On Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:10:46 +0000, AlanG wrote:

I must look at my bill again. I am on E7 but have much less than 30% on
night rate. I stuck with it as I've a storage heater - kept it as standby if
the combi breaks down. Can a combi 'sense' when there's no back-up?

It would probably be cheaper in the long term to get rid of E7 and buy
a mobile gas heater and a bottle of gas.
http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalo..._Heater.ht ml

Thanks for the link, Alan. It does look like a good option.

First year we were in this house the combi stopped working at
christmas. Had two firms out but they couldn't fix it. We ended up
buying a gas heater while I tracked down someone who knew the type of
combi we had. It was actually the company who sold us the gas heater
who gave us the name of an installer who regularly bought spares for
this type of combi boiler. Still took a week to get it fixed

And a storage heater isn't a rapid-response back-up, so gas would be better
and that one would do the house on high setting (upstairs is around 13.5 -
14.5ºC, so not a lot required).

We still have the heater and one and a half bottles of gas but haven't
had to use them for over ten years.

See what I mean about back-up? :-)
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway