Temporary Electric Heating

[richo106]

Hi all

 

i have just bought a run down bungalow that we will have to live in for around 2 years before we can the major extension/ renovations. We need to make it livable and currently have no central heating/hot water etc (we have no mains gas in the village so only got really really old oil boiler) 

 

As we don’t know exactly what we will use long term, either ashp/solar panels/ oil etc and it would cost upwards of £6000 to have new oil boiler, new tank, oil and install

 

My idea is to install cheap electric radiators in all rooms, under sink water heater in the kitchen, under sink water heater in my wife’s hairdressing room and then an electric shower. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Devola-Electric-Thermostat-Compliant-Slimline/dp/B08KGJQ5BL/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=devola%2Belectric%2Bpanel%2Bheater&qid=1625084892&sprefix=devola&sr=8-3&th=1&psc=1

 

I know it will cost me a lot more in energy but does this seem feasible? Sensible?

 

Ive never done as big project as this so just looking for advice on this

 

All advice/info welcome 

 

Many Thanks 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by richo106

[Crofter]

When you say off-grid, do you just mean no mains gas?

[richo106]

1 minute ago, Crofter said:

When you say off-grid, do you just mean no mains gas?

I have just edited original post but yes sorry no mains gas 

[Crofter]

You could ditch the fancy wifi wall heaters and buy oil-filled portable heaters next time they're on offer in Lidl. Mine was about £40 I think for a 2kw. Add a budget electric shower (well under £100) and likewise basic undersink heater. We spent the last five years having to boil a kettle every time washed the dishes, so that one is optional. Shop around for the best priced electricity supplier and you're good to go.

[Jilly]

17 minutes ago, Crofter said:

You could ditch the fancy wifi wall heaters and buy oil-filled portable heaters next time they're on offer in Lidl. Mine was about £40 I think for a 2kw. Add a budget electric shower (well under £100) and likewise basic undersink heater. We spent the last five years having to boil a kettle every time washed the dishes, so that one is optional. Shop around for the best priced electricity supplier and you're good to go.

Is it possible to stay warm enough like this in winter? We'll have a small 1 bed bungalow (with a high ceiling in the main room), it will be reasonably well insulated,  but I'm really struggling to decide on a central heating system because I've got an article 4 directive so can't have a woodburning stove I'd like, until we have completed, and I can apply for planning permission (I have free wood)

[richo106]

I forgot to add we have a proper wood burning fire place that would could utilise 

[ProDave]

Have a look for this type    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154475706253?hash=item23f778378d%3Ag%3A9e4AAOSwG1BgtfLN&LH_ItemCondition=1000

 

We have a few of them that we used to keep the static caravan warm during the build.  Cheap as chips, 3 power levels and a thermostat.  They can also be wall mounted though they will not look very pretty.

 

These seem to be exempt from the silly LOT20 rules that now demand fixed heaters have over complicated controls that nobody can understand, in the name of saving energy.

 

You should be able to find that sort on sale in your local hardware shops etc as well though probably not as cheap as you can buy on line.

 

P.S that link was just to illustrate the type of heater.  Search a bit harder and you will find them even cheaper.

[Lorenz]

I lived in Latvia and for a few years we were in a cottage with a brick type skin, was probably log cabin underneath. 1 log burner in the living room and the other rooms we put in wall mounted french oil filled radiators with thermostats. Gets down to about -30 but was far more comfortable than the house we are in now. The radiators were great. If you have a supply of logs, you owe it to yourself to build a masonry stove, they are about 3000 years in advance of what most people use in the UK  

Was very cost effective, way way cheaper than the Calor gas system we have where we are or the mains gas system we had before we went there.

[SteamyTea]

9 hours ago, Lorenz said:

way way cheaper

Surely that depends where you stop measuring the costs.  If you take environmental costs (and people that burn timber never do) into account, you may find that there is a lot less value.

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

....  If you take environmental costs (and people that burn timber never do) into account ...

 

I dropped in to our local firewood merchant the other day. 

He has transformed the way he works and sells wood. All the wood  is stacked so that it dries better - by coincidence in the way it has been in Germany for many years. He's done it not quite as a Holzhaus (wood house), but very much neater, split into Toblerone shaped  chunks, and stacked so that the air gets to his stock better. Yes, he'll still sell you a 1 tonne bag of random chunks of wet wood, but it's a start.

 

In Germany, there's a kind of pride in doing it more neatly  than your neighbour. And in the Black Forest, (outside towns) it is still more common to see wood stoves than any other heating 

Couldn't find an image on German sites, but this is the idea.....

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by ToughButterCup

[joe90]

4 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

In Germany, there's a kind of pride in doing it more neatly  than your neighbour

I consider that a challenge ?‍♂️

[Lorenz]

It is normally done that way on the Baltic, and narrower stacks, problem is so many have left the countryside to work in the UK, few of what is left are capable of stacking without it collapsing on them. Not sure if he is allowed to sell wet wood? Seems many in the UK keep it in sections then split it before sale. I have a hydrometer and have not had a satisfactory batch from anybody, so really needs buying and storing for a couple of years before ready, even though it is sold as supposedly dry.

 

[Crofter]

14 hours ago, Jilly said:

Is it possible to stay warm enough like this in winter? We'll have a small 1 bed bungalow (with a high ceiling in the main room), it will be reasonably well insulated,  but I'm really struggling to decide on a central heating system because I've got an article 4 directive so can't have a woodburning stove I'd like, until we have completed, and I can apply for planning permission (I have free wood)

 

We've spent the last eight years in a drafty single glazed house in NW Scotland, heated entirely by electricity and a small woodburner. We're still alive. It's definitely not an economical long term solution of course.

 

[SteamyTea]

3 hours ago, Lorenz said:

I have a hydrometer and have not had a satisfactory batch from anybody, so really needs buying and storing for a couple of years before ready, even though it is sold as supposedly dry.

You can report that to Trading Standards.  Not allowed to be sold unless it is over a fixed amount (can't remember what that is 2 tonne?).

But the whole environmental thing is a lot more than just the moisture content.

[gaz_moose]

id probably buy some old electric storage heaters off ebay/market place for the main rooms then use oil filled rads for the others.

[markocosic]

Depending on the floorplan (how open is it?) I'd buy:

 

 

An air to air heat pump (mini split) for your base load heating. Later it can be occasional us cooling or backup heating. £750 to £1000 and should pay for itself within the two years on electricity savings. R290 based units are legal for DIY fit.

 

Oil filled rads for supplemental heat to bedrooms. Shouldn't be needed much at all later go in the attic for emergencies. Get ones with good thermostats. Funny but anything with an exposed wire heating element. They fill with skin dust and smell of old people. (hot skin dust)

 

The above leaves you with something useful at the end whereas storage heater and economy 7 option leaves you with a pile of rubbish to get rid of again. If you can pick them up for literally free then perhaps worth it but I don't like them.

 

 

If there's a backup immersion heater for hot water then use it. Or fix it. Else:

 

An electric shower for sure. Maybe an under sink heater for the bathroom (if you care - a mirror in the shower works just as well for shaving...) but I'd try without as it's less faff.

 

A dishwasher that you'll reuse later. Screw hand washing. The dishwasher gets it cleaner and makes its own hot water. 

 

A kettle and one of those portable induction hobs. For emergency got water on the occasion it's needed for cleaning other things. Rarely if you have a dishwasher.

 

 

Stats the status of the old oil system? Tank and boiler dead? Are the rads and hot water tank viable?

 

 

[Dave Jones]

economy7 night storeage.