Infrared heating vs. Storage Heaters: What are the savings?
Many homes across the UK use storage heaters as their primary form of heating and we regularly hear from home owners that are looking to replace their old night storage with a more efficient form of heating.
One of the most common questions we are asked is how does night storage heaters compare to far infrared heating and what are the cost savings.
Storage heaters:
Storage heaters are possibly one of the most inefficient forms of heaters available. Yet they can be often found in homes and premises where no gas connection is available.
Heat from night storage is often supplied during the night and then in part of the day. Many occupants during this time are sleeping and then at work and this is not time when the heat needs to be on.
Heat energy cannot be stored and then released on demand, something that makes night storage particularly hard to control and wasteful.
If you are on an Economy 7 tariff then running a storage heater (as well as your other electrical items) during the day is extremely expensive.
Many storage heaters have power outputs of 2.5kw to up to 5kw so their draw on electricity is high, making them very expensive to run.
All storage heaters heat the air (convection based heating) and warm air circulates in a room and once the room is filled with warm air, it feels warm. Infrared panel heaters heat people and objects directly and have an almost instant effect. This means heaters need to be on for less time and present further money saving benefits.
But what about the running costs and how would the two forms compare to each other?
In order to work this out for yourself, you need to know what you are paying per KwH. Usually this can vary from 10.5p to 16p per KwH. For our analysis below we will use 14p/Kwh as a guideline.
Storage heater (on Economy 7)
- 2.5kw x 6p = 15p an hour
- 15p an hour x 8 hours a day = £1.20
- £1.20 a day x 7 days a week = £8.40
- £8.40 a week x 52 weeks a year = £436.80 a year
From our experience typically 1kw to replace the above storage heater (this will ultimately depend on insulation levels of the room you are trying to heat)
- 1kw x 14p = 14p an hour
- 14p an hour x 7 hours a day = 98p a day
- 98p a day x 7 days a week = £6.86 a week
- £6.86 a week x 52 weeks a year = £356.72 a year!
That’s a total saving of £80.08 in the first year.
The above working out has been a conservative estimation of what one could expect to pay when switching to infrared.
Some points to consider:
- Ultimately the real saving with infrared is how the heat is delivered
- As soon as you turn the panel on it will heat up objects straight away
- Infrared is very good for your health.
- From past experience, homeowners rarely have IR panels on for 7 hours a day.
If you would like to know more and whether far infrared heating can benefit your home or workplace then please do not hesitate to contact us on 01205 821 796.
