If gas central heating isn’t available in your home, the chances are you’re heating is supplied by storage heaters. But many homeowners today are finding that the drawbacks of old-fashioned storage heaters aren’t suiting their lifestyle. So should you look to replace or upgrade your storage heaters? Read on for more advice:
What are the disadvantages of storage heaters?
As storage heaters store heat up overnight and release it during the day, they are therefore cheaper to run overnight on special electricity tariffs. But this does make daytime electricity tariffs more expensive to offset this. They may also release more heat than you need in mild weather and run out of heat when you need it in cold weather. Storage heaters can also produce a very ‘dry’ heat, which may irritate some people.
How do modern electric radiators work?
The ‘dry’ electric radiator system uses oil or water filled radiators; this liquid is heated electronically from the mains supply and heats the room. Alternatively, the ‘wet’ system uses water heated through an electric boiler which is pumped through a system of radiators or under floor heating.
What are the advantages of modern electric radiators?
Modern electric radiators are efficient and will heat up a room within minutes of being switched on. and you can normally also time the heating of every room with a time-on, time-off system, so you can easily regulate the temperature of your home. Heat is released more evenly, eliminating cold spots, and they also take up less wall space. They are often more energy efficient than storage heaters due to their modern controls, and can save you money if you switch to a standard electricity tariff.
Can I simply upgrade my storage heaters?
If you don’t want to switch to electric radiators, you can upgrade to modern storage heaters, which offer better charge controls, enabling them to vary the heat input and storage in response to the weather, and more heat can be supplied using a different element and the mains power supply if necessary.
For more information on electric radiators, visit: http://www.londonplumbers.co.uk/electric-central-heating.asp.
