An obvious benefit of electrical heating is that you can easily locate it, or move it where you most need it. Burning solid fuels, oil, and gas all require flues and that considerably restricts your options. The flue itself is a source of heat loss – energy escapes up the chimney and drafts may come down it.

Gas pipes are also awkward to route or re-route, and may leave you with damage to your home decoration such as hacked off plaster or unsightly pipe-work.

Advances in Technology Favour Electricity
Electrical heating has made substantial gains in fuel efficiency in recent years, whilst gas prices have risen substantially without much change in technology. Some of your electricity is generated by burning gas in the power station, but not all. The Grid buys electricity from whatever fuel is the best price – some from nuclear plants, or wind turbines, solar panels or from burning refuse – so it stands to reason it protects you from volatile gas prices.

More savings come because temperatures are easily regulated room by room instead of having the whole house “on” or “off”. Electrical heating is also longer lasting than a modern gas boiler and unlike gas, it’s low maintenance.

There are many ways to generate heat from electricity. Gone are those radiators that burned your knees and left your feet frozen! Electricity can power your central heating, warm the floor beneath your feet or the air by convection or ducting.

Now that modern consumer units (the breaker boxes that replaced fuse boxes) are in virtually all homes, electricity’s safer than ever. Nevertheless there are two important reasons why installing electrical heating systems needs a fully qualified contractor – safe wiring and identifying the correct components is, of course, a highly skilled trade, but designing the system to ensure you gain maximum fuel efficiency through correct positioning and insulation is also a skilled part of the project.