Joule therm heating system

[fizzy]

I was so grateful for the lucht heaters during the cold winter. I still have a standard panel heater in the bedroom so was able the compare, and the other rooms felt a lot better! That said, they needed to be on most of the time, but relatives with gas etc were saying much the same.
I'll try & dig out some figures over the weekend but it is tricky to compare when the previous year was much milder etc & with lucht you don't get the benefit of cheap night rate. But i still think there were some savings & we were much warmer which is the main thing!

 

[Leo]

That said, they needed to be on most of the time, but relatives with gas etc were saying much the same.

Just in case anyone mistakes this for a convergence of running costs of electric and gas heating, even the most efficient electric heating systems will still cost you ~4 times as much as a modern gas boiler to deliver 1 kWh of heat energy to the room.

Costs for the two sources to provide the same heat outputs would align pretty closely if your gas heating system was only running at about 30% efficiency, which would be very unusual.

 

[fizzy]

Just in case anyone mistakes this for a convergence of running costs of electric and gas heating, even the most efficient electric heating systems will still cost you ~4 times as much as a modern gas boiler to deliver 1 kWh of heat energy to the room.

Costs for the two sources to provide the same heat outputs would align pretty closely if your gas heating system was only running at about 30% efficiency, which would be very unusual.

Absolutely - sorry for any confusion here. My elec bills are still very high & I'd still view electric heating as the worst possible option.
I just meant that during the cold snap, people were generally using far more of whatever heating they had than usual.

 

[fizzy]

Found my comparison figures after first year having replaced main living room storage heater (3 Kw?) with lucht 1800 and 2 Kw panel heater in home office with lucht 1200.

Feb 2016 - 2017 (pre Lucht): 52% day units, 48% night

Feb 2017 - 2018 (post Lucht): 77% day units, 23% night
26% increase in day units
60% decrease in night units
But just a 1% reduction in overall cost

However, last Winter was severe whereas the previous one was mild, so when I exclude the Dec-Feb bills, there was an 8% cost reduction.

So my experience has been that there is a modest cost saving, but the main positive is definitely a warmer, more comfortable apartment with a proper central heating feel.

 

[liddy.mc@gmail]

@fizzy just wondering are you still happy with the Lucht heaters?
I'm considering replacing my storage/ panel heaters and can't decide between EcoVolt & Lucht....

 

[fizzy]

@fizzy just wondering are you still happy with the Lucht heaters?
I'm considering replacing my storage/ panel heaters and can't decide between EcoVolt & Lucht....

Yes, still thrilled with the lucht heaters & no issues at all with either one yet a few years on (hope I don't jinx it saying that!).

Mind you I've no knowledge/experience of EcoVolt so they could be just as great or better of course...

But I can speak relative to standard storage and panel heaters, and there is no comparison. So I'd definitely advise replacing them with something.

The day my old main storage heater broke down mid winter was a blessing in disguise, because of all the toasty days I've had since

 

[liddy.mc@gmail]

Yes, still thrilled with the lucht heaters & no issues at all with either one yet a few years on (hope I don't jinx it saying that!).

Mind you I've no knowledge/experience of EcoVolt so they could be just as great or better of course...

But I can speak relative to standard storage and panel heaters, and there is no comparison. So I'd definitely advise replacing them with something.

The day my old main storage heater broke down mid winter was a blessing in disguise, because of all the toasty days I've had since

Thanks for your quick response @fizzy
That's exactly what's happened to me, main storage heater broken down so it's now or never I suppose (plus, getting parts for a 30+ years old storage heater isn't that easy apparently!) I'm just a bit concerned that I'd be losing my night rate....

 

[fizzy]

Thanks for your quick response @fizzy
That's exactly what's happened to me, main storage heater broken down so it's now or never I suppose (plus, getting parts for a 30+ years old storage heater isn't that easy apparently!) I'm just a bit concerned that I'd be losing my night rate....

The night rate is a factor. If you get enough heat out of it by just heating it at night, perhaps look into newer storage heater models. They could well be an improvement on what you had.

But I had to augment mine with a panel heater (and the convector part my storage heater had) into the afternoon & all evening, so I was still using a lot of daytime units too.

 

[iamaspinner]

@fizzy

Do the Lucht make the occasional crackling sound the oil heaters make when cooling down?

Did you buy yours in Ireland (I can only find one place there they sell them)?

Did you get the smart app control?

 

[fizzy]

@fizzy

Do the Lucht make the occasional crackling sound the oil heaters make when cooling down?

Did you buy yours in Ireland (I can only find one place there they sell them)?

Did you get the smart app control?

I haven't had oil heaters so not sure about those sounds, but our Lucht heaters are very quiet. They may make the very odd crack sound once in a blue moon, whereas our panel heater would do that more often. The Luchts are so silent in fact we have to put an ornament etc nearby to indicate the heater is on, or we would forget all about it & just forget to turn it off!

We got ours from https://www.smartelectrics.ie/ - no affiliation, just a happy customer.

The app control wasn't available yet when we got ours. I did enquire about it down the line when it did, but the cost to fit the wireless stuff wasn't worth it to us & we would rarely use it anyway.

 

[notabene]

Thanks for your quick response @fizzy
That's exactly what's happened to me, main storage heater broken down so it's now or never I suppose (plus, getting parts for a 30+ years old storage heater isn't that easy apparently!) I'm just a bit concerned that I'd be losing my night rate....

Hi Liddy,

just wondering which company you went with? getting quotes from both currently as looking to replace storage heating - were you happy with your choice?

Thanks