Maria wrote:
On 12/7/2010 5:58 PM, Ret. wrote:
ARWadsworth wrote:
Ret. wrote:
Maria wrote:
On 12/7/2010 12:42 PM, MM wrote:
I was just checking my expected electricity bill and compared
Southern Electric's tariffs for standard domestic consumption
(11.51p a unit in my area) against their Economy 7 Night Rate
(5.06p), i.e. a lot cheaper.

So I was wondering, does it cost to have an additional meter and
what could I do with the cheaper electricity? I have no night
storage heaters. Are they worth getting? I do have oil-filled
electric radiators for a couple of rooms just to take the chill
off and they are very effective. I could get more.

I'm just thinking about the horrendous rise in domestic oil
prices and trying to look for alternative methods of heating for
the future, at least until I can eventually move to a house with
a chimney and start burning wood.


Do *not* have economy 7 unless you have storage heaters - your day
rate is massive.
Why not get a chimney built? Be warned - even solid fuels are
almost as expensive these days.

I'm fortunate to be on mains gas. Two years ago I had my
conventional (30 years old!) gas boiler replaced with a modern
Worcester Bosch condensing combi. The old hot water tank has gone
(and the airing cupboard in the bathroom replaced with a walk-in
shower) as has all the tanks and pipework in the loft.

I have been astonished at how much less gas we are now using.
Despite having reduced my monthly direct debit gas payment, I have
still just received a £145.00 refund because a positive balance
had built up. Only heating water when you actually turn on a hot tap -
rather
than heating a tank-full which you may never use, makes all the
difference - as does using a more efficient boiler for the central
heating. We are over the moon at the savings we have made in fuel costs
the
past two years.

Be carefull Kev. You will have half of uk.d-i-y telling you that
combi boilers are crap and that you will never get financial
payback for your new boiler.

TBH, a few years ago and I was arguing that I wouldn't touch a combi
with a barge-pole. The people I knew who had one never ceased
complaining about the lukewarm water from the hot tap - and the fact
that it took two hours to fill a bath.

When I was considering replacing the boiler I was still of that
opinion - and planning on having a condensing non-combi put in. It
was only my next door neighbour (and a few posters on uk.diy)
telling me that new combis were a huge improvement on old ones, that
persuaded me to change my mind. We have no regrets whatsoever. There
is ample hot water and it feeds our shower without the need for
pumps. It does take a little longer to fill the bath than it did
before - but not significantly longer - and so long as you are aware
of the fact and start the bath running in plenty of time - it's just
not an issue. The cost saving has been significant for us and, as our old
boiler
was on its last legs anyway - the replacement cost was necessary.

There are other benefits as well. With our old boiler, first thing in
the morning when the timer kicked in, the heat produced would be
divided between heating the water in the tank and heating the water
in the radiators. With our combi, all the heat goes to the radiators
and so the house heats up a lot faster for when we get out of bed.
We also have piping hot water whenever we want it - and it never
runs out! If we have guests we can all have a shower or bath one
after the other without the water starting to run cold. I'm a
complete convert!

Mine doesn't heat the water up very well at all.
I've had two previously - a Potterton with several circuit boards ,
one of which would regularly pop, costing around 120 + labour a time,
and the other (can't remember what it was) which ate pumps for a
living at 95 quid + labour every time.
The one I have now is an Isar, and backfires when you are least
expecting it. Like being shot at in the middle of the night.

I think most of the early combis were poor - both on reliability, and on the
ability to heat water adequately as it flowed through the heat exchanger.
Newer combis have far more efficient heat exchangers - and the condensing
boilers are even more efficient.
Also, when people are changing a boiler it becomes a 'distress purchase' and
they tend to go for the cheapest that is suitable - and hence they end up
with one that is only just adequate in terms of power.

The recommended 'power' for my house was 27/28kw - but I went for a 30kw CDi
which will heat 13.1 litres of water per minute at a 35 degree temperature
rise. It has proven to be excellent and, so far, all my concerns about
adequacy have been unfounded. The two thermostats on the boiler (one for hot
water and one for heating) are both set at about 1/3rd up from minimum (the
'economy' settings) - and yet the rads get too hot to touch and the water
from the taps is piping hot.

The boiler is now 2.5 years old and has been 100% reliable so far. Obviously
I cannot tell how reliable it will be in the future - but Worcester Bosch do
have one of the best reputations in the business.

--
Kev