Possible to install timer on storage heater?

silentjay_2

I don't fancy paying another extortionate winter heating bill for my lone storage heater again this winter. My storage heater doesn't have any input controls bar on/off. Thus for the entire night it uses economy 7 electric....the next day its far too hot all day without using any of the output controls.

The heater is wired directly into a wall socket with a bog standard faceplate with a on/off switch. Just wondering would it be possible to replace this socket with a timer so that I can then have control of how much electricity this thing is soaking up in the night? If so how easy would it be to install?

Thanks

baldelectrician

You should have one input (charge) and one output (boost) control knob

The output should be set to the lowest setting at night before you go to bed and be opened when you need the heat in the evening.

The input should be adjusted to the forthcoming weather (set according to the weather for the next day as the heater charges through the night)

What make and model of heater is it? (the model is sometimes on a label on a side panel)

WestonDave

You can get a fused spur timer switch (Timemaster do one - got mine off ebay.) which would probably replace your existing switch. Its a bit more chunky than a normal switch as it has the timer electronics on the front, but the one we got for our electric towel rail works well, and was pretty easy to install. Ours is the 7 day one (which means you can have different settings on different days) but I would have thought the 24 hour one would be fine for what you want.

If you know enough about electrics its a pretty straightforward replacement for the front of your existing switch with one slight complication in that it has inputs for wiring a thermostat in which you have to bridge with a piece of wire (of the right power rating) if you aren't using it in that way (which you won't be)

silentjay_2

baldelectrician, its a creda sensair 70215. It does have a input/room temp dial and output dial as you say. However the input/room temp dial only seems to act as a thermostatic control to switch the fan on/off for the output control, seems to have no effect on how hot the storage heat gets during the night.

WestonDave, thanks for that i'll look into getting one of them, although I don't know much about electrics, I was hoping it would be a case of turning off the electric, unscrewing the socket and reconnecting the wires to the new one?

vaio

WestonDave wrote: »

You can get a fused spur timer switch (Timemaster do one - got mine off ebay.) which would probably replace your existing switch. Its a bit more chunky than a normal switch as it has the timer electronics on the front, but the one we got for our electric towel rail works well, and was pretty easy to install. Ours is the 7 day one (which means you can have different settings on different days) but I would have thought the 24 hour one would be fine for what you want.

If you know enough about electrics its a pretty straightforward replacement for the front of your existing switch with one slight complication in that it has inputs for wiring a thermostat in which you have to bridge with a piece of wire (of the right power rating) if you aren't using it in that way (which you won't be)

Does that rely on the mains to run the time clock? If it does the clock will stop when the E7 goes off.

silentjay_2

vaio wrote: »

Does that rely on the mains to run the time clock? If it does the clock will stop when the E7 goes off.

Ah good point, I didn't think of that. I suppose I could set the timer to come on say 3 hours after the E7 comes on and reset it everyday...

vaio

That sounds like more trouble than it’s worth, you can get clocks fitted with backup batteries but I’m not sure if you can get those built into a switch. You certainly can get them in DIN shaped units you could stick in the CU or a separate box. Whether the backup would charge enough in 6 hours on to power it for 18 I’m not sure

Inactive

silentjay wrote: »

baldelectrician, its a creda sensair 70215. It does have a input/room temp dial and output dial as you say. However the input/room temp dial only seems to act as a thermostatic control to switch the fan on/off for the output control, seems to have no effect on how hot the storage heat gets during the night.

Sounds to me like the thermostat on the storage heater may be faulty.

silentjay_2

Inactive wrote: »

Sounds to me like the thermostat on the storage heater may be faulty.

You could be right. I took a look at the manual for the latest model (didn't have my exact one) which states

"The amount of heat stored each night is controlled automatically, taking into account any residual heat and the ambient room temperature"

So that would explain why the input control doesn't actually do anything. I've also noticed that the fan doesn't kick in unless you put the room temp/input dial to max. This combined with the fact it sucks up too much heat during the night would suggest the thermostat is !!!!!!ed?

WestonDave

To answer the question - it has a battery in it which I think charges from the mains when the power is on, so the E7 power being off isn't necessarily a problem.