This month we look at an example of improvement options for a house with existing storage heating.
Cliff and Fiona Snow have lived in Rookery Lane, Wendens Ambo since 1998. The cottage was built around 1840, and has several extensions. Heating is via electric storage heaters, with LPG gas fire back-up. The cottage has never had a wet central heating system and its proximity to the railway line precludes oil storage.
Cliff has undertaken a continuous programme of improvement over the years to increase energy efficiency and reduce running costs.
Insulation and Glazing
He says “We increased the house insulation over time, adding loft insulation eventually to 270 mm. The 1980s breeze-block extension was the coldest area so we externally insulated it with Celotex boards clad in composite weather boarding. At the same we installed insulation under a new lounge floor.”
The image shows secondary glazing added to wooden double glazed units.
“In 2001, while a new extension was built with wooden double glazing, we retrofitted all existing windows with the same units. Later we added secondary glazing to the ground floor units. Last year, the SWCE Thermal Camera revealed issues with some other double-glazed windows which were rectified by adding secondary glazing (supplied by Paxtons Home Improvement but self-installed) so that the windows are now effectively triple glazed. “
Storage Heating
“We have upgraded the storage heating system with more advanced models as they became available. The current models are predominantly Quantum Smart Storage Heaters. The advantage of this type of heating is that’s its clean, green energy (Octopus Energy), with virtually no maintenance costs. The downside is that it is very expensive to run. To control this we use an ‘Economy 10’ tariff (cheap rate at 2.30am-7.30am, 1pm to 4pm. 10pm to 12.30am) and use wireless, digital time-switches to control the heating within zones. We also use our immersion heater and tumble-dryer during cheap rate times controlled via smart switches and mobile phone app. “
The SWCE Thermal-Camera also showed heat loss through an external solid wall where a Quantum Storage heater was situated. We have subsequently obtained a reflective heat shield to install behind the Quantum heater in question.
The image shows the Quantum heater and reflective heat panel waiting to be fitted.
Electricity Use and the Future
“Over 8 years we have cut our electricity usage by almost 50%. A big reduction followed the addition of external insulation in 2016/2017. At the same time we switched energy provider which helped further reduce our bills. In addition of the secondary glazing over 2020/22 also looks to have caused a further reduction in our consumption”
| Year | Energy (kWh) | % Change by year |
| 2016 | 19,840 | – |
| 2017 | 13,367 | –32 |
| 2018 | 14,126 | +5.7 |
| 2019 | 14,646 | +3.7 |
| 2020 | 13,348 | -8.9 |
| 2021 | 14,283 | +7 |
| 2022 | 10,136 | -29 |
| 2023 | 10,465 | +3.2 |
| 2024 to July | 5,779 | – |
Cliff says “While we are keen to move on to Heat Pump / Solar Technology, we should complete our insulation upgrade process first by extending the external wall insulation. Solar panels with battery storage are something we will pursue next year to reduce running costs out of the current all-electric system. “