DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi,

we currently have night storage heaters in our 3 bed semi, but I wish to replace this with a wet central heating system. Unfortunately, Gas isn't available and neither is oil/lpg due to the regulations and also access problems (but that's another story!). The roof slants East (rear is shaded by neighbour), so solar is out of the question. Not enough space for GSHP either :(

We are thus only left with electric. I have been looking at a thermal store type system, and have come across two companies who offer a combined thermal store that supplies wet radiators and hot water. They are the Electramate from Gledhill (under apartments) and the Etech-S from ACV .

However, I am a bit worried about the performance of these and whether they would be any better than night storage heaters. The Electramate seems better as it is designed for economy 7 (10 isn't available where we are), but it's recommended for 1-2 bed apartments, not 3 bed semis, so I'm worried about whether it is powerfull enough, and whether we'd have to keep boosting it using on-peak electricity tariffs.

The ETECH-S seems better, but isn't optimised for offf-peak usage. You can heat the thermal store overnight, but if you use it during the day, then it will reheat it up...kinda defeats the object really.

So, does anyone have any experience of these, or other systems? Does anyone know the 'best' way to have electric wet central heating?

Would appreciate some pointers and advice as it's all too complicated!!!!

hi sam you could investigate heat pumps they are more effective than straightforward electric heating being two thirds cheaper to run but the electric boiler on its own is cheaper to purchase and install. search google for heat pumps and research all the best john

Hi Sam, a company called AMPTEC produced a boiler such as you are looking for,it was so good that Heatrae-Sadia bought them out in a very short time, the boilers are listed at their web site under electric central heating i think(H-S'es site i mean!)
regards SPARX

I have been looking into this as i have just bought a house in a similar position to yourself and have come accross a unit called the Thermaflow Electric Combi Boiler. I would like to hear from anyone who has used this system. I am concerned about the amount of electricity it will use as the unit i will need is the 210L 13KW one. Any advice from anybody would be gratefully received.

hi sam you need probably 12/15 kw to heat your house from any source including h/water there is no argument about this it is simply a question of price per k/w as all stored water is today stored in very efficient cylinders the losses per day are not really in the equation ,however you need to work out how much is off peak [half price ] and how much is full rate [day rate] if you use day rate say for one hour you will be using 12/15 kw @ say 9p per kw =£1.08p/£1.35 per hour. it seems simplistic but it is factually true. the cost of these cylinders is high the boilers if seperate are relatively cheap. try a heat pump air to water, if you are fitting full central heating use low temperature rads and underfloor heating if possible, heat pumps need little or no servicing require less cable load you get typically 3 kw output for 1kw input in other words the house may only need 5kw for heating even on day rate that's not bad . fit a mains pressurised cylinder just for hot water this can be topped up on eco 7 overnight [150 ltrs ] will last all day.you need a knowledgeable eng to do this type of heating its no more expensive to do has no more problems than any other electric heating but it needs to be right all the best john