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Electric Hot water
JC - 13/11/24 at 06:14 PM

My son lives in a modern 3 bed town house. It has Economy 7 heating (fairly pointless as day and night tariffs are the same)
The unvented cylinder in his hot water system has sprung a leak and needs replacing.
There is him, his fiancee and a baby in the house but they both work.
He would like something that gives him instant hot water....
Any thoughts on whether he should stick with a cylinder or switch to a instantaneous heater?

Thanks


cliftyhanger - 13/11/24 at 09:02 PM

I am refurbing some flats I own/rent out.
A small I bed flat I fitted an ariston 9kw instantab=nious water heater. Does what it says on the tin, fine for a shower but a bit low poe=wered for a kitchen sink and woukld be useless for a bath unless you are very very patient.

Can they not swap to an E7 tariff? with HHR storage heaters (I use them in all electric flats) the EPC is massively improved, so I assume they do work effectively.


JC - 14/11/24 at 04:36 AM

Hi there,

The E7 tariffs he has been offered don’t make sense - no cheaper overnight, just more expensive in the day!

What are HHR storage heaters btw?


HowardB - 14/11/24 at 11:54 AM

I have got E7 and get a 50% discount on my E7 tariff

It is with Scottish Power. Looking at Octopus, that has an E7 tariff that is 50% of the day rate.
What day rate are you paying? 15pence?


adam1985 - 14/11/24 at 05:49 PM

It all depends on budget and what plans he has if any regarding the space heating,
A Heat pump cylinder would meet your dhw demands and be the most efficient but would be the most expensive option

https://professional.vaillant.co.uk/for-installers/products/renewable-systems/air-source-heat-pumps/arostor-air-to-water-heat-pump-2616385.html

If he wants something that gives instant dhw I would go with a combi boiler and just pipe up 1x rad in the closest room/hall then he can always add radiators to the other rooms when he’s ready


JoelP - 14/11/24 at 08:08 PM

I read op to mean there's no gas at the property.


cliftyhanger - 14/11/24 at 08:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by JC
Hi there,

The E7 tariffs he has been offered don’t make sense - no cheaper overnight, just more expensive in the day!

What are HHR storage heaters btw?


HHR is high heat retention. They work MUCH better than the old storage heaters. Apparently.


adam1985 - 14/11/24 at 09:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
I read op to mean there's no gas at the property.


Yes that’s not clear, it’s not uncommon to run a combi on lpg bottles though or even get a bulk tank installed which is free (you would be contracted to the supplier though)

It all depends on the long term aim.


JC - 15/11/24 at 03:48 AM

Bizarrly the 2 next door houses either side both have gas CH - no idea why his place opted for electric!
He did move in during the ‘energy crisis’ so I’ll get him to look again at the tariffs available.
Putting in a combi boiler and doing just 1 radiator is a good idea though.


cliftyhanger - 15/11/24 at 04:13 AM

If putting gas into the property, it would be sensible to have a full set of rads fitted. That will reduce heating costs considerably over electric.
The extra over just one rad will be small in comparison to the boiler install, and a good investment.

Some people were scared of gas, or succumbed to the advertising back in the 80s of going all electric.


ianhurley20 - 16/11/24 at 10:30 AM

I live in an area with no gas but don't use electric heating or hot water. We use heating oil. Reasonable sized 3 bed detached 25 year old house. We have a 1200 litre oil tank and one year uses 600 litres of oil. The wall mounted boiler is a similar size to a gas one. Yes the price fluctuates so after using 500litres (minimum order) we then monitor prices and if too high then wait until it drops. During Covid it dropped to 19 p per litre currently at 58 p