Infra red. Carbon crystal. We have one in our back bedroom ( small room) and one by my armchair, both wall- mounted. The best ones seem to be German ( what we have) and they are easily purchased from Amazon or eBay. They heat the object they hit, not the air,so you have to be aware of where you put them. Those two work well for us. The one in the living room is great first thing in the morning when we only need that much heat before work. Then we have wall mounted, timer- controlled convection heaters that have a 1 or 2 kw heat setting. They work really well, and we are very pleased with those. Modern looking and quick to heat up. Of course, we prefer the multi fuel stoves, and they are our primary heat source.
Regarding cost of operation, we have no problem with electric heating. If you are spending that much on coal, then electricity wouldn’t be that much more. As you are housing association, it could be worth enquiring if they could install storage heaters( especially as hubby is unwell). On the right tariff, that could work well for you.
I must admit, that when Mrs J was post-op,using solid fuel was an issue.In fact , I wouldn’t let her light a fire unless I was there. I like the fuel mix, but I can see in the fullness of time, that it could present physical obstacles, just like yourself Lil.
I do think that eventually, solid fuel will be legislated out because of environmental rules. Although today, a government advisor was saying that gas boilers should be abolished ahead of the 2050 deadline. If you were not aware, your gas central heating is also killing the planet! You will have to convert to Air Source Heat Pumps, so electricity will be the way to go.
Mind you, you will keep warm because you’ll be walking everywhere, as the same bloke said that petrol and diesel vehicles need to be outlawed within the next 11 years. How we will fuel all our houses AND power all those electric cars Is another matter though...