Electric central heating systems

Summary: Electric central heating system guide, advantages of electric central heating and disadvantages of electric central heating.

Electric central heating

An electrical central heating system is a heating system provided throughout a home or building that is powered using electricity only. Electric central heating is an alternative to gas heated systems, which are the most common.

Although electrical heating offers different varieties such as panel heaters (electric radiators) and fan heaters; a good money saving system is the storage heater. The electricity is provided at night which is stored in special heat retaining bricks that give off the heat all through the next day. The benefit of the electricity being used to heat these bricks overnight is to save money as the electricity will be used on the cheaper night time tariff.

Advantages:

  • A heating system that is powered by electricity will be both effective and non-wasteful. As the heat is produced and emitted straight from the radiator/heater, all heat is sent into the room and is not wasted in pipes or hot water systems in other parts of the house.
  • Electrical heating appliances are much cheaper and quicker to install than their gas counterpart, as no pipes or other complicated plumbing is required.
  • The simplicity of the electrical system makes maintenance almost irrelevant. Unlike gas heating systems, electric heating will not require an annual service. The electric system is also much more reliable, making it less likely to breakdown.
  • Mains electricity is more easily and widely available as opposed to gas which is less accessible.

Disadvantages:

  • Unfortunately electricity prices are just as high as gas prices. This is unlikely to change as they tend to stay parallel to each other. Pricing forecasts suggest little in the way of cost reductions.
  • The advantage of running the storage heater is that it uses heat at night, which is only cheaper if you use an ‘Economy 7’ or ‘10’ tariff. If so, electricity used at night is cheaper, however, electricity used during the day (such as kitchen appliances) will be higher than on a standard single-rate tariff.
  • Instant control over storage heaters is not possible due to the fact that the storage bricks release heat day and night depending on the amount stored in the bricks. To adjust the amount of heat given off the next day, you have to set the amount of heat stored overnight depending on how much you think you will need.

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