ᐅ Looking for an affordable alternative to electric storage heaters

I am a landlord of a multi-family building heated by electric storage heaters. The tenants are increasingly complaining about rising heating costs and are requesting an alternative heating option.
What would you recommend with a view to the future? What is likely to be the most cost-effective heating method in 10 to 20 years? I am mainly interested in the long-term costs, less so in the initial investment for a new heating system.

There are two ways to permanently reduce heating costs:
1. Minimize heat loss as much as possible; this may require investing in thermal insulation for the facade, roof, and new windows.
2. Install an efficient heating system. Efficient means using the heating or fuel as effectively as possible. This could be a gas condensing boiler, a heat pump, a small combined heat and power plant, or a modern wood pellet heating system.

Which method or combination of methods is best for your house should be determined on-site by an energy specialist together with you. This includes selecting the most suitable technology, developing a financing and amortization plan, and identifying any applicable government subsidies.

Hello,

For me, these electric storage heaters are outdated. Using electricity for heating is simply far too expensive. The previous poster already pointed out which measures are necessary to significantly reduce energy costs. But without those, it just won’t work. That’s clear, of course – all of this costs money.

Regards

It’s good that, for the previous posters, BG & HB-F electric storage heaters are not an option. But in the case of the original poster: Does he have a six-figure budget ready not only to install new insulation (which already makes sense!) but also to install hydronic radiators in the apartments? Laying water pipes (chiseling walls), space for boilers, pumps, etc.?

How will the tenants react if the utility costs (electricity) go down, but the rent prices increase?

I assume that heating is not done with electricity directly heating water (which would be simple and sensible to replace), but that there are simply no water pipes installed.

Felix

Hi,

That is correct and must be taken into account. These renovation works including thermal insulation are an expensive matter. Often, new windows also need to be installed. This then significantly increases the monthly rent, which the tenants will not appreciate.

This is simply too expensive, and I can't imagine it being affordable in the long term. There are many alternatives, and a wood heating system can save costs over time.