The growing concern with electric storage heaters in social housing
Electric storage heaters have long been a staple for providing heating in homes; over 1.7 million homes in the UK are heated by electric storage heaters, and nearly a quarter million homes in social housing continue to rely on it for household heating.
They are relatively easy and hassle-free to install and can take advantage of off-peak tariff.
How do electric storage heaters operate?
An electric storage heater uses electricity during off-peak hours (usually overnight) to heat up its core – made up of heavy clay or ceramic blocks – which then stores the heat and releases it during the day to heat homes. Because the heat is stored overnight, it is also referred to as a ‘night storage heater’.
These heaters come with two dials, the input dial which sets the amount of electricity it will use to store heat, and the output dial which controls how much heat to emit out.
Electric storage heaters were advantageous because they could make use of special tariff rates, such as Economy 7 tariff (also known as dual-rate tariff), by charging during cheaper, off-peak times.
Why are so many electric storage heating units installed in UK homes?
Two thirds of the current electric heating stock in the UK is electric storage heaters.
Electric storage heaters became widely popular from 1950s to 1970s in the UK, as the government encouraged adoption to cut peak electricity demands and avoid the need for expensive new power plants. But there are other drivers as to why more of these units are installed in social housing.
Firstly, the practicality of installation: electric storage heaters are relatively straightforward to install – they don’t need any pipework or complex installations that tower blocks need to be connected to the mains gas supply, so there’s no question of resident disruption or decanting, which also means low capital and installation costs. Storage heaters also don’t require annual safety checks and regular maintenance – which further helps to cut costs for social housing landlords.
What are the challenges with electric storage heaters?
Electric storage heaters have historically been very expensive to run compared to other forms of heating due to high unit electricity prices, and can be particularly inefficient in older, poorly insulated properties, according to Energy saving trust.
In social housing, where comfort of heat and cost efficiency are paramount, this poses a concern.
National Energy Action (a fuel poverty charity) said that inefficient and outdated electric storage heaters are trapping hundreds of thousands of social housing tenants in fuel poverty.
The rising cost of electricity, currently (October 2024) at 24.5p/kWh, contributes to this.
Inefficiencies of direct electric heating have an impact on EPCs, and eventually fuel poverty levels, too. Electrically heated EPC D and EPC E properties have an average fuel poverty gap of £341 and £1,028, respectively. And this is much worse for electrically heated EPC F and G properties, which have an average fuel poverty gap of a staggering £1,823. To add to this, quarterly changes to the Ofgem price cap could see 6m homes in fuel poverty (winter 2024), according to the charity.
Modern Alternatives to Traditional Electric Storage Heaters
As social housing providers work towards achieving low-carbon heating goals and meeting Decent Home Standard for social housing residents, ground source heat pumps come to the fore as a key technology to transition to a low-carbon future.
Heat pump installations, while most effective at reducing emissions and increasing efficiency, need space inside & outside the property. This means they are not a feasible solution for some of the older social housing homes, which weren’t designed with this space in mind. Also, the upfront installation costs remain a barrier.
To balance these economic and practical aspects of their larger housing portfolios, housing associations continue to opt for electric storage heaters.
Most of the storage heater issues outlined above were due to older, inefficient, outdated electric heaters that have been historically installed by many social housing providers. Storage heaters have been around for so long that by now they’ve gone through modern, intelligent and energy-efficiency-driven upgrades that address most of these issues. Modern heaters manufactured after 2018 meet stricter energy efficiency standards and better controls.
Compared to those old storage heaters, which had poor heat retention and inefficiency in maintaining comfortable temperatures, modern ones have high-heat retention cores, high insulation with quiet fans, improved thermostatic control and smart technology, such as WiFi control, 24/7 programming, and adaptive start. These can also be programmed remotely – their output controls (how fast is the heat emitted) can be easily managed – allowing tenants to manage their heat requirement and avoid the frequent issue of wasted heat. This could also help them cut energy costs by making the most of modern, greener off-peak tariffs (we’ve covered these in detail here).
Funding available for electric storage heaters
To upgrade faulty and inefficient storage heaters to high heat retention models in low-income & vulnerable social housing homes, the UK government has made available grants under schemes such as Energy Company Obligation (ECO4 and Affordable Warmth Scheme) to tackle fuel poverty.
Pairing thermal batteries with electric storage heaters to decarbonise hot water in social housing
While modern electric storage heaters are a practical and efficient direct electric heating technology in social housing homes where traditional central heating systems aren’t feasible, there remains a significant gap in energy efficiency & space-savings when it comes to hot water delivery.
Many older properties still rely on bulky, inefficient hot water cylinders with extremely high heat losses, which together with old storage heaters cost vulnerable tenants a lot of money to run.
To save money, these residents may avoid using hot water altogether. . This was the case at New Forest District Council, where more than half of residents had turned off their vented cylinders and were using the kettle to boil water.
Sunamp worked with Dynamic Heaters to upgrade the heating and hot water systems in 16 socially rented homes. Outdated night storage heaters were replaced with efficient, modern electric heaters; traditional vented hot water cylinders were also upgraded to Sunamp’s Thermino heat batteries (clever alternative to Economy 7 water heaters): Thermino ePlus 70 was installed in 1-bedroom apartments, and Thermino ePlus 150 in 2-bedroom units. The installation process was quick, with half-day installations, minimising tenant disruption.
The social housing tenants now enjoy a consistent supply of fresh, mains-pressure hot water for showers and taps, delivered at up to 10 bar (1 MPa). This is thanks to Thermino’s powerful heat exchanger, which charges rapidly due to its Plentigrade phase change material.
A reliable hot water supply and the additional space provided by compact energy-efficient thermal storage have significantly enhanced comfort for tenants. Residents can also use cheaper off-peak electricity for their hot water comfort.
If you’re a housing association or social housing provider trying to align with the government’s push for electrification and upgrading your housing stock to modern electric heating (with no maintenance and low installation hassles), our Thermino ePlus range of batteries complements this space-heating upgrade, delivering energy-efficient hot water comfort.
Read our other case studies here.
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