storage heater/economy 7 queries

Greenr · 5 October 2007 at 12:40PM

space_rider wrote: »

I`ve had storage heaters before and I was very happy with them.

They will have an input and an output. The higher the input the more heat is being stored and the higher your bills. Start off at the lowest setting and if the room is cold the next day then increase it. I used to always check the weather forcast for the next day and set my heaters accordingly. I very rarely used to have it at the highest setting, generally it would be at the middle setting.

The output switch..You should always have it at the lowest setting when it starts heating up, ie between 12-8am. If you have the output button on any higher than the lowest setting you are releasing the heat at the same time as storing the heat which will cost you much more money. I used to leave mine at 1 then when I came home I would turn it up by half, then later on in the evening if it felt cool in the room I would set it to the maximum output. But I would not forget to turn it back to 1 before I went to bed.

If you have very old storage heaters, ie the ones that look really bulky it will cost you much more to heat. You can replace them at a cost of about £140 per heater which will pay for itself.

Any other questions just shout out.

where can you buy night storage heaters from for £140??

peteg_2 · 4 November 2007 at 1:29PM

I've been in my 2 bed mid terrace (link house, as some estate agents call it), in Exeter, since Aug '01, and was well advised by a neighbour to run the heaters on minimum input, minimun output, and keep all doors and windows closed. Though the cat flap probably spoils that effect a little.

I have economy 7, and, Living on my own, I pay less than £30 per month in the warmer months, and £1:30-£1.50 when it's colder.
This is probably affected by the fact that I work a late shift. And the mid terrace effect is that I am insulated by the properties on either side. I have top quality double glazing front and back, the loft is fully insulated, has a chipboard floor, and loads of my stuff in boxes ect up there.

The house and storage heaters are just over 20 yrs old, I have no fancy controls, just the input/output on the heaters and automatic switching of the eco7. I think the immersion heater is switched on auto as well, but am not certain, as it has no indicator light.
I'm appalled to hear that some folks are having £650 bills for a quarter! That's 5.5 times my bill!! :eek:

I hope you got a refund somehow.

Laura1975 · 6 November 2007 at 6:57PM

Hi!
I recently bought a 2 bedroom flat and i'm scared of this economy 7 system.
3 of the heaters installed are "storage", the others are not; 1 storage has 2 wires straight in the wall, the others have just 1 (actually one of them has an extra normal plug...)

Considering that I guess all of them are ~10 years old and that i don't want to be a slave of this turning up, turning down input output daily manual crazy thing....:eek:
what is the most convenient way to replace them all? Is the radio controller programmable? Anyone knows a good place to go to buy and ask for advice?
Also, does anyone know if there are electric towel rails with a fitted TIMER?

Thanks for any help you'll give me!

blindperson · 20 November 2007 at 7:05PM

I have a problem manual storage heaters, the fuse light comes on at the socket but the storage heaters do not heat up. Help please much appreciated.

foolsgold99 · 8 December 2007 at 3:10PM

Hi,
I have a big storage heater in my flat living room which no longer seems to work.

Can anyone recommend a good replacement and how much it will cost?

Thanks very much for your help. I really don't know anything about them

Cardew · 8 December 2007 at 4:27PM

foolsgold99 wrote: »

Hi,
I have a big storage heater in my flat living room which no longer seems to work.

Can anyone recommend a good replacement and how much it will cost?

Thanks very much for your help. I really don't know anything about them

There is very little to go wrong with a storage heater; it is basically a big pile of bricks with an element and fan.

There is a internal 'link' like a (fuse). Any reasonable 'handyman' could have a look and see if it the supply or something wrong internally.

I believe Dimplex make good quality Storage Heaters if it needs replacement.

ACEELECLTD · 8 December 2007 at 6:19PM

Having been in the electrical industry all my working life I have supplied and installed all types of heating makes and systems. The answer to your problem is to get energy smart and make sure what you choose is not just for the short time but for the life of the system. If you want to go for another storage heater Glen Dimplex make some nice looking units but they are still soooooooooooo Ugly! The philosophy behind them is so backward....put a lot of energy into them at a cheaper rate but waste alot of that heat output whilst noone is getting the benefit. When you return home you supplement the heat output with peak rate electricity. We have now been using and installing Kalirel heaters for the past 8weeks and all the results are positive. we heated a mid terrace all insulated with d/glazing house the other day as a challenge for 3units (24hour test period) maintaining uniform temperature of 14 degrees (about £0.30) we used the heaters set to 24degrees and used 30 units (about £3.00). having played around with the settings we are very impressed and have now moved away from recommending or installing anything else. If you want to save money our advice would now always be to get a kalirel system (but installed by an approved installer) regards

Firefly · 8 December 2007 at 6:51PM

foolsgold99 wrote: »

Hi,
I have a big storage heater in my flat living room which no longer seems to work.

Can anyone recommend a good replacement and how much it will cost?

Thanks very much for your help. I really don't know anything about them

I heat my house with storage heaters as there is no gas to my road. On occasions when DS has put something over the top of the vent, the storage heater will switch itself off and you need to turn of the electricity, take off the front cover and press the reset switch inside the heater. I guess it's a safety thing.

We have 6 heaters all together, 5 of which are set to the Economy 7 tarrif and one that has to be put on manually. When I first moved in I didn't realise the heater upstairs wasn't on E7 and I had a shock when the first bill came in. Now it has been changed so that the conservatory one, that I don't use often, is the "manual" one instead.

In ten years of living here they've been relatively maintenance free and I heat a large mid terrace with 4 beds with 5/6 heaters for a total bill of £100 per month. Our house isn't hot, but adequately warm. I often struggle with hot centrally heated houses, but at home a pair of slippers and an extra jumper does the trick if we don't want the log fire lit.

ACEELECLTD · 8 December 2007 at 7:07PM

one of the spin offs of consumer power is that the Electricity suppliers have to get sharper with the tariffs on offer. The cheapest way to start to increase savings is to consider switching to an economy10 tariff. Scottish and Southern energy offer this tariff which gives you 5hours from midnight to 5am, 3hours 1pm to 4pm and 2hrs 8pm to 10pm. If you are disciplined enough to use the heavy power usage in those times or fit timers to tumble dryer, washing machine, dishwasher etc then this can be a real money saver. For storage heaters it also gives you extra heat capacity when you require it more regards

Cardew · 8 December 2007 at 7:26PM

ACEELECLTD wrote: »

Having been in the electrical industry all my working life I have supplied and installed all types of heating makes and systems.

Heaters that run on day rate electricity most of the time!!!

You may have been in the electricity industry all your life, but you fail to point out that it doesnt matter what form of electrical heating(other than heat pumps) you get the same heat output for 1kW input regardless.

Your Kalirel heaters produce no more heat than your Granny's 1/2/3 bar fire.

Essentially they work on the same principle as a £30 oil filled heater and give no more heat output for the same input.

Want to discuss it in technical terms?

storage heater/economy 7 queries

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