Off-Peak Heating
Cleaner, more efficient heating for your home powered by over 90% low-carbon energy.
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Cheaper to runOff-peak heating systems store power during your Super Economy 12 Tariff's 'Low-Rate' time bands overnight, which is the cheapest tariff to run electric heating from in Guernsey.
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100% EfficientThis means every £1 you spend on electricity will give you £1 worth of heat for your home. A new gas or oil boiler will always be less than 100% efficient and will become even less efficient as they age.
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Zero harmful emissionsElectric heating generates no harmful emissions from a property, meaning the air both inside and outside of your home is cleaner. And as over 90% of Guernsey’s electricity is imported low-carbon energy, it's more environmentally-friendly than fossil-fuel heating from start to finish.
Overnight is the cheapest time to use electricity for customers on an Economy 12 tariff.
Battery storage technology gets mentioned frequently in the news, and the good news is we already have the technology and systems in place to store up heat energy - often the biggest part of a customer's electricity bill.
Storage heating uses clever systems that maximise off-peak (low-rate) electricity to heat up specialised storage bricks within the heaters. These bricks - often made of clay or ceramic - act like a reservoir, absorbing your low-rate overnight electricity, then storing it as thermal energy.
Then just like a battery, you'll have heat energy ready to use the next day - just when you need it. And just like modern hot water cylinders, the storage heater units are well insulated to minimise heat loss and your heating bill.
Modern off-peak storage heaters are controllable, meaning they'll release heat in a controlled way according to what you need. A fan or convection current will then distribute this cleaner heat evenly throughout the rooms as and when you need it.
Don’t wait for your boiler to break midwinter to make the change.
Spring and Summer are the best time to make the switch. As with a house extension or roof replacement, it takes time but is worthwhile.
Important: What you need to know before you switch to electric storage heating
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Step 1We will provide you with a free home survey to understand what your property needs.
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Step 2
Once you have accepted your quote, an 'Additional Load' application will be submitted, which is a process to check if the incoming electricity supply and surrounding network is substantial enough for the additional electricity ‘load’ needed to power your heating system.
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Step 3
When you book a home visit with Guernsey Electricity, one of our advisors will calculate your unique home heat loss and provide you with a quotation based on your property’s needs.
Power Supply
It’s really important to plan ahead and check if your property needs a supply line cable upgrade.
Electricity is delivered to your door through an underground network of cables. Some properties don’t have enough capacity in the existing service cable to supply a new heating system ad will need a service upgrade.
Your installer can check with Guernsey Electricity by submitting an additional load application if your property needs a supply line cable upgrade
Frequently asked questions
Making the switch to electric heating is a fantastic investment for your property. Like any property upgrade, the installation will take time to complete and we want to help answer your questions before you make the decision to change.
No - unless you are replacing an existing electric heating system. However, your preferred installer will always do their best to provide a solution in an emergency.
Switching to an electric system is a positive development for your property and similar to other property improvements such as extensions and roof renovations, it will take time to complete.
Lead times will vary depending on workload and availability, and it is worth preparing for your switch to electric heating well in advance. Please be aware that your property may need a supply line cable upgrade which will add to the timeframe.
We also recommend switching during the spring and summer months when possible so the work can be carried out when you do not need to use the heating. Depending on the work required, it may take several weeks from start to finish.
We recommend checking current prices and tariffs online first.
Heating systems replace the volume of heat lost from your property, which means property insulation is the most effective way to reduce the running costs of any heating system.
Electric Boilers and Underfloor Heating
These run on the Superheat Tariff. An electric boiler will cost the average customer in Guernsey roughly 30% less to run than a gas boiler.
Oil is one of the cheapest commodities and although oil heating systems may initially have a lower running cost when new at around 91% efficiency, over time the cost to run your oil heating will increase as the efficiency decreases.
Some customers have replaced oil boilers working at less than 70% efficiency, meaning over 30% of their bill was used to pay for waste greenhouse gas emissions rather than valuable heat for their home.
Air Source Heat Pumps
This is the least expensive way to heat a property.
Unlike other heating systems, air source heat pumps provide three times as much energy as is put in. This means that for every £1 spent on electricity to run the heat pump, you could generate £3 worth of heat for your property.
Electric heat pumps are much cheaper to run than traditional electric, gas or oil heating systems and run on the Heat Pump Tariff.
Storage Heaters
These systems run overnight on a customer's off-peak Super Economy 12 Tariff and are the most cost-effective way to run a traditional electric heating system.
If you’d like to make the switch to a electric heating but are unsure about the upfront cost, we can help spread the cost of your home heating affordably – just complete a short form and we’ll do the rest.
Some customers have paid as little as £46 a month for their new electric heating system through our finance partner Cherry Godfrey Finance Limited.
There will be a different answer to this question for each property depending on:
- the network infrastructure in your area
- the supply line cable connecting your property to the network, and;
- how much electricity other properties around you are using
Your neighbour may be in a different position to you if, for example, they had electric heating installed a few years ago, or the network serving their property is from a different substation.
Your installer will submit an Additional Load Form to Guernsey Electricity's new connections team to establish if there is enough power in the surrounding cable network to power an electric heating system in your property.
Replacing your gas or oil boiler whilst retaining your existing radiators is the quickest and most simple option. This is known as a ‘wet system’ as it relies on water heated by electricity to be pumped around the property.
Moving to electric radiators is known as a ‘dry’ system.
This doesn’t need a boiler and all existing radiators linked by pipework can be removed. Electric radiators are then installed throughout the home with a cable supplying each radiator to power it individually. This means each radiator is powered independently and has its own programmer and thermostat.
The main benefits of a dry electric heating system are:
- no water pumped around the property which reduces the risk of leaks.
- if one radiator fails, the others will still work unlike a wet system where if the boiler fails, there is no heat for the home.
- each room can have accurate temperature control e.g. your lounge can be warm and cosy at 21°C, and the spare room can be as low as 12°C just to keep it aired.
If the supply line cable supplying your property has sufficient capacity, you will not need an upgrade. However to find this out, your installer will need to submit an 'additional load' application.