What costs more to run?

hopgirl · 09-10-2014 11:31am #1

Want to see what costs more to run a house with oil central heating and maybe open fire or apartment with electric storage heaters? What be the average cost?

K.Flyer · 09-10-2014 11:35am

It comes down to certain factors. ..
How well each building is insulated, how old the oil boiler is, how old the storage heaters are, etc etc.
Usually electric storage heaters are very costly to run and can be quite difficult to control at times.
There are several threads on the subject throughout Boards on the subject.
In my opinion go for the oil and block the chimney with a chimney balloon.

Mrs OBumble · 09-10-2014 12:17pm

Don't forget the factor in the probability of oil-theft in your neighbourhood. This is organised affair, and losing E800 worth of oil a couple of times can make a relatively un-tamper-with-able ESB bill look attractive.

BryanF · 10-10-2014 9:01am

hopgirl wrote: »

Want to see what costs more to run a house with oil central heating and maybe open fire or apartment with electric storage heaters? What be the average cost?

Did the auctioneer offer a BER ?

hopgirl · 10-10-2014 9:36am

K.Flyer wrote: »

It comes down to certain factors. ..
How well each building is insulated, how old the oil boiler is, how old the storage heaters are, etc etc.
Usually electric storage heaters are very costly to run and can be quite difficult to control at times.
There are several threads on the subject throughout Boards on the subject.
In my opinion go for the oil and block the chimney with a chimney balloon.

The storage heaters would be roughly 15 to 18 years old. Well I would put a fire on as I like a open fires.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Don't forget the factor in the probability of oil-theft in your neighbourhood. This is organised affair, and losing E800 worth of oil a couple of times can make a relatively un-tamper-with-able ESB bill look attractive.

I wouldn't have that much in the oil tank would be €200 max. The only thing that is putting me off storage heaters due to me living in a apartment before and the bill would be so high.

BryanF wrote: »

Did the auctioneer offer a BER ?

I am looking at renting than buying.

Caliden · 10-10-2014 9:37am

You should still be able to find out the BER regardless.

Alf Veedersane · 10-10-2014 9:42am

Once you know how to set the storage heaters, they're not that expensive. Across a year, the average two-monthly bill would be maybe €130 max, if you err on the higher side, for two people in a mid-terrace house.

But it will depend on a lot of things, such as the insulation, heat leakage etc etc.

Alf Veedersane · 10-10-2014 9:44am

hopgirl wrote: »

I am looking at renting than buying.

Since 2009, landlords are required by law to have a building energy rating done whenever they offer a property for sale or rent, unless their premises are among a small number of excluded properties

Thargor · 10-10-2014 10:36am

Get a little Stanley woodburner or equivalent instead of the open fireplace, the difference is night and day.

ffactj · 11-10-2014 9:13am

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Once you know how to set the storage heaters, they're not that expensive. Across a year, the average two-monthly bill would be maybe €130 max, if you err on the higher side, for two people in a mid-terrace house.

But it will depend on a lot of things, such as the insulation, heat leakage etc etc.

This.
We actually stopped using the gas heating about 4 years ago and got electric storage heaters in.

We put aside how much we used to spend on gas in a year at the beginning of the year, and used that to pay the extra electricity used, that was above our normal electricity usage.
And we ended up that the storage heaters were actually costing just slightly more than half what gas heating was costing.

I was sceptical when a friend suggested doing this, as he had done it. Im converted now.
Learn how to use your storage heaters and they will be cheaper than fossil fuels.

hopgirl · 12-10-2014 12:20am

Thanks for the replys. Going to see apartment to rent it has a E1 rating it looks a lovely apartment.
Maybe I wasn't using the storage heaters right before.

dobsdave · 12-10-2014 12:23am

Storage heaters are a disaster, avoid if possible.
you basically need to decide the night before how much heat you will need the following day.

ffactj · 12-10-2014 12:23am

hopgirl wrote: »

Thanks for the replys. Going to see apartment to rent it has a E1 rating it looks a lovely apartment.
Maybe I wasn't using the storage heaters right before.

For an apartment the difference between a C and and A isnt all that much when it comes down to it. But the difference between an E and an A is big.
I wouldnt rent an apartment with less than a C BER

hopgirl · 12-10-2014 12:24am

Thanks for the replys. Going to see apartment to rent it has a E1 rating it looks a lovely apartment.
Maybe I wasn't using the storage heaters right before.

I see that some places has the ber rating done and some have not. If I request they might give the place to someone else.

ffactj · 12-10-2014 12:26am

dobsdave wrote: »

Storage heaters are a disaster, avoid if possible.
you basically need to decide the night before how much heat you will need the following day.

And this is an example of not knowing how to use a storage heater

No wonder it costs you a fortune.

hopgirl · 12-10-2014 12:30am

ffactj wrote: »

For an apartment the difference between a C and and A isnt all that much when it comes down to it. But the difference between an E and an A is big.
I wouldnt rent an apartment with less than a C BER

Maybe that is why no-one has rented the place yet. It has being up for over a week.

corkgsxr · 12-10-2014 12:41am

I could never get storage heaters to work in a inexpensive way. I find gas way better. I'd be very reluctant to go with a place with storage heaters

ted1 · 12-10-2014 8:46am

ffactj wrote: »

For an apartment the difference between a C and and A isnt all that much when it comes down to it. But the difference between an E and an A is big.
I wouldnt rent an apartment with less than a C BER

The BER has flaws if I like a place I wouldn't let that put me off. Simply things like putting in LED and programmable timer will increase it.

ted1 · 12-10-2014 8:48am

hopgirl wrote: »

Thanks for the replys. Going to see apartment to rent it has a E1 rating it looks a lovely apartment.
Maybe I wasn't using the storage heaters right before.

I see that some places has the ber rating done and some have not. If I request they might give the place to someone else.

Legally they all should have a BER

ffactj · 12-10-2014 9:23am

ted1 wrote: »

The BER has flaws if I like a place I wouldn't let that put me off. Simply things like putting in LED and programmable timer will increase it.

Thats why i wouldnt worry about one with a C rating and the gap between that and an A.
An E rating has a lot more than LEDs and a programmable timer as a gap between that and an a though.

corkgsxr · 12-10-2014 11:06am

ted1 wrote: »

The BER has flaws if I like a place I wouldn't let that put me off. Simply things like putting in LED and programmable timer will increase it.

What light bulbs are in too.

ffactj · 12-10-2014 11:36am

corkgsxr wrote: »

What light bulbs are in too.

i think thats what he means by LED

hopgirl · 12-10-2014 1:07pm

Thank you again. So I am sorry so by putting energy saving lights in to save energy. I thought the BER rating was also to do with how insulated the place was to keep the heat in?

Alf Veedersane · 12-10-2014 8:39pm

hopgirl wrote: »

Thank you again. So I am sorry so by putting energy saving lights in to save energy. I thought the BER rating was also to do with how insulated the place was to keep the heat in?

The BER covers all aspects of energy consumption. It looks at the insulation, windows, ventilation etc but it will also take lighting into account.

Putting in LEDs will improve it but not by much. But if you're renting it's one of the few low cost things you can do to reduce costs.

dobsdave · 20-10-2014 4:31am

ffactj wrote: »

And this is an example of not knowing how to use a storage heater
No wonder it costs you a fortune.

I think maybe you weren't using your gas heating properly.
Please explain how to use a storage heater then, if I have it wrong.

How do you heat your water?

ffactj · 20-10-2014 10:56pm

dobsdave wrote: »

I think maybe you weren't using your gas heating properly.
Please explain how to use a storage heater then, if I have it wrong.

How do you heat your water?

Yeah im probably the only person in the world who can figure out electric storage heating but who cant figure out gas heating so.

Water gets heated on a timer. Heated in the morning on half price electricity.
Still hot at night. Could be boosted for 20 mins if needed but probably only needed to do that 4 or 5 times in a year tbh,

dobsdave · 20-10-2014 11:07pm

ffactj wrote: »

Yeah im probably the only person in the world who can figure out electric storage heating but who cant figure out gas heating so.

Water gets heated on a timer. Heated in the morning on half price electricity.
Still hot at night. Could be boosted for 20 mins if needed but probably only needed to do that 4 or 5 times in a year tbh,

So you're using an emmersion once per day for all your hot water, thats impressive, depending on how long its on for.
And the explanation of what I got wrong on the storage heater use?
I grew up in a house with storage heaters, maybe we were using them wrong.

ffactj · 20-10-2014 11:34pm

dobsdave wrote: »

So you're using an emmersion once per day for all your hot water, thats impressive, depending on how long its on for.
And the explanation of what I got wrong on the storage heater use?
I grew up in a house with storage heaters, maybe we were using them wrong.

Well Obviously you were not using them correctly, if you are only looking for instructions on how to use them now.

Do you think that an insulated tank of water heated in the morning wont last all day?

Do you know how gas heating heats your water tank? Do you know how electric heating heats your water tank? Do you know which is the more efficient transfer of the energy?

For your question to me about the mistakes you were making with your storage heating I need more information from you.

How were you operating them (if you dont tell me this how can i possibly tell you what you did wrong)?
Whats the make and model of your storage heaters?

Sure i'll google the instructions for you if you cant use google either.

marco_polo · 21-10-2014 12:02am

Really depends on the place, storage heaters are pretty ok option in a highly insulated modern building, but otherwise I would go with a heating option that you turn on while you are there.

We have them in our place (pretty old one I might add) and they are not so good, would add about € 130-150 onto the electric bill, which is not so bad in iteself if you can rely on the building to retain the heat. But in our rented appartment even with the output at zero much of it is gone by the time we get home because of crappy insulation, so I have to mostly rely on an open fire to do the job instead.

dobsdave · 21-10-2014 12:08am

Getting a bit stroppy there, no need.
I'm talking about the basic principle of storage heaters.....

So you still havent addressed my point, do you have to decide today, what/if any heat you will need tomorrow?

If you need instant heat and your heaters weren't charged the night before, what do you do?

king_of_inismac · 22-10-2014 11:02pm

They are not designed for instant heat. They are designed to maintain a nice ambient temperature over a long period.

You need a well insulated place for them to work well (same as most heating methods).

You do lose the ability to get a quick boost of heat, but that's a comprosmise you have to consider yourself.

What costs more to run?

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