Cheapest way to heat a house?

[aw51 121565]

MitchT said:

longshot said:

Is the immersion heater just for hot water?
If so, why is it on all night?

Because I can't get up in the middle of the night to turn it on or off and we want it on for the cheaper phase of the dual rate cycle. Besides, the immersion heater isn't really an issue. We use it the same way all year round so if it were contributing in any significant way to our costs the summer bill would be scandalous too.

Edited by MitchT on Wednesday 1st October 18:39

In theory...

The Economy 7 meter will 'click on' (in the mid-to-late-evening) when triggered by a radio signal from a central location; the Economy 7 meter will then supply the storage heaters and immersion heater until another radio signal makes it 'click off' (in the pre-dawn hours). Then rinse and repeat the next night.

Try leaving the switch alone when you get in? There should be an "off/auto" switch somewhere near the two meters - select "auto" then see how hot the water is the next morning .

In practice...

With storage heaters, it's important to balance (in simple terms) the 'input' and 'output' knobs. If the storage heaters are "running out of heat" at 7pm then the 'input' knob need tweaking up from 3 (possibly a fair bit) and possibly the 'output' knob twiddling down a tad - to quote from Operation Yewtree, have a fiddle and suck it and see .

[Layacable]

If the house was "yours" so to speak, a woodburner would no doubt be the cheapest way to heat a house, with it being a rental you wont be wanting to spunk loadsof cash on someone elses house...

[Blue Oval84]

MitchT said:

Yes, they only charge up over night. Thing is though - we don't set them high enough to get the house anywhere near warm enough or they'd cost a fortune and, as they only charge up over night and discharge through the day there's not much heat available on an evening. We need to find something efficient that heats the house up as and when we need it. The OH said she's been told about some oil filled free-standing radiators which were supposed to be good, but I'd rather ask on here for anecdotal evidence about the effectiveness of them than rely on marketing spiel that's designed purely to make me part with my cash.

Something is amiss because a functioning storage heater should save up plenty of heat, my gran's got them and they are still very warm by 5pm. I assume that you have the output turned off during the day of course?

How many kWh are you using overnight vs during the day?

[jjones]

tea light heater - worth a try!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Flower-Pots-Tea-Li...

[FlipFlopGriff]

Put a timer in the immersion heater circuit so its only on for part of the day, enough to heat the water when you need it so you could set the timer to come on just before you get up and say let afternoon.
We had storage heaters when we moved in but they were old and rubbish. By the time we got home form work it was really cold in the house. If you're planning on being there a while a small woodburnner (say 5kw so you don't need additional venting) will set you back about £500 for a decent one which should have a short payback period.
FFG

[5potTurbo]

^^^ This. I used to only have hot water from an immersion heater, and it was on a timer switch for an hour before I got up, then another hour early evening. The immersion being permanently switched on was very pricey, as I quickly found out.

[Tuna]

The flower-pot tea light thing is nonsense - if you do the calcs, it's more expensive than electricity, which is damn expensive.

If you can't move, heat as little of the house as you need to (i.e. don't leave doors open, only heat rooms you're in), and do what you sensibly can to stop heat escaping (thick curtains, that temporary double glazing film, rugs on bare floorboards and so on). Other than that, if you can't get the landlord on board to improve insulation and change energy sources, you're stuck.

You can try to improve the quality of your heat sources, which may help. Convector heaters are rubbish - they mainly heat the ceiling. Fan heaters are better, if they're pointing at you. Radiant heaters are the best at making you feel more comfortable without wasting heat to the rest of the room.

[neilsie]

have you discussed this with the landlord / agency?

request a review of heating and insulation. the landlord shouldn't mind: insulation is typically free. Replacement of heating is classed as an improvement and as such is tax deductible.

check the cooker too.

or move.

[ReaderScars]

Just thought I would resurrect to ask, is there any way you could get anyone to take a look at your wiring and consumption - is there any possibility that another property or individual is somehow syphoning off some of your power - ie, whenever you switch your heaters on, you're powering something else up as well which isn't part of your heaters/electricals?