Storage Heating Replacement

[Kimbo123]

Hello, looking for some advice please. The storage heater in my livingroom has stopped working and I thought I would take the opportunity to replace the heaters throughout the house (4 in total), I am unsure what is best to replace them with, modern storage heaters, panel heaters, IR heaters......? I am on an Economy 7 tariff which works well with storage heating but I have read that these tariffs are being phased out, is this true? TIA

 

[Avo Mk8]

The following is just based on recent personal experience of putting new (non storage) convector heaters in an old cottage. I'm no expert on tariffs or supply options. We elected to go onto a single rate supply because of our occasional and unpredictable usage. This resulted in heating costs last winter (ie before the price rises!) sometimes nearing £300/week, so we learned to use the wood burner more!

My understanding is that Economy 7 is not being phased out for those already on that tariff. But most suppliers will no longer provide a 'new' E7 supply to premises that don't already have it.
Smart meters can be fitted for E7. You should be ok to carry on with that tariff, but if you want to change suppliers in the future you may find choice limited.
One thing to remember with E7 is that although off-peak electricity is (a lot) cheaper, on-peak is (a bit) more expensive.
So the choice whether to stick to E7 depends a bit on the profile of your usage. If you are using significantly more kWh on E7 than you are during the day, then probably best to stick to E7?

You may know that whatever heaters you choose now need to be LOT20 compliant, having 'smart' energy saving features.

If you have been OK with storage heaters in the past, and your daytime power usage is modest, personally I would stick with E7!

 

[Kimbo123]

The following is just based on recent personal experience of putting new (non storage) convector heaters in an old cottage. I'm no expert on tariffs or supply options. We elected to go onto a single rate supply because of our occasional and unpredictable usage. This resulted in heating costs last winter sometimes nearing £300/week, so we learned to use the wood burner more!

My understanding is that Economy 7 is not being phased out for those already on that tariff. But most suppliers will no longer provide a 'new' E7 supply to premises that don't already have it.
Smart meters can be fitted for E7. You should be ok to carry on with that tariff, but if you want to change suppliers in the future you may find choice limited.
One thing to remember with E7 is that although off-peak electricity is (a lot) cheaper, on-peak is (a bit) more expensive.
So the choice whether to stick to E7 depends a bit on the profile of your usage. If you are using significantly more kWh on E7 than you are during the day, then probably best to stick to E7?

You may know that whatever heaters you choose now need to be LOT20 compliant, having 'smart' energy saving features.

If you have been OK with storage heaters in the past, and your daytime power usage is modest, personally I would stick with E7!

Thank you for your reply!
E7 works for me but only because I have modified my usage i.e running the washing machine at night instead of during the day.
The storage heaters I have just now are awful, they release the majority of the heat during the day when Im at work and by evening time the house is cold but I do understand modern storage heaters are much better at addressing this issue. So much to think about!

 

[Avo Mk8]

The storage heaters I have just now are awful, they release the majority of the heat during the day when Im at work and by evening time the house is cold but I do understand modern storage heaters are much better at addressing this issue. So much to think about!

I remember storage heaters from the 1970/80's and they behaved as you describe. I don't know how much better they are now.
If you don't need heat during the day, then maybe radiant panel heaters that come on in the morning and then when you get home might just work?
The theory being the direct heat fired at you from the panel makes you feel warm, even when the fabric of the room isn't.
Personally I'm not convinced, but no doubt others may be.

Although not off-peak, I prefer the 'gentler' heat from the cast convector heaters that run cooler, but are very efficient at getting their heat into the air. We previously had convector heaters with the old spiral element inside that got really hot, and we got a sort of 'burnt' and dry effect in the air that was sometimes unpleasant. But as I say, using day rate electricity is expensive.

I'm not sure, but I think if you changed from E7 to 'normal' rate, and then wanted to change back to E7, you would not be able to.

A thought - how about changing your one failed storage heater for a modern one, and see how you get on with it? Or alternatively change it for a panel if you fancy that option, and see how that goes. Unfortunately you'll need to wait for cold weather to complete the experiment!
There's a risk of your chosen unit not living up to expectations, but at least you won't have bought 4 of them!