Thermaflow Specialists - High Efficiency Combi Boilers
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Electric Tariffs
For those unfamiliar with the term 'Electric Wet Heating' it simply means an electrically powered system which pumps hot water round traditional radiators to heat the house.
There are several electric boilers on the market, but they work in two different ways:
Option 1 - A Traditional Non-Combination Boiler
This system is made up of 2 parts. Firstly the boiler, which is often hung on the wall, will pump the water round the radiators known as a direct flow boiler. (These boilers work on the Economy 10 tariff from Hydro Electric). The second part is the hot water cylinder which stores and supplies your hot water, this is heated up from a 3KW heating element.
Examples are boilers such as Fusion, Aztec and Amptec. Often these systems can be less expensive to install than electric combination boilers, but have been proven to be more expensive to run. The reason for this is you only have 10 hours of half price electricity at approx 9 pence and the full price at approx 15 pence (per kilowatt hour).
Option 2 - An Electric Combination Boiler (Thermaflow)
A large hot water thermal store cylinder, which will provide mains pressure hot water for baths, showers etc and also heats the house. These boilers often need large cupboard space, but will not require a separate boiler unit. They need no other tanks as they work on a sealed system.
These boilers work on the Economy 2000 tariff from Scottish Power and supply electricity to the boiler heat store for 18 hours a day. During this time the heat energy is stored up inside the boiler and has enough power to give adequate heating and hot water during the shut-down periods. The pumps on the boilers are supplied from the domestic electricity and are supplied 24 hours a day thus allowing the heating and hot water to be active 24 hours a day.
These boilers are more expensive to install but cheaper to run as the price of every kilowatt hour is approximately 6.1 pence, making it approx 50% a year cheaper to run (as of Feb 09).
The lifespan of these boilers is long, as the drum has a 25 year warranty. For more information click here
THERMAflow Boiler
The Thermaflow Thermal store boiler has been designed and manufactured to be most efficient on the Scottish Power Economy 2000 tariff. This tariff provides 18 hours of electricity supply at half price, which is the most of all the electricity suppliers.
The shut down periods are:
- 00:00 - 02:00am
- 08:00 - 10:00am
- 16:30 - 18:30pm
If the boiler is used to a maximum (heating & hot water) for a maximum of 200 days throughout the year - consuming 9kw/hr and hot water only for the remaining 165 days - consuming 3kw/hr, the total annual consumption would be 14400 kw/hr.
The off peak electricity rate is 6.4 pence per kw/hr from Scottish Power as at 27th October 2009 (N.B Scottish Power also add a daily standing charge of 19 pence)
(cost = electricity used x rate)
Peak rate electricity used 0kw/hr
Off peak electricity used 14400kw/hr
Cost of electricity used £1054.31
(Based on a 210 litre, 9KW unit)
Flow type Boiler using Economy 10
'Flow' or 'Direct Acting' boilers can only operate on the Economy 10 tariff provided by such companies as Scottish Hydro Electric. This tariff can only provide a maximum of 10 hours electricity.
The shut down periods are:
- 04:30 - 07:30am
- 13:30 - 16:30pm
- 20:30 - 00:30am
If the boiler is used at maximum, (heating & hot water) for 200 days a year - consuming 9kw/hr and used for hot water only for the remaining 165 days - consuming 3kw/hr the total consumption would be 14400kw/hr.
This will have to be based on 7 hours of on-peak and 1 hour off peak per day in winter and 1 hour at peak rate per day in summer. The on peak rate as at 27th October 2009 was 14.15 pence per kw/hr & the off peak was 7.07p kw/hr. (N.B Scottish Hydro also add a daily standing charge of 26 pence)
(cost= electricity used x rate)
Peak rate electricity used 9000kw/hr
Off peak electricity used 5400kw/hr
Cost of electricity used £1860.43
As demonstrated above the THERMAflow boiler can offer saving on electricity of over £806.12 over the year compared to using the equivalent direct acting boiler. (Based on electricity tariffs available in Scotland from October 2009).
This example is based on the requirements of a typical family home where hot water is required to heat 7 radiators and supply hot water to taps. During the winter, which we will assume covers half of the year (200 days), heating and hot water required for 8 hours each day. Between 7-11am and 5-9pm
During the summer (165 days) water is only required for 1 hour each day - between 5-6pm