Electric heating advice needed

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Sarah M
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Electric heating advice needed

Post by Sarah M »

I have a small one bed holiday home in the Lake District that is currently on Economy 7. Unfortunately I do not live locally. At the moment it has an old storage heater in the living area, an electric radiator in the bedroom and a heated towel rail in the bathroom. The hot water for the kitchen sink and washbasin is heated by an immersion heater overnight but the shower is electric so although use is made of the cheaper overnight tariff there's also a lot of use of the more expensive daytime tariff, especially because guests often seem to leave the towel rail and bedroom radiator on (and there have been occasions when the cleaner has forgotten to turn them off so they've been left on for weeks at a time in the winter) . It's due to be completely refurbished in early 2022 and I'm thinking about replacing the storage heater and the bedroom radiator with modern electric radiators and switching to a standard tariff. I realise that there is no increase in efficiency with more expensive radiators but some of them have open window sensors and can be controlled remotely by WiFi so I'm thinking that they would solve the current problem of heating the cottage when it is empty and would also mean I could turn the heating on in advance of guests arriving in the winter to make the cottage warm and welcoming. Does anyone have heating that they are able to control remotely (clearly I would only be turning it down or off when I know the property is unoccupied) - if so what electric radiators have you got and would you recommend them?
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Hi, yes, I had Rointe radiators fitted which can be controlled with an app on my phone and have the open window sensor.
I can highly recommend them. Feel free to pm me if you would like more details.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

The only problem with them used to be that the EPC would not be very good with them and you had to have night storage heaters to get a better EPC.

If the legislation changes and we have to have decent EPCs then (assuming the situation hasn't changed) Rointe heaters may not be such a good idea.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

In light of the forthcoming ban on gas boilers coming in, which will inevitably lead to changes in EPCs, isn’t there a useful saying about bridges and crossings with regards to a certificate that every estate agent will tell you, no one pays any attention to?

It might be something to consider if the refurb was to sell immediately, but the pressing need is to save money and have an efficient heating system.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

zebedee wrote:In light of the forthcoming ban on gas boilers coming in, which will inevitably lead to changes in EPCs, isn’t there a useful saying about bridges and crossings with regards to a certificate that every estate agent will tell you, no one pays any attention to?

It might be something to consider if the refurb was to sell immediately, but the pressing need is to save money and have an efficient heating system.
Currently you have to have an EPC of at least E to let residential property on a permanent let and will have to be a C in a few years time. I don't know what the EPC of the properties currently is, but if the government said that holiday lets had to comply too, then you wouldn't want to be stripping out all the heaters you've just installed ...
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Rointe D series (which is what is needed here) run on electricity powered by wind. So they tick the renewal energy box nicely.

I doubt they will fall to meet up to any future EPC standards when the government has decided to do away with gas, some logs, and making similar plans for oil. It’s not like people in flats can fit ground source pumps for their property.

(I don’t think it helps to speculate on what future decisions a government might make in some unknown time in the future.)
RichardHenshall
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Post by RichardHenshall »

zebedee wrote:Rointe D series (which is what is needed here) run on electricity powered by wind. ...
So does every other electrically powered device.
J B
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Post by J B »

zebedee wrote:Rointe D series (which is what is needed here) run on electricity powered by wind..............
LOL :lol:

Do they have special plugs that only connect to the part of the grid connected to wind turbines?

:wink:
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Well I am the only person who has answered the question in the original post.
No one else has made any other suggestions or offered any help.

Is it any wonder this forum is dying and people don’t use it anymore?
Sarah M
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Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:39 am

Post by Sarah M »

Thanks to those that have replied. The Rointe radiators are the type of thing I have been looking at, although the largest one is only capable of heating a room up to 16 square metres and the kitchen/living room of my property is approximately 20 so am wondering about Dimplex Q-rads. I am confused as to how the EPC would be negatively affected by having heating that is more controllable and should therefore use less energy? I can get a better daytime rate on a standard tariff so am hoping that the electricity bill will come down slightly given that so much of the electricity consumption is already on what is currently an expensive daytime tariff. Another important aspect is guest satisfaction. Guests dislike and struggle with the night storage heater as few are used to using them at home and even fewer read instructions! The controls are not obvious to everyone and the temperature is not easily adjusted. This means that the storage heaters are frequently turned up to maximum input and output and guests open windows to lower the temperature, or alternatively the fan heater in the living room is used if the storage heater is set too low. The property is highly unlikely to ever be used as anything other than a holiday home/let due to its size and location so surely heating that can be more easily controlled by both guests and myself (remotely when the property is empty) would be preferable? I am also intending to improve the insulation when the property is renovated. I am not intending to sell the property - it is a long term investment and is also used for holidays by myself and my husband and other family members.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

Sarah M wrote:Thanks to those that have replied. The Rointe radiators are the type of thing I have been looking at, although the largest one is only capable of heating a room up to 16 square metres and the kitchen/living room of my property is approximately 20 so am wondering about Dimplex Q-rads. I am confused as to how the EPC would be negatively affected by having heating that is more controllable and should therefore use less energy? I can get a better daytime rate on a standard tariff so am hoping that the electricity bill will come down slightly given that so much of the electricity consumption is already on what is currently an expensive daytime tariff.
I would check the electric prices - they have shot up recently and can be around 24p/unit daytime! I don't know what economy 7 is so cannot compare properly.
Norfolk Canary
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Post by Norfolk Canary »

If the output of the rad is less than required for the volume of air you could always install two
hydroland2
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Post by hydroland2 »

I'm interested in replies to this too.

My holiday cottage has E7 night storage heaters.
They're not really useful at all for holiday guests as they dump all their heat earlier in the day when the guests are usually out and the cottage is then getting chilly again by evening when they get back so they have to put the fan heaters on.
And like the OP said guests seem to have real trouble working them and usually after they've left I go in to find all the heaters on full and all the windows wide open!
Lilyofthevalley
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Location: Cornwall

Electric heating

Post by Lilyofthevalley »

I also have wall hung Rointe electric radiators, in my holiday let in Cornwall. I didn't go for the model that is Wi-Fi enabled because it was so much more expensive. But I have had BG Wi-Fi enabled plug sockets installed for each radiator, which (provided the radiators are left plugged in), at least allows me to switch them on and off remotely…which avoids the scenario of them being left on for weeks even when the place is empty, as well as switching them on for a few hours to get the place warm for guests. Works really well, one year of operation so far.

Our electrician said it is possible to ‘lock the radiator controls down’ with a password enabled program on each radiator. This looked complicated in the instruction manual and I haven’t done it.
Kilm
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Post by Kilm »

Hi Sarah.

A bit late to the party, but I ditched E7 altogether and installed EHC DSR Radiators (Electric Heating Company) and I'm on the Octopus Go tariff for electricity only.

The Octopus Go gives 5ppkwh between 0030-0430hrs and is designed for EV charging, but it works for me as I have a hot tub running 24/7 and I boost the heat at 0400hrs for half an hour in the main living areas through the hub app.

Through these two measures alone, I took my annual bill from £3500 down to £2000. The radiators can be scheduled, hold heat for a long time after powering off and are very efficient - what you use in electricity is what you generate in heat.

They're based in Blantyre, I've dealt with them a lot and when one went faulty (it still worked but the connectivity to the hub in the house failed) it was replaced without quibble within four days. There are various sizes, including IP rated ones for the bathroom, I have six in the house now.

Highly recommend!
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