How to heat my property?

Finding a solution to heating your property without the use of gas is quite difficult. Electric heating are next most popular source other than gas. Although now sell gas boilers, electric heating is still our main option with having over 12 different brands available. Click here to see the gas boilers that we now offer. Read on to find different ways to heat your property.

Hot water only:

Depending on the size of your property will determine the options you have. Please see our other blogs to size it correctly: One bedroom, Two Bedroom, Three Bedroom

Different ways to heat my property:

Instantaneous heaters are very appealing; compact, well priced and cheap to run. However, instantaneous units does have a few disadvantages. This type of heater is perfect for a 1 bed apartment where all the outlets will be within 2m of the heater (without a bath). Instantaneous units also work well in isolated areas. For example, if you have a large property with a gas boiler on the ground floor and a bathroom on the 2nd floor, the water will reduce in temperature over that distance, so you could install an instantaneous unit to just supply that one bathroom. The most popular range of instantaneous units is made by Zip.

Storage type heaters is a very broad section. These start as small as 5L and go as large as 300L as standard. With storage tanks operating at mains pressure it makes them an ideal solution to serve multiple outlets at any one time. With storage tanks there are two types vented and unvented. 95% of units installed are unvented. Vented heaters are more commonly used for one basin with a vented tap. It is also used as an over sink heater with a spout on.  Unvented heaters are used with normal mixer taps, so these are able to supply multiple outlets. For larger units that supply a whole property from mains water then you would need an unvented direct cylinder.

Thermal store heaters are common in flats and properties that do not have access to a outside wall. As unvented cylinders need to release outside. This makes thermal store units the only real option for a large property with no access to vent out of the property. The way this heats the water is the opposite of indirect cylinders. The water inside the tank heats the water inside the coil, the water inside the coil then supplies your outlets with hot water.

Heating only:

For heating only, we have a couple of options:

Flow boilers work as a sealed system that heats wet radiators like a gas boiler would. The flow boilers can also run underfloor heating. In brief, one standard radiator requires 1.5kW to heat it. For example, if you have 6 radiators then you would need a 9kW flow boiler. With underfloor heating it is between 70-100W per square meter. If you need more detail to work out what you require then please read our central heating blog and underfloor heating blog which goes more in depth into the calculations.

Another source of heating only that we offer is Herschel infrared heaters. These come in many different variants from wall panels to mirrors, outdoor space heaters and ceiling mounted domes that emit heat by using infrared waves. Infrared heating is different – it uses radiant heat. This directly heats objects in the room instead of the air.

Heating and hot water:

For both heating and hot water, you can mix and match any of the last two categories to create a spilt system. If you go for a storage tank heater with a flow boiler. You can have them as two completely separate systems or you can link them together with an indirect cylinder. With an indirect boiler it uses the heated water from the flow boiler circuit to go through the coil and this heats the water inside the tank. If you need more information on the differences between ‘Direct’ and ‘Indirect’ cylinders then read our blog on Direct vs Indirect.

Like gas combi boilers electric boilers offer one complete system as an electric combi. However, only two companies make electric combi boilers, Heatrea Sadia with the Electromax and Advance Appliances ECB. In the Electromax range they have 4 units, 2 for underfloor and 2 for central heating. Each section has then got an option for 6kW or 9kW depending on what you need it to supply. The tank capacity for hot water is 180L indirect unit, so it works with the heating boiler inside to provide your hot water. The indirect boiler has also got a backup element inside in case the heating boiler has an issue.

If you need any more information on choosing the right system to heat our property, please let us know – our team of advisors are available to discuss through the options with you. You can either give them a call on 01934 253600 or use our live Online Chat option in the bottom right of our website at Electrical Deals Direct.