Most economical heating to replace storage heaters - no gas, seafront flat

[Bettyboo]

Hello
Can anyone help me please by advising on the best alternative to storage heaters for heating a victorian flat on the seafront without any access to gas
Many thanks
Betty

 

[bob the plumber]

electric boiler?

 

[dontknowitall]

Oil. Great fan of this smelly stuff - assuming it's on the ground floor, you have space for an oil tank and space for a boiler. External boilers are available too.

Possibly solar (too?) if you're allowed to use the roof.

More sensible option though would be the electric boiler as mentioned above.

 

[Bettyboo]

ok thanks
i don't think oil is a possibility as it is part of a mansion block
How much more are electric boilers to run please versus gas? I have always had gas in past homes

 

[Roger Welton]

Or new storage heaters, newer ones are much improved on the mammoth things of yesteryear

 

[ecowarm]

If well insulated and double glazed an air source heat pump may be best bet

 

[ecowarm]

Or air con

 

[mountainman]

Additional isulation and dg may be an option, but may be expensive, depends largely on your pocket and planning regulations.
Forget air con as a heating source, I've dealt with it abroad and it's really expensive to run and pretty noisy too, and that assumes your power supply doesn't have to be upgraded to three phase to cope with the load.

 

[ecowarm]

Additional isulation and dg may be an option, but may be expensive, depends largely on your pocket and planning regulations.
Forget air con as a heating source, I've dealt with it abroad and it's really expensive to run and pretty noisy too, and that assumes your power supply doesn't have to be upgraded to three phase to cope with the load.

Using an air con unit to heat, reverse cycle (heat pump) is only slightly more expensive than gas, a lot cheaper than oil, LPG or direct electricity. That is a fact. Also if the house has the supply to power storage heaters it will be able to supply air con.

 

[MattWeth]

Fabric first.
Spend some money on insulation and draughtproofing - reduce energy consumption before adding energy.

Then you could think about an air source heat pump (but only after reducing heat loss as far as is practical / affordable).

I have a friend who took a lot of trouble to minimise air leakage in an old stone built cottage. He couldn't insulate the walls (and didn't want to fit interior insulation), so he maximised the loft and underfloor insulation and sealed the building up and he fitted a good MVHR unit (mechanical heat recovery ventilation).

His cottage is now all but passive - a small open fire on really cold days provides all the heat it needs. I've stayed in his cottage before and after - the difference is remarkable.

 

[bantamgas]

I have just fit some brand new Dimplex storage heaters in my dads house.He opted for these on the back of an independant energy survey in which he was advised to stay with them but as has already been mentioned the new ones are a lot more efficient than the older models.If you need any further info pm me and I'll give you more details.
ps No I don't work for Dimplex:smile: