storage heaters

[VAL23eric]

Having had helpful answers in the past , I return to answerbank with yet another query.
Has anyone out there got any advise or information on electric storage heaters? In all previous houses I have lived in I have had gas central heating but am now considering a move to a place that has electric night time storage heaters. Are they any good and economical or not? I will be unable to install gas but will be stuck with "all electric". Thanks for any information anyone can give.

[welshlibranr]

Sorry to say this, but in my experience storage heaters are a nightmare! They're expensive to run, and because they store heat during the night, it doesn't matter how low you adjust the output, they give out all of the heat by about teatime, and then the house is freezing for the rest of the evening, I hated them, my bills were double what the gas heating cost in our previous house, and we were always cold in the evenings, had to resort to a mobile gas heater in the lounge in the cold weather! I was able to change to gas CH after the first miserable winter thankfully! I'm afraid that if you move there you'll regret it!....................

[boxtops]

My experience was exactly the same, storage heaters were useless and we couldn't wait to get rid of them.

[Polly1958]

I disagree,we have them on economy 7 tariff and are very economical to run.and very warm.I close the output vents before i go to bed and then open them gradually during the day.

[welshlibranr]

I was on economy 7 also, but the fact remains that I found them utterly useless! and still very expensive to run! I also closed mine down during the night, but still, there wasn't any heat left in the evening, when you really want it!.................

[droopdrawers]

we moved to a flat from a 3 bed house 3 years ago. The flat is all electric so we had no choise on heating,
We have renewed the old ones for more up todate models and can only say we are never cold. What you do need is the adequate size for the room.

We are also elderly and my husband would hate to be cold but is happy with this heating. My pay £50 a month DD and had the bill last week and an only £24 short. After such a cold winter we are well pleased with the bill.

DD

[Dee Sa]

we have storage heaters, they were installed on some govt grant scheme and they are on E7, we get on fine with them the house is warm when we get up, I can get any damp washing dry by placing the items in the room[ not on the actual heaters though] and we have a booster that kicks in late afternoon, bills are reasonable too.
During the really cold spell we use oil fired portable concertina type radiators to warm the bedrooms they cost very little to run and we only need put them on for about an hour.
We do not use the gas fires anymore now they really are expensive to run.

[buildersmate]

"are very economical to run"
"bills are reasonable too"
People persist in bandying around these phrases but they are totally meaningless. One man's 'economical to run' is another man's pension allowance for a whole week. People need facts to make decisions. Peak electricity is about 3x more expensive in raw energy cost than gas-fired CH, Economy 7 about 2x more. Fact.
The other hassle with them is that they give out most heat in the morning when they are hottest inside and gradually give out less as the bricks inside cool down. Fine if you are regularly in during the day - useless if you are out to work.
Having modern ones helps a bit - because the quality of insulation in the case is better - this stops the heat getting out too fast - and when combined with variable 'flaps' that control the heat output, this overcomes some issues experienced by those who say the heat runs out by 4pm.
Given you have no choice, you will have to run with modern ones. Make sure they are sized to be plenty big enough for your needs - you don't want to be having to use a 'boost setting' during the day - which consumes electricity at the peak rate. I believe there are some tariffs that allow an hour or so of 'boost' at the cheaper night rate? - but I don't know details-I just sterer away from the things.
Finally, ensure you have as much insulation in ceilings and walls as you can afford. By far and away, this impacts the amount one has to spend on energy these days.

[ChuckFickens]

Remember you also have to set the heaters to store heat over night based on what you think the weather will be like the next day. If you get it wrong you either end up with cold heaters on a cold day and a freezing house, or hot heaters on a mild day and a house like an oven.

[bushbaby_de]

I have had mixed experiences. When I lived in a brand new flat with double glazing and insulation, the economy 7 heaters worked brilliantly. Now I live in a 25 year old flat with single glazing and less insulation, I don't find them good enough. So it depends on the property and the heaters.

[lankeela]

Because I work odd hours I find them convenient because the house is never cold. If I had to put the heating on when I came home I would be waiting for it to heat up. The storage heaters give a good background heat all the time. If its really cold I have a small fan heater which looks like a woodburner just to heat my feet up and to have something cosy to look at. I don't find them particularly expensive (we have no gas where I live anyway).