Storage Heaters

beebaw

Im looking to install some storage heaters to a old victorian house in dublin. At present there is no heating whatsoever in it apart from the standard fireplace in each room. The house gets very little use at present but i want to install storage heaters in order to keep the house warm rather than letting it freeze and start to fall apart.
What is the best source of heating to install here and obviously the cheapest to run also.?
thanks.

hopalong_ie

Your question makes no sense. You want to install storage heaters but you also want to know the cheapest heating to install.

Electrical heating wise, it's all 100% efficient. That is 1KW of electricity gets you 1KW of Heat. The benefit of storage heating is that it consumes electricity at the night rate if you have dual tariff supply which is approx half the cost of the day time rate. Storage heaters require basically no maintenance and theres no worry about burst pipes etc. I would look on donedeal or the likes in your case as they can be got quite cheap even newer units from Dimplex and the likes and should be as good as a new unit once there no more than a few years old. The newer units such as the Duoheat are a lot more effective at storing heat longer than older units.

They are expensive new so I would go second hand as they have little resale value no matter how good they are.

beebaw

what i ment is that i am looking for the most effective storage heater on the market that gives the most output using the least electricity. I have been looking at the Dimplex Duo Heat radiators

Southern Comfort

I'm veering ever so slightly off topic, Beebaw, but, if you are putting in storage heaters, they would be extremely efficient if your house was externally insulated.

Your whole house would actually be one massive storage heater!

beebaw

Yes i totally agree but the cost that this would occur would be out of the question. The house is massive but this is only a short term solution just to keep the house a little warm while no one is occupying it.

Southern Comfort

I agree with you about the price. I'd love to externally insulate my house but the quotes I got were very expensive. Amazing really when you consider how very cheap the insulation product itself is!

antoinolachtnai

If it is a victorian house, it may not need that much heat to stop it from falling apart. Old houses are not like modern semi-d's. They have far more ventilation built into them, especially if the chimneys are open.

The saving you would make on storage heating for a few months of the year might not merit the cost and hassle of a nightsaver meter and setting up storage heaters.

Second hand storage heaters? If you know a good bit about them and could install them yourself, sure, it's a good idea. But I'd be a bit sceptical about spending money hiring an electrician to install them. It just seems like a waste of money.

I think it would be better to concentrate on the basic stuff to keep water out of the building - the windows, the walls and most importantly, the roof. You can get infrared heaters on thermostats that will guard against freezing, but it is worth getting an electrician to look at this, to make sure you don't create a fire risk. (Same goes with installing any sort of heating of course.)

You would really need to speak to someone who specializes in this sort of situation. Or try a book like http://www.igs.ie/Shop/Books/Maintenace,-A-Guide-to-the-Maintenance-of-Historic.aspx

M cebee

you may want a separate NSH meter for this

nightsaver isn't always economical for occasional use

and if there's no other off-peak loads

almostretired

Any idea where it is possible to get old storage heaters which have been thrown away?

wayoutwest

sorry about going of topic but....
Southern Comfort -I was just wondering...If it is a 100 year old house,with no D.P.C in the walls-then where will the rising moisture evaporate to if the outside is covered in [presumably]non breathable foam?