Combi boiler vs storage heaters? I have a blank heating canvas and want a cheap fix to last two or so years...

by LoveSoph 05 May 2009 |

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I'm currently looking into buying a property, and oddly (it's 2009, so I think it is odd) it has no central heating. It has gas for the cooker, and electricity for the rest, so I can go either way.
There are spaces where the previous owner had storage heaters. My parents have always heated their house with these and I can honestly say I have never been cold in their house. They like them and say they are cheap to run.
On the other hand, my partner has always had gas and radiators. I like them too.
So, what's the cost/benefit analysis for this?! Is it worth the upheaval and decorating to start from scratch with new radiators and gas? Or do a few strategically placed storage heaters seem to be just as good?
Help please, we can't guarantee the summer will still be here by the time we exchange - or even tomorrow...!
LoveSoph
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Comments (21)

62

TheWelshman posted
I have never had anyhting apart from radiators! so i cant help there..
But, we took out the British Gas insurance which fixes your boiler if anything goes wrong!
We bought quite an old house so the boiler was over 10 year old! They have come out and fixed it twice for us and we saved hundreds of pounds in bills or even thousands of pounds in replacing the whole thing.
Posted on 05 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
114

ThatLindseyGuy posted
My experience of central heating is that if you're cold right now, you can be warm again in half an hour or so.
My experience of storage heaters is that if you're cold now, you can be warm again in two days or so!
I'm not sure if this was specific to the property I was in (Victorian terraced house with thin walls and old storage heaters) but given my experience living with them, there's no way I'd recommend storage heaters to anybody that had a choice.
Posted on 05 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
824

MikeGG1 posted
The problem with storage heaters is that they take a long time to warm up and then give off heat when you don't need it. You can boost the heating when you need it but they will always be emitting heat even when you don't want it.
They are the cheaper option to install, with less disruption, but for a long-term fix and a higher value on resale, go for a boiler and radiators.
With a boiler, you can have no heating while you are tucked up cosily in bed and have them coming on shortly before you wake up so that the house is warm enough for you to emerge from your cocoon and then stop again a little before you go off to work.
The same in the evening. Have the heat coming on just before you get back from work and then stop a liitle before before bedtime. The timers these days can be set on a different basis for weekends as opposed to weekdays or even different for every day of the week.
That way no heat is wasted by radiators but storage heaters may be cheaper and easier to install but are more expensive to run.
Mike
Posted on 06 May 2009 | Love 3 loves Report
9

LoveSoph posted
Looks like gas gets the thumbs up then! Thanks very much.
As for the cost, that's another thing I am clueless about! Could any kind soul give me a ballpark figure on a three-bed house?
Posted on 06 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
62

TheWelshman posted
Well when our combi boiler went and they were going to replace it, they were going to charge £2000!!
But i dont know the cost of putting in radiators. I think you can ring British Gas and they will give you discount on a new boiler if you join them? Not 100% sure on the deal though
Posted on 06 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
21

loveWheel posted
NEVER get storage heaters. I had a bad experience with them at uni: You have to predict the temperature for the next day; because they are warming up at night you might wake up to find the bedroom is like a sauna at 5am; on a cold day it will have cooled down by evening when you get home. Sometimes they got so hot during the night they tripped out so you get no heat the next day; they cost a fortune in electricity too (I got a £300 elec bill for the winter quarter)
I know you've already established that you want central heating but I never miss an opportunity to rant about those stupid things
Posted on 06 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
212

SoftwareBear posted
My mum has been quoted £4600 to remove old boiler + cylinder + add new boiler + cylinder + 1 radiator.
Most of the cost is labour ...
Boiler for three bed is around £1000 from British Gas ... radiators are £100 ish depending on size ... cylinders are £200 ish.
Labour appears to be about £100 an hour ... probably for two people.
But if this is a two year fix ... I'd just use fan heaters or portable gas bottle heaters like they use in Portugal (giant Tilly lamps). They provide instant heat.
I presume you have a hot water heater ?
Is it really only a two year fix ?
Posted on 06 May 2009 | Love 1 love Report
5

lovemoth posted
I'm also not a big fan of storage heaters for the reasons cited above, they can also be quite bulky and not as useful for hanging clothes over.

A member of the lovemoney.com design team.
Posted on 06 May 2009 | Love 1 love Report
9

LoveSoph posted
Thanks very much for all your help, looks like we shall be biting the bullet and going for the big messy radiator job.
Perhaps my parents' 40 years of storage heater experience means they have perfected the art of forecasting the weather!
Incidentally, lovemoth implied above that he hangs out washing, an untruth I am afraid!
Posted on 06 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
14

GrandJury posted
My parents recently moved into an appartment in a purpose built block with a central heating unit that ran the whole building and frequently packed up.
They removed their radiator system and replaced them with electric panel wall heaters. The flat has high ceilings and the heating seems to be fine whenever I've visited. Though not 'toastie', moden electric radiators give off more consistent radient heat, rather than traditional radiators which can give off a harsher localised heat.
The benefits:
According to their calc's it was more economical and relies on electricity rather than gas, which in their opinion was less likely to increase in price.
Any electrician can install and you can take them with you if you move and they just attach to any wall.
Drawbacks:
I presume they were more expensive than standard radiators, although possibly not more expensive than installing an entirely new heating system.
You still need a source for hot water.
Have found this site so far, I'll find out what brand my parents installed.
http://www.ecolec.co.uk/products.asp
Posted on 06 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
9

LoveSoph posted
Thanks GJ, that's very helpful, and definitely something to consider.
We've had new input about storage heaters and Economy 7, which threw a spanner in the works too! It seems that both camps have converts.
Posted on 07 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
41

russbiker posted
I've had storage heaters in my electricity-only flat for 25 years now and am quite happy with them. Sure, they heat up overnight and release next day, but you soon get used to judging how much heat you need. If you get it wrong, just keep a fanheater for emergency!
They don't cost as much to run as you'd think.
Posted on 08 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
4

Concord UK posted
On costs please seek estimates from installers other than BG if you don't want to be ripped off. My combi gas boiler was replaced by a local Corgie registered installer for £900 against an estimate of £2,300 from BG. The new combi boiler is a Baxi and was readily covered by the Heat Team in conjunction with D&G insurance for less than BG costs. I have never had to call them out except on routine maintenance.
My daughter has electric storage system which costs more for a 2 bedroom bungalow than my heating does for a four bedroom house. As pointed out by others, electric storage heaters are totally inflexible giving out heat when not needed and leaving you cold when most needed. Her night storage water system constantly requires recourse to the peak emersion heater at enormous cost.
Posted on 08 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
4

Concord UK posted
One final point, gas supply is not subject to the 'Green Obligation' so you live with market prices of gas. With electricity you suffer the enormaous costs of installing wind generators (4 times the cost of modern CCGT gas fired plant) and the price hikes from the electricity producers haemoraging money to pay for carbon credits within the carbon trading fiasco.
For those who think widmills are unpleasant landscape spoilers so best off-shore, the cost of wind turbine installations off shore is 8 times gas fired CCGT plant in £/kw installed.
Posted on 08 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
2

geoffpfc posted
There are several important questions to be asked before a recommendation can be made:-
1. What type of property - flat, house etc.
2. When was it built
3 Has the insulation been upgraded
4 What type of external doors and windows are fitted.
5 How do you heat your hot water.
6 How many people live in the property
7 Is any one home during the day
If you can provide this info then it will be possible to recommend a system, ignore the figure of £900 for the Baxi as no reputable installer could install a modern combi for that money, as they normally have to be a condensing (high efficiency) boiler - I would expect you to pay £3000 for a complete new system with 6 radiators.
Regards
Geoff
Posted on 08 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
4

Pechis posted
Major use problem with storage heaters is the need to predict the weather so they can store heat over the previous night.
Major environmental problem is that they use electricity, the most polluting energy source unless it comes from renewables.
Combi boilers are fine for small households, you get instant heat on demand for domestic hot water, there is no storage cyclinder. fine for showers but may take ages to run a bath.
Posted on 08 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
175

oldhenry posted
Storage heaters ( SH) are far more reliable than gas boilers, the latter are now prone to all sorts of nasty costly problems at £200 a time to fix. Fan flues, computerised controls, circuit boards.The condensate also means that they have to be fixed in - often- places you do not want them.
But SHs are not quick to adjust, I have a GCH and SH, as the two are compatible. I have a SH in a room that I want constantly and consistently warm, but other parts of the house are heated as and when, I aslo have a wood burning stove which is brilliant.
Fir adjustement , just look at the weather forcast, not rocket science if you can read and the seasons are fairly predictable, i.e cold unless July and August. But you have the water to heat too.
Use washing machines/dishwasher in the night to save costs.
Modern SH are much better than old ones, and my mother had the early ones in 1960s.
The GCH will be more popular with a buyer though, but it will cost £3 to £4K if fitted properly and is a reliable boiler( Worcester).
So I would go for GCH but have a SH in rooms you want to be warm constantly- if any.
Posted on 08 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
0

Fountains Paul posted
I agree with Old Henry. We live in one of two large semis. We have gas central heating run by a modern Worcester Condensing Boiler. The house is warm where we need it and the condensing boiler is much more efficient than its predecessor. Next door has storage heaters. The place is often cold after an unexpected cold night.
By the way, do not confuse condensing boilers with combi boilers. Most modern gas boilers are condensing ones - they squeeze the maximum heat out of the gas (so the water from burning the gas, not your radiator water, condenses as it passes through a heat exchanger). In addition, combi boilers provide "instant" hot water and so do not require the traditional cold water header tank anmd hot water cylinder. There are no heat losses from a cylinder, so your hot water should be slightly cheaper to produce from a combi boiler. BUT they are useless in hard water areas.
If you choose central heating find some Gas SAFE Register (formerly CORGI) firms and get at least three quotes. By all means include British Gas, but unless they are running a promotion you'll find their regular prices very high.
Posted on 09 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
0

RGWALRUS posted
Hi, I live in one of the wettest and coolest places in the uk,In an old croft house which has been heavily insulated, it is heated by quite old night storage heaters which I came with property which we purchased 14yrs ago the four rooms are heated fine all year round by these heaters set them correctly for the season and back up with something else for those unexpected cold snaps. P.S. I am at home 24hrs a day six days a week no complaints!
Posted on 09 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
0

TWOHOOTS posted
Gas presently costs about 2.6 p a kwatt electricity about 10 so gas systems are always cheaper to run for equivalent heat .If the existing boiler is reasonably new you might as well keep it for hot water.A sepatate boiler for heating means you are never without both hot water and heating .Multipoint water heaters are very reliable combi boilers are not.
Central heating systems are usually only as good as their controls ,thermostatic radiator valves and timers should be regaerded as essential.Remember with a combined system you cannot totally switch the boiler off if you want hot water so delay for parts or plumbers holday leaves you both cold and dirty.Its incidentally cheaper to run separate boilers but if you put in a new installation it costs more but 25 years of experience of both systems convinces me that it is the long term cheapest alternative.
Posted on 09 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report
3

AbogadoNZ posted
Heat pumps are the only way to go. They are virtually maintenance free, quiet and if you select the most efficient will deliver the equivalent of 5kw of heat (or more) per unit for a the cost of 1.0 - 1.25kw of power. The only downside is installation cost. Shop around and you should be able to get prporietory brand, high efficiency models for a thousand pounds or so. A three bed house of up to 200metres (2000 feet) will require 3 but they have to be positionied at strategic points - by an expert.
Posted on 10 May 2009 | Love 0 loves Report

Combi boiler vs storage heaters? I have a blank heating canvas and want a cheap fix to last two or so years...

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