.
Cheers.

 

[jj4091]

they are both as expensive as each other if they are rated the same, if they are not similarly rated they will not be as efficient as each other. The only simple way you can control the amount of power used by an electrical appliance is with a thermostat or a timer.

 

[Steve]

But expensive to run?

This is my question...what's the cheapest method? Are oil-filled heaters better? Or panel ones?

This is going to be really expensive to run, hence the query.
Cheers.

All resistive electric heaters will have roughly the same efficiencies. No one is better at heating than the others.

If you want a cheap to buy solution, then electric convectors are your answer.

If you want cheap to RUN heating, then storage heating (at £200 per heater outlay plus partial rewiring for electrical outlets), a heat pump (at £5000+ outlay, or several smaller single room units at £1000+ each plus electrical points needed for every appliance) or gas will be the answer.

Storage heating will require a tarrif change and a new meter, yes.
Heat pumps come in various flavours, but are up to 400% efficient (depending on the temp. outside)
Gas boiler can be run from bottled gas (those big tall cylinders you see next to caravans etc), but you'll need plenty of it!

 

[alexeix]

As mentioned in my original post, this house will be on the market soon and is likely to be demolished by whoever purchases it, so I don't want to spend a lot of money installing LPG and a boiler or a ground/air source heat pump.

I've considered storage heaters and could get someone to fit them FOC, but everyone I speak to says they're very poor.

Looks like convection heaters are the only viable way to go then.

 

[Steve]

Why worry about long term running costs if your selling it for the land it sits on?

 

[Sam Gangee]

I've never liked convector heaters. They stir up the air too much, creating draughts and raising dust. Oil-filled electric radiators would be my choice.

BTW I can sympathise with you. We installed a wood burning stove. It's smelly, smoky, dusty, labour-intensive and doesn't put any heat upstairs. So we've had diesel-oil fired central heating installed. Wonderful.

 

[ericmark]

As far as electric heating goes it is either radiation or convection or combination.

Convection heaters can store heat in bricks or water but since you want cheap that's out.

So first let me talk about radiated heat. It does not heat air but heats people and furniture directly so if there are drafts it works better but trying to control is another matter. Since it does not heat the air any thermostat measuring air temperature will not work. And you want it automatic. So the only way it can be used is uncontrolled. Not so bad a few tungsten bulbs will give off radiated heat and light so could both give some security and some heat but without knowing more about house layout can't really say more.

Convention is nearly every other heater and can be split again into two groups. Thermal syphon and fan assisted.

Complex fan systems can take hot air from up-stairs and expel to outside and then transfer that heat to air being supplied down stairs plus add some heat as well. But not at price you are indicating. So looking at fan heater. Which has problem in if fan stalls they can overheat. One hopes it would have a safety over temp fuse and by wall mounting and careful positioning one can defeat the natural thermals and keep the house even heated and are likely one of the best methods plus small in size. However I would still not recommend for unattended operation because of fire risk.

The thermal syphon or convector heaters also come with two basic types cheap air only and more expensive oil filled types. The basic panels and and convector heaters have very little control over internal temperature and I have had problems where paper has ended up against the heater so no good in an office environment but cheap and likely good option.

The oil filled types are saver as the outside temperature is better controlled and this is what I used in a caravan as being the safest of the controllable heaters.

But the question has to be asked why heat a house if your not there? If it is to stop pipes freezing then tubular heaters or even spot lights or standard lamps may do a better job.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

A few air-source heat pumps would be economical to run and easy to sell later.

 

[alexeix]

But the question has to be asked why heat a house if your not there? If it is to stop pipes freezing then tubular heaters or even spot lights or standard lamps may do a better job.

It's a bungalow and I am living in it, hence trying to make it comfortable.

But with only the wood burning stove, I can't go away for the weekend, or at least not for a whole week (e.g. I want to go skiing this winter).

It sounds like oil-field radiators may be the best way to go.

As for my stove, it's actually great, but there is a smell of smoke in the house. This is strange, because my brother has one and his house doesn't smell of smoke at all.
My smoke alarm and CO2 detector suggest that there is no problem, so this may be a residual smell from when it was originally installed and was letting out fumes.