Is Economy 7 worth the bother?

[bullethead123]

Hi all,

I am about to re-carpet a flat I let out, and thought I would upgrade the storage heaters whilst about it - Dimplex Quantum seem to be the market leaders - but the more I look into, it the less sense it makes to replace with storage heaters. I think maybe some modern electric radiators would be a better option.

I have heard that many electricity supply companies are phasing out E7 tarriffs (EDF have stopped them altogether) and when many of us are driving electric cars (and charging them overnight), night-time rates may actually become peak rates.

Additionally, I'd be lying if I said I didn't baulk at the much higher initial cost of modern storage heaters, together with the extra wiring and work involved in installing them.

There's no gas at the property, so electric is my only option and I would shoulder the additional cost and bother of fitting Dimplex Quantums if I could be sure that the tenant (who works as a nurse so has odd shift patterns) would get the benefit of cheaper heating bills, but I fear it may be money wasted.

Over to you guys (and gals). What do you all think?

 

[SUNRAY]

Hi all,

I am about to re-carpet a flat I let out, and thought I would upgrade the storage heaters whilst about it - Dimplex Quantum seem to be the market leaders - but the more I look into, it the less sense it makes to replace with storage heaters. I think maybe some modern electric radiators would be a better option.

I have heard that many electricity supply companies are phasing out E7 tarriffs (EDF have stopped them altogether) and when many of us are driving electric cars (and charging them overnight), night-time rates may actually become peak rates.

Additionally, I'd be lying if I said I didn't baulk at the much higher initial cost of modern storage heaters, together with the extra wiring and work involved in installing them.

There's no gas at the property, so electric is my only option and I would shoulder the additional cost and bother of fitting Dimplex Quantums if I could be sure that the tenant (who works as a nurse so has odd shift patterns) would get the benefit of cheaper heating bills, but I fear it may be money wasted.

Over to you guys (and gals). What do you all think?

I've recently been down this route with a 1 bed flat. There were 2 NSH in the lounge and one in the bedroom.

The first thing I did was speak to the tenant, they said the bedroom was hot in the morning but no amount of adjusting controls & flaps there was nothing in the evening, the lounge wasn't so bad but on very cold days they had to use the peak boost.

Next person I spoke to, heating contractors who simply advised replacing with 3 panel heaters. Then I spoke to my EPC inspector...

see https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/new-storage-heaters.560821/page-2#post-4838479 post#18 & #29 to avoid duplication.



https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/replacing-storage-heaters.572042/#post-4977721 post#6


As it's a rental property speak to your EPC inspector before you do anything, That is what they are there for. You'll be surprised how much depends on the heating arrangements.

The quantums will happily work on a single 24 hour supply as they have built in time switch arrangements but you may need to make changes at the consummer units.

 

[JohnW2]

I am about to re-carpet a flat I let out, and thought I would upgrade the storage heaters whilst about it - Dimplex Quantum seem to be the market leaders - but the more I look into, it the less sense it makes to replace with storage heaters. I think maybe some modern electric radiators would be a better option.

You're really asking whether or not to go for storage heaters.

If (as seems to be the case) you are stuck with electric heating then (depending on the tenants use of the flat - e.g. whether 'in' during the day etc.) and so long as you can get an E7 (or similar) tariff, then the running costs would very probably be appreciably less with E7 (or similar) and storage heaters.

I have heard that many electricity supply companies are phasing out E7 tarriffs (EDF have stopped them altogether) and when many of us are driving electric cars (and charging them overnight), night-time rates may actually become peak rate

All true, but it doesn't necessarily work 'against' storage heaters. If, in the future, daytime electricity rates become the same, or maybe even cheaper, than night-time, then you could adjust the timing of the heaters accordingly and, in fact, would then be able to use the daytime electricity for real-time daytime heating, thereby avoiding the 'wasted heat' (hence increased costs) during the night-time period.

Kind Regards, John

 

[crystal ball]

I fitted quantum in a holiday let recently, no feedback yet, but the owners had read good reports on a holiday let forum?? might be worth a search

 

[bullethead123]

Thanks all.
The EPC was done recently. I'll give it a look