Replacing storage heaters

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David_Dublin

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Hi - asking for a relative who lives by himself and is looking at replacing storage rads. Reason is the cost of running, despite having night time rate, but more importantly the fact that the house is not warm when he needs it (evening, night time), and is too hot when he doesn't need it (mornings & afternoons).

So he's looking at taking out the storage heaters and replacing with electric radiators. Products he has quotes for are JTR Ceramic Electric Radiators, and ATC Thermal Radiators (Lifestyle Electric & Sun Ray RF Electric).

Any thoughts on this? I have the specs for these, or the sales brochures, but they don't seem to tell me how much they will cost to run. I'm concerned that this elderly relative will be onto me telling me that their heating bills have gone up, and I have enough on my plate.

Thoughts on the above or alternative options please let me know. 2 bed apartment, dry lined walls, decent windows. Main room currently has 2 large storage rads, plenty to heat the place. One has a manual/override so it can work as a regular electric heater.
 
We replaced the storage heater in the main living room with a Lucht electric panel heater (from ) and were very happy with the switch. It looked better, was cheaper to run and crucially, it heated the room when we were in it as opposed to when we were out or in bed.
I picked it, at the time because I wanted one with a digital thermostat that was programmable for different days and one that looked good, so I was happy to pay a little extra for that. In your case I would strongly suggest you do the same (i.e. digital thermostat and programable).

I notice these guys are doing a deal for apartments at the moment.

Modern Eco Electric Heaters, Dublin - Replace Storage Heating

Our modern Eco electric heaters are a cost-effective low energy solution to upgrade or replace storage heating. Supplied & installed throughout Dublin.
ecoelectricheaters.ie
 
All electric heaters are close to 100% efficient, so a given on-demand heat out put will cost the same to run. Any savings will be achieved in using the heater less. The app control on the above does look good, anything that makes it easier to just use when needed is a plus.

Storage heaters make use of cheaper night-rate electricity to slowly release heat over the following day, but of course that model doesn't match the use patterns of many households these days. Better storage heaters will allow for a slower release of heat over the day to ensure heat into the evening

This thread is a few months old at this point, but the OP mentions this is for an elderly relative. If they are at home most of the day, most days, then storage heaters are by far the best option. Glen Dimplex would be a good name. Depending on how tech savvy they are, they might not want the fuss of app control, or the inconvenience of having to remember to adjust schedules for more expensive on-demand heating to match their schedule.
 
I have over and they are brutal in all senses of the word, ugly expensive etc, think they are really meant for America / Continental Europe where they have defined seasons.
 
Lots of old storage heaters are ugly, as are many old rads as well. Newer ones are a little less so, but they still need volume to attain the required thermal mass, and that's a challenge in lots of places they are installed.

Seasons aren't a factor, they are really intended for smaller more energy efficient spaces and where installing a wet system isn't practical or is too expensive. Installing wet systems in multi-unit developments brings a host of challenges for the developer.
 
Seasons are a factor.
In Ireland the weather is too variable in every season. With storage heaters you end up cold when the temperature is very low and then in a matter of hours in many cases the outside temperature rises dramatically and you end up sweltering.
There was a big freeze up at Christmas a number of years ago and the outside temperature went from -15 C to +15C in a matter of hours.
 
Our climate here is quite mild, and we don't tend to get unexpected cold snaps or wild swings in temperature on a regular basis.

Let's face it, no system, unless over-specified, is going to comfortably handle a 30 degree swing without intervention or supplemental heating. No one designed a heating system on the basis of one in ten year events.
 
I had ancient storage heaters which had their pros and cons...

I found them great in cold winter days for the main room, especially with working from home.
You do need to keep an eye on tomorrow's weather if the weather is changing.

In the bedroom, the heater was too large for the room, you needed to run it at night but even on lowest setting was making the room too hot.

They aren't great for spring \ autumn where you only need a bit of heat when it gets chilly in the evening at 8pm or so.
If they just had a 'boost' option to be able to use as regular heaters and pay the full rate for an hour or so, would have been ideal.
I understand later models have an override option so that would have been handy.

Without that override, they don't really suit someone who will be away nights with work \ visiting family because mine at least had no ability to programme other than setting what heat to input that night.
 
odyssey06 said:
Without that override, they don't really suit someone who will be away nights with work \ visiting family because mine at least had no ability to programme other than setting what heat to input that night.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's the real challenge. They'd have to be much bigger to achieve insulation levels required to maintain the thermal energy over the day only to release it in the evening. That or charge to a point where it would be cheaper use on-demand heating.

I live in an apartment that had combined storage and convector heaters. Kind of the best of the worst type of heating.
 
So my elderly relative has new heaters now and is very pleased with them. She's on top of the App that let's her turn them on remotely. She likes fresh air during the day, often has her windows open even when it's baltic outside, so there really wasn't any upside to the storage jeaters. We haven't seen a bill yet though!
 
There was a big freeze up at Christmas a number of years ago and the outside temperature went from -15 C to +15C in a matter of hours.

That was an extreme cash, most irish temperatures range from 0 to 20c. Try Finland where in 24hrs a temp can easily swing 20C especially in winter, and over a week a swing from -30C to 0C is common enough
 
That's great. What brand/type did she end up going with, or would you have any recommendations having looked into them? Need to do the same myself, i.e. replace old storage heaters in an apartment with electric radiators...
 
Have a similar query for a relative would be interested in hearing what type you got & the installation, many thanks
 
A couple of suggestions....

Before you commit to permanent installs of high-end radiators can I suggest that you go and buy at least one portable Electric. radiator from your local hardware store, Woody’s BandQ probably will be competitive. Try this out on a timer plug and see how your relative likes it. You can also see how the bill works out.

Second suggestion is to make sure that the windows and doors are draught proofed 100% in order to get the best value out of the heat that you’re pumping into the room from the rads.

Hope this works out well for you.
 
Here is a 2.5kw model.
You were asking about costs to run...basically if you use 1 kW of power then the unit will consume 1 unit of electricity for every hour it runs. Just multiply that by the cost per unit your relative pays for electricity. Remember to include the tax in the calculation.

404 Not Found | Woodie's

www.woodies.ie
 
That's very good advice. My relative used a plug in electric for a good while before replacing out the storage heaters. Initially to add heat in evenings when the storage heaters were out of heat, but ultimately they turned off the storage heaters completely and used the electric to heat on demand.
 
Many thanks David_Dublin and Horatio for your posts and advice/recommendations - much appreciated
 
I am also looking to replace an old half-faulty storage heater.

Has anyone recently bought a modern VERTICAL heater they can recommend?
 
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