What heating system would you recommend

[SSandra]

Hi,
I would really appreciate your thoughts, especially given the current climate we're living in.
I moved in January to a property which only has storage heaters. It's a two bedroom detached bungalow and I'm only putting 2/3 of the storage heaters on at night, together with the immersion so we have hot water for showers in the morning (as it doesn't yet have a timer).
However the electric meter is shooting up. The old one was arcing as it had a loose live wire. Octopus replaced it with a smart meter last Tuesday (although I haven't been given an in house display as yet). It has gone up about 400kwh in a week. We've not even plugged the tumble in since we've been here.
I can't have bills that high and don't know what the best system would be, as there's no gas to this area.
I would really appreciate your thoughts.
Apologies if I've put this on the wrong thread/forum - it's the first time I've done this.
S

 

[SJB060685]

400kwh in one week in a 2 bedroom bungalow? Wow!

I was an oil boiler technician by trade so naturally favour oil appliances and seeing as you don’t have mains gas oil is probably your best energy source.
How much you save in the long run really does depend on how much you initially spend and how well the system is designed and installed.
There is now a fully modulating oil boiler on the market which is a boiler I strongly suggest you consider if you take the oil approach. However with the current energy crisis I can’t say whether oil prices are going to sky rocket either.

Unfortunately due to my health problems im not in a position to work but I would absolutely love to help design and install one of the boilers I mentioned and the system. If designed properly you can have a very fuel efficient system.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

3 choices

Upgrade your old brick storage heaters to modern more efficient ones

As above new oil upgrade / new ch system with rads and a navien oil boiler

A new lpg upgrade / new ch system with rads and a lpg boiler

Neither of the options are cheap sorry to say

 

[SJB060685]

3 choices

Upgrade your old brick storage heaters to modern more efficient ones

As above new oil upgrade / new ch system with rads and a navien oil boiler

A new lpg upgrade / new ch system with rads and a lpg boiler

Neither of the options are cheap sorry to say

The boiler I mention mate is not a Navien. They are only two stage although quite sophisticated but they are known to be a lot noisier than other pressure jets.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

The boiler I mention mate is not a Navien. They are only two stage although quite sophisticated but they are known to be a lot noisier than other pressure jets.

Which one would you suggest?

 

[SJB060685]

Which one would you suggest?

I would suggest the EOGB Sapphire boiler. Up to 32kw, full stainless hex and a 6:1 turndown ratio.
Installers would need to do their free one day installation and commissioning course but I’ve only heard good things about this boiler.
The possibilities for this boiler are very good. You can design for a low temperature system and although on a 6 to 1 modulation range that’s still better than any fixed rate or the two stage Navien.
Like I said above I would love to be involved in designing and installing one of these systems. A perfect opportunity to design a sound system almost as good as their gas cousins, which is what oil boilers need.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Does it do wc ?

 

[SJB060685]

Only OT at the moment I believe

 

[Murdoch]

400 kWh per week is about 57 per day.

Take off 12 for day to day living leaves about 45.

Hot water say 8 kWh leaves 37

So about 5 per night for storage heaters

Sounds about right to me for a home with no gas or oil

 

[Chuck]

Bungalows are expensive to heat because they have a relatively large ratio of exterior surface area to living space. Your heating costs (e.g. storage heaters) should drop during the summer but will be higher during the winter. Make sure you are on a tariff, e.g. economy 7, that gives you cheap overnight electricity for heating, hot water, etc. and make sure the controls for these are set to the correct times.

If the roof isn't well-insulated upgrading the 'loft insulation' to a nice thick layer should pay for itself relatively quickly. This was the case even before the current hike in energy prices; it's even more so now.

 

[gmartine]

A multifuel stove before they are banned, burn anything you b*****y like.

 

[gmartine]

Upgrade your old brick storage heaters to modern more efficient ones

Always hated the things as they were Rubbish, what did you have in mind?

 

[Murdoch]

Always hated the things as they were Rubbish, what did you have in mind?

They are all LOT 20 compliant now which means most of them need an off peak supply AND a 24/7 supply.

Some are horribly tricky to set up and manage

AND some old units have asbestos in them

 

[king of pipes]

I'm currently working in some sheltered housing association flats these are heated by electricity they are fitted with Ronite electric radiators, I have been using them on and off over the last 2 weeks and they seem quite good and much nicer than old style brick storage heaters may be worth looking at them, pair these with a unvented cylinder for your hot water , you also need to check the insulation in your lofts and walls and your double glazed windows you may need to improve all the above to help heat leaking out of your property you will only save money on your energy bill if any heat losses are kept to a minimum , LPG and oil will be quite expensive to install and run all forms of heating and hot water systems costs are spiralling home improvements and using your heating less is the way to go. Kop

 

[John.g]

They are all LOT 20 compliant now which means most of them need an off peak supply AND a 24/7 supply.

Some are horribly tricky to set up and manage

AND some old units have asbestos in them

They do need off peak and 24/7 supplies as they can do predictive weather and only heat the "bricks" sufficiently to supply the predicted heating demand which means less leakage. I know of a few people who installed Dimplex Quantum and are very satisfied with their performance and very low leakage rates, but these are fan assisted to keep the heat inside the storage heater when you don't require it.

 

[Chuck]

[...] but these are fan assisted to keep the heat inside the storage heater when you don't require it.

In my opinion, fan assist is a significant negative point because air movement creates a sort of indoor 'wind chill' that makes the room feel a couple of degrees cooler than the thermometer (air temperature) says. On the other hand, if you have line of sight to a radiant source, you feel a couple of degrees warmer than the thermometer.

Anyway, I would recommend supplementing storage heaters in a sitting room / TV room, etc. where people are going to be relatively inactive with a radiant panel to give a 'radiant boost' if the occupants feel a bit chilly. Ideally, such panels are timed, so you push a button and they come on for about an hour to avoid them being accidentally left on. Such a panel doesn't need to be particularly powerful and you can get some effective and neat ones, Solray is a brand that comes to mind, and their website gives quite a lot of information.