Reviewing Your Options: Gas or Electrical Heating?

When it comes to heating your house, you’ve got a couple of different choices. Mostly these fall under the categories of electrical or gas heating. They each come with their own upsides and downsides, which are important to consider before you make a decision.

The Buzz About Electrical Heating

One option is electrical heating, which can take a couple of different forms; the most common are storage heaters and portable heaters. Storage heaters are usually wall-mounted, and work by absorbing ‘off-peak’ electricity at night, storing it up in order to release it slowly during the daytime. They do require quite a specific setup, and you’ll have to liaise with your supplier to put you on the off-peak tariff they require to function. The advantages of storage heaters are that they use clean energy (not fossil fuels), and systems are often cheap to repair. They’re also the cheapest form of central heating to install, but higher energy prices mean that they’re usually more expensive to run, so you might not save money in the long term. Storage heaters also don’t use thermostats, so you have less refined control over how and when the heat is emitted, and they don’t respond well to sudden changes in the outside temperature – they could run out of heat just when you need it most!

Going Mobile

On the other hand you have smaller, more portable options, like halogen or fan heaters. As well as their obvious benefits of being portable, cheap to buy and requiring no infrastructure to run, they’re also great at blasting out a lot of heat in a short amount of time, making them ideal if you need to warm up a small room quickly. Once again, though, they don’t have the controlling factor of thermostats, and although cheap to purchase they can be very expensive to run, especially considering their size. If you turn one on, make sure you don’t forget to turn it off again, or there could be a nasty surprise waiting for you on your next bill.

Warming Up To The Alternatives

Moving onto the other side of the coin entirely, gas central heating addresses a lot of these shortcomings. One of its most valued benefits is its cost-effectiveness, which stems from its high efficiency and good return on energy units. These are amongst the factors that make it one of the cheapest options available in most parts of the UK. Gas is also the most common form of energy, which means it’s a basic training requirement for any Askews engineer; although it requires regular services and maintenance, these are not complex or drawn-out affairs. Installation and gas prices can also be costlier at first glance than some electrical heating options, but many people find that the increased control, efficiency and convenience afforded by thermostats is well worth the extra money, and often works out more cheaply in the long term.

If you’re still unsure of your decision or you have any further questions, call us on 01282 863825, and one of our experts will be happy to help.

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