Electric heating has a fan club of one demographic: people whose old storage heaters are cold by teatime. Modern high-heat-retention units are a different machine, and for homes off the gas grid or on flats' all-electric supplies they're worth an honest look. I install and replace electric heating across Bristol, sized to rooms rather than to sales targets.
Replacing old storage heaters
The old bricks-in-a-box heaters charge overnight and dump heat whether you're home or not; high-heat-retention models insulate the core and release on demand through a fan and thermostat, which is why the same overnight units go so much further. The honest caveat: the economics live and die on your tariff, because storage heating only makes sense charging on cheap overnight rates, and I'll ask what you're on before recommending anything, since sometimes the right answer is a tariff change before a heater change.
Panel heaters and electric radiators
For rooms used in bursts, spare rooms, offices, bathrooms, a well-controlled panel heater or electric radiator beats storage: heat when occupied, nothing when not. The units worth fitting have real thermostats and timers rather than a dial marked 1 to 6, and wiring them as fixed appliances rather than plug-in freestanders is what makes them a landlord-compliant, certificated part of the installation.
Cold rooms and ancient heaters?
Send a photo of what's on the wall and the fuse board — I'll tell you what modern replacements would cost fitted.
Immersion heaters
The immersion is the forgotten workhorse until the water goes cold. Replacement elements and thermostats are quick jobs; the recurring find is a seized old element in a cylinder nobody's touched for twenty years, which turns quick into careful. If yours has stopped, it's usually the thermostat or the element, both fixable same-visit, and the fault-finding rate covers the diagnosis.
Electrical supply for heat pumps
The dividing line, stated plainly: the heat pump system, sizing, refrigerant, commissioning, is MCS-installer territory and not what I sell. The dedicated electrical supply that the heat pump installer needs waiting for them, the circuit, protection and isolator to their spec, is exactly what I do, and having it ready is routinely the difference between their install taking one day or two.
Pricing
These are estimates, not quotes. Final costings always follow a free site inspection — and jobs often come in under the estimate, never over without you agreeing it first.
High-heat-retention storage heater supplied and installed: £700–£1,250 per unit. Panel heaters and electric radiators: £120–£220 fitted. Immersion element or thermostat replacement: £130–£220. Heat pump supply circuits quoted to the installer's spec. Indicative, confirmed per room list.
Are new storage heaters worth it?
On the right overnight tariff, in a home that suits them, genuinely yes against the old units. On a flat-rate tariff, mostly no, and the tariff conversation comes before the quote for exactly that reason.
Why has my immersion stopped working?
Nine times out of ten the thermostat or the element, and either is a same-visit fix. The tenth time is the wiring to it, which is why the diagnosis is tested rather than assumed.
Can you wire a heat pump supply?
Yes, to your installer's specification, ready for their commissioning day. What I won't do is pretend to be the heat pump installer; that's an MCS job and you should insist on one.
