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0.88 pence per day


Richlist

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0.88p per day........thats the cost of having 1 storage heater turned on low in an apartment of mine thats empty and about to go up for sale. It doesn't sound much but it comes to £25 per month.

Total running costs of that apartment, whilst its empty and unoccupied is £365 per month......electric, ground rent, service charge, mortgage etc.

Staggering......lets hope it sells fast.

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In most of my flats I find that generally they come in 3 sizes....small medium & large. This usually equates to approx 1.0kWh / 1.6kWh / 2.4kWh

This particular flat has large (lounge), medium (hall) and small (bedroom). I'm leaving the hall heater on, low setting, with all the doors open, just in case temperatures plummet......we've been very lucky with temps' so far this year. So, without checking the exact model rating (and I don't know if the label is still attached to it anyway) I'm guessing its around 1.6kWh.

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Council Tax ommitted RL?

In my location the Council now charge Landlords CT for void periods and I have a void coming up next week of 6 days which I will be charged for now.

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Slightly going off topic this council tax void/ no void variation is ridiculous. My lets span 4 local authority areas. 3 are adjacent to each other and have void periods of 3 months, nil and 1 month respectively.

Last week tenants surrendered their tenancy in the 1 month void CT area but when I contacted the council to tell them I was informed that they stopped paying a month previously as they had said they had moved out yet goods still remained at the premises until last Sunday. The council worker did not want to believe me so luckily I still had the deposit as leverage - and I needed it. They had been perfect tenants in every other way.

RL - I was shocked at the cost of the storage heater too - I wonder how much longer they can continue as a permanent form of heating in this climate?

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Council Tax ommitted RL?

In my location the Council now charge Landlords CT for void periods and I have a void coming up next week of 6 days which I will be charged for now.

I'm very, very lucky where council tax is concerned. My property is unfurnished and in my part of Essex if the property is unoccupied AND unfurnished council tax is discounted by 100% for a maximum of 6 months.

When the property is furnished & unoccupied council tax is discounted by 10% only.

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My council charge full rate whether furnished or unfurnished.

I asked about the uninhabitable discount and that only counts if structural works are being done but not having a kitchen or bathroom doesn’t apply so they still class the property habitual without a kitchen or bathroom.

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I made a big fuss when they insisted on full council tax for an uninhabitable property of mine. No water supply, big hole in the middle of the floor etc. Eventually they exercised their discretion and did allow a discount whilst the works were in progress. In the course of that I learned that this is still a pilot policy in some areas and is being monitored.

I think it's important for landlords to vent opinion on this because there is a risk it could deter conscientious landlords from maintaining the property to a high standard and reward those who don't care if their tenants live in substandard accommodation.

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Well its certainly detered me from having very many furnished properties on which I would be paying 90% council tax during voids.

I've converted most of mine to unfurnished where, due to my normally short voids I now pay no council tax at all during void periods.

I have a friend who is a local councillor (& who used to be responsible for housing) to whom I explained the situation. I believe the 90% CT on furnished has reduced the number of properties available to let to professional people and is adversely impacting industry in my part of Essex.

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When I refurbished my flat last October the first thing I did was to get rid of the huge night storage heater plonked dead centre of the lounge wall which inhibited any thought to a sensible furniture lay-out. These storage heaters have had their day imo. Very expensive to run even on economy 7 and if your out to work what's the point of heating through the day from an overnight charge top up?

I replaced it with wall hung heaters with a mobile electric radiator. Tenant is very happy with the arrangement.

I have to say though the flat is modern (ish) and well insulated & double glazed.

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Running electric heaters on day rates sounds VERY expensive for anything other than occasional use and I can't see occasional use being satisfactory in the depths of winter.

Example

EDF Economy 7 Tariff :-

Night rate = 7.22p per kWh,

Day rate = 15.89p per kWh

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Also a lot of tenants dont use them correctly .......

Yes thats a good point Grampa.

In order to get around that situation I provide all my tenants with two comprehensive guides :-

1. Getting the best from your storage heaters.....it covers how they work, using the controls, getting the most from the system and includes Dimplex, Unidare & Creda s/heaters.

2. Heating water quickly and efficiently.....covers how, what, when where etc

Many of the landlords I know who let property with storage heaters make absolutely no effort to provide help or information to new tenants on how best to operate the system(s).

Perhaps some of the posters on this thread might fall into that category.

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Richlist I must admit I am probably guilty to a certain extent of that charge. Most of our properties do have instruction manuals and I keep a master copy in the office and photocopy it for new tenancies in those properties.

But we do have a handful or two of properties that don't have any instructions.

A generic guide that covers a large chunk of these heaters would be very useful and if you would share your guide on here I think it would be appreciated by many including me.

But saying that you will always get a number of tenants who wont read it in the same manner they don't read their tenancy agreements.

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As I was writing my last post I was thinking that someone would probably ask me for a copy. Unfortunately I don't have an electronic copy. I guess I could scan it but I doubt its gonna come out very well. I've had it for years and don't remember where it came from originally.

However, a quick search under 'storage heater guide' does throw up at least one example. I haven't read it in detail but it might help some landlords looking for instructions for their tenants:

http://www.storageheaters.com/

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Storage heaters

Electric storage heaters work by storing heat overnight and then releasing it gradually throughout the day. They are normally run on the Economy 7 tariff, which means that they use electricity supplied at the cheaper night time rate. The day time units are more expensive, so it's worth putting certain appliances on a timer, such as washing machines and dishwashers. Not only does this mean you'll get the benefit of the cheaper rate, you'll also wake up to clean dishes!

The specific day and night periods on an Economy 7 meter vary between different regions and at different times of year. Usually the night usage is recorded between 11:30pm and 6:30am in the winter and 12:30am to 7:30am in the summer. You can your supplier to find out the specific times for your meter

Basic storage heaters

Basic storage heater controls are usually found on the top right hand side of the heater and can sometimes be found under a flap. There are two main controls on a storage heater, an input and an output (or boost control).

Input

The input control sets how much heat is stored.

Whenever you need heat, the switch should be left in the 'on' position. It should be kept on a low setting during milder weather, when only a small amount of heat needs to be stored. In colder weather, set the input to a higher setting to store more heat.

Output

The output (or boost control) sets the room temperature.

On a low setting it allows heat to leave the heater slowly, which is ideal if you're out and about during the day. On a higher setting, more heat is given out at a faster rate. This should be saved for when you're at home.

Turn it back to the lowest setting before you go to bed as this will prevent the heat that's being stored up through the night from being released.

You can control storage heaters individually. This means you can choose different heat settings for different rooms. Used correctly, they will provide much cheaper room heating than electric fires or convector heaters.

Automatic storage heaters

Automatic storage heaters have an input controller which has an in-built sensor to monitor the air temperature during the charging period.

Once you find the heater setting that keeps you comfortably warm, you won't need to change it. The heater will automatically adjust its charge to match your setting.

Fan assisted storage heaters

Fan assisted storage heaters blow warm air into your room from the bottom of the heater. Some of these will also have a convector heater that works like a combination storage heater.

Input

The input (or charge) control tells the heater how much heat to store overnight.

In milder weather, the input should be kept at a lower setting. When the weather is colder, set it to a higher setting so more heat is stored. You should only need to change this to match the weather and the amount of heating you need. At night when the heater is charging, make sure the boost is off and the temperature control is set to a minimum in order for the heater to charge fully.

Some fan assisted storage heaters have an automatic input control. This is a sensor that monitors the temperature of the air whilst the heater is charging. Once you've chosen a setting that's good for you, there's no need to change it. The heater will adjust itself to match your choice.

Output

Some models will have a two-speed fan to control the output of the heat. For normal use, set the fan to a lower setting. To heat the room quickly, use the high (or boost) setting.

If it has a convector heater, the on/off switch and room controls are normally on the right hand side. In order to make the most of your stored heat on the cheaper rates, only use the convector heating if necessary

Combination storage heaters

Combination storage heaters have a built in convector that runs separately on the day rate.

It’s useful for a top up in cold weather, or when you don’t need much heat and don’t want to run the main heater overnight. It’s not a good idea to use it on its own all the time as it will cost you more money to run.

The input and output work the same as the basic storage heater. The convector heater has its own controls, normally with a red or orange light to show it’s on.

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You're right, I wouldn't disagree. I didn't write it, I was just pointing out that if someone wanted a storage heater guide then they are available online and this is one example.

You'd probably need to edit any guide so that just the relevant points were provided for the tenants.

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No ones fault, Mortitia. Exceptionally cold weather -20deg Nov-Dec 2010. Insulated loft (with mains pipes) closer to outside temperature than heated house temperature.

Insurers now recommend remove or open loft traps when house is unoccupied, as well as maintain continuous low heat.

Blimey! Chestnut where do you live then? Siberia?

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Middle England - but it seemed like Siberia at the time, and any exaggeration to temperature (see Met Office records) makes no difference to my point, intended to put RL's .88p/day into some perspective, and emphasise about loft trap removal for header tanks (often forgotten in insulated house).

In unoccupied situation, storage heaters probably as efficient protection as anything else - but a pain when you want responsive heat to live by.

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