storage heaters/electric central heating or gas?

A question about : storage heaters/electric central heating or gas?

Hello!

I know there are a few posts similar to this but cannot find one giving the advice I need (if you know of one please direct me!)

We have just moved into a 2 bed house, it has one small 15yr old storage heater in the living room, an electric towel rail in the bath room, and a wall mounted electric (blowy) heater in each of the bedrooms!

We have set the storage heater going and it makes the house nice and warm in the morning, but not so much in the evening, which is useless as we are generally out from 8-6.
It's not that cold out at the moment so when winter comes we will be freezing!

Currently there is no gas connected to the house, but we can get it connected for around 3-4 hundred (i think).

We only intend in staying in the property for about 5 years.

The thing we are trying to work out is what's going to work out the best for us? We need to do something about the storage heater as its not effective enough, and the electric heaters expensive to run.

We are considering installing either electric or gas central heating or maybe upgrading and adding some more storage heaters, and use some low wattage plug in heaters as extra in the evening.

We also want to take in to consideration any value any of this will add to the house when we go to sell.

Has anyone been in this situation? Or got any advice?
We don't know average costs of things yet as we haven't lived there long enough, but we want to sort something out before winter!

Thanks in advance!

Bex

Best answers:

• The cost of installing gas is just the start. To fit gas CH will cost a lot
  (£3,000???) and servicing/safety costs are high.
  It is much cheaper(£hundreds) to fit a modern storage heating system as you have the capacity already. They retain heat better and are easier to control. No servicing costs either.
  The price of Economy 7 varies a lot by company and area, generally it will be a little more to run than gas at current prices, but not a huge amount more as servicing gas boilers can be up to £180 a year.
  So over a 5 year term there is no doubt that Electric will be much the cheaper option. That said Gas CH is much more user friendly and you don't have to plan ahead.
  I suspect that having Gas CH will enhance the value of your property when you come to sell.
• Hi Cardew
  Thanks for the advice! I will have to bear that in mind.. and work out how much the house value will increase if we have the heating put in, see how that works out!
  Bex
• hello i have just read your post, well i dont have gas and i was quoted Ј10.000, by the national grids sister company to install (the only one who can install) a gas main 40 meters in length basically from the main road to my home. I have storage heating and yes i agree they are crap. a complete waiste of money for those of us who work and dont get in untill late. I saw a great radiator company onj the internet called IHC electric water filled radiators. They look like normal rads but are powered the normal plug socket and you can even operate them on ecomony 10,
  keep us posted because i am in the same boat !
• We too have storage heaters and I hate them! We are in a 3 bed semi, with one storage heater in each downstairs room (kitchen, dining room, living room) and one at the top of the stairs. No heating in any bedrooms/bathrooms. I had to get the ones in the dining room and living room repaired and it cost me Ј96. The engineer said the one in the living room needs replacing as one side doesnt heat up. They quoted Ј300 plus fitting plus VAT! Its since completely packed in. One of the hardest things is finding a company to service them, most companies around here only deal with GCH. I pay Ј129 a month and am still Ј133 in debit to Powergen. We have been quoted Ј500 for a gas connection, then we would have to pay for a new central heating system and boiler. At the moment we just cant afford to do it. We end up using plug in electric heaters and the electric fires, thus putting the electricity costs up. And my water heater has packed in and I only have hot water if I manually put the 1 hour boost button on and remember to turn it off because both the clocks have acked in. Storage heaters would certainly put me off if I were to move again and I could kick myself for being so naive about them when I bought the house.
• hi JO.G
  i have just read your post and i completely agree with you, i can kick myself for buying this cold heap of S--t, i am a first time buyer, thought i was going to be ok, but its not, the thing that realy gets to me on top of this whole situation is that if i was on benefits i would be entitled to a government grant to help me put in affordable heating ( and i dont care if i have offended anyone) so yeh i agree with you for being so bloody hardworking and oh so nieve !
• Hi Imp,
  I cant believe I actually believed the woman who we bought the house off when she said she never had any problems, they were in full working order, inexpensive to run and kept the house toasty warm in the winter! Needless to say we bought in July when you didnt expect them to be on anyway.
  Have been searching the web for info on electric heating systems, but dont really know whether this is a better way to go than gas for both environment and cost issues.
  I'm really soft when it comes to being warm - I was brought up in a house that was always too warm so am not used to the cold! We too work FT so cant claim any benefits or grants. I just want some warmth and warmth at the touch of a switch instead of trying to work out the British weather!!
• yep i completely feel sucked in and like you i love being warm. i have been trying to find a company that will quote me to install warm air units that run off the electric, they are very rare but do exist, i had them in an old flat and they are quite warm alternativly we may need to go with the dimplex oil filled radiators or LPG oil tank, i am just gutted its so bloody cold, anyway i will keep you posted. best wishes
• I went on the Dimplex website the other day and have asked them to send me a brochure out. The hardest thing is trying to find local companies that install anything other than gas central heating. I get some very strange looks when I tell people we dont even have a gas supply and we live on a housing estate that was built in the seventies. Trying to get someone to come out to look at the storage heaters involved ploughing through numbers under 'Electrician' on yell.com!
• Hi Cardew,
  You seem to be very knowledgeable on all things to do with heating, energy etc. In your opinion, would I be better off (in terms of energy efficiency and cost) to:
  a) pay Ј500+ to have gas installed and then have a GCH system installed
  b) replace my old storage heaters with more up to date energy efficient models and stay on my economy 7 tarif.
  I always presumed that I would eventually get GCH because thats what I'm used to. But in these days of energy efficiency, renewable energy and carbon footprints, is Gas the best, or worst, way to go? Sorry, but I'm not very well clued up on green issues, I just like to be warm!
  I would appreciate any thoughts you, or anyone else may have.
• Hi Jo.G
  I think that the carbon footprint/renewable energy/energy efficiency discussion is extremely complex and perhaps should be left to the 'Green Discussion Board'
  There is no doubt that, for most people, Gas CH is the cheapest to run and is light years ahead of Storage heating in the convenience stakes.
  That said, for a 3 bed semi, when you take into account the requirement for an annual safety/servicing visit for gas, the costs of storage heating will not be that much higher.
  However if you take into account the cost of installing gas and getting a gas CH system fitted(Ј4,000?) you will probably never recoup the costs.
  That said it will undoubtedly increase the value of your property to get gas CH.
  There is one other most important consideration – namely your comfort! Living in a cold house can be a nightmare.
  So. as you asked my advice: it is a no contest – get Gas CH.
• It alway seems mad to me to burn gas to heat water and then use electricity to pump this around the house.
  That said, my tenant has asked for GCH. Gas is supplied to the house (just needs a meter) and I can get a system fitted quite cheaply (it's who you know). I know that there are extra costs for servicing and gas safety certificates but I like GCHG in my home and see no reason why my tenant should not be afforded the same luxury.
  Then there's the argument that gas may run out one day whereas electricity will be around forever. If only electricity was more fairly priced.
  GG
• Since electricity is generated mainly by burning gas in a power station, then you lose half of the energy due to the second law of thermodynamics and transmission losses on the grid, it seems clear to me that gas central heating where the gas is burnt in the home is bound to be more efficient and cheaper than electricity.
  Also, with storage heaters your home is too hot in the morning and too cold in the evening and if you have a lifestyle when you are in and out a lot then you will either be heating an empty hpuse a lot of the time or coming home to a cold house etc. I will never have storage heaters again, gas is best or maybe oil if mains gas is not available.
• Thanks for all your opinions, I think when its time to look at our finances GCH will be top of the 'To Do List'
• Just joined and 3 slightly different posts all promoting this system.
  From a quick glance it would appear that these run using daytime electricity rates.
  If so there is no more expensive way of heating.
  I suspect this is spam.
• I have to agree with Cardew with electricity, unless you use a heat pump you only get out what you put in!
  Storage heaters. Well they are fine for background heating but make sure you have modern ones, the insulation breaks down after about ten years. I picked up some two year old ones free on condition I removed them from a house being renovated. Got some strong friends to help!
  You should recoupe the cost of installing gas heating when you sell, so the only extra cost will be the servicing and interrest if you borrow the money.
  If it were me I would go for gas but see if you can get better quotes.
• Hi Bexm - I am in the process of purchasing a three bedroom bungalow which is all electric with storage heaters. I have discovered panel heaters supplied by Heat and Cool which they claim are very economical to run see thread LHZ Electric radiators. I have had further conversation with them as I found the running cost hard to believe. They in turn have forwarded me a copy of a trial carried out by a North Lanarkshire Council over a year which details the electricity used and cost for heating only. The house was a two bedroom mid terrace, occupied all day by three adults. The radiators installed were 1Kw in each bedroom, two 1Kw in the living room, 0.8 Kw in the kitchen, 1Kw in the Hall and no heating in the bathroom. The tariff used was Scottish Hydro Economy 10. Both the Peak and Offpeak units and cost is detailed including a new meter installation and a change of tariff three quarter way through the test period. Total KW used 11176, no of days 365, useage cost Ј703.58, standing charge Ј71.76. Total cost Ј775. 34, Average Cost/Day Ј2.12, Average Cost/Unit Ј0.063, Average KW per day = 31. I am now giving this system serious consideration as I have been quoted approx Ј5000 to install Gas Central heating. I am now investigating installing an enclosed hot water cylinder to provide hot water, the cost of the panels (7) and a hot water cylinder are well below the installation of GCH. My main problem is that I find it difficult to reconcile myself to a total electric system. . . . Regards
• Well Ј775 for heating only(they don't mention Hot water and other electricity) for a 2 bed mid tce house on Economy 10 is hardly cheap!
  You can bet for the trial it would have been a well insulated house. A 3 bed bungalow will be a totally different proposition.
  The bottom line is that any heating at daytime rates(excluding the 3 daytime hours of E10 is going to be about the most expensive form of heating available.