storage heater/economy 7 queries

ohdear9

I moved into a flat temporarily for 14 weeks.
My electricity bill for this time is £511, economy 7 tariff.
I was not there during there day and away every other weekend.
I would consider my usage of electrical items low.
1 person, small flat, very warm, used the storage heaters for a couple of weeks only. Immersion heater was set by the landlord, I could only turn it to Summer, Winter or boost.
It works out on average that I used 20 units per day and 32 per night.
Is this considered average? Please help!! I've not yet paid the bill - it is up for dispute but npower are saying I must've used this much but I really don't know how I could!
Thanks

Meeka_2

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.

---

Thank you for your help so far. I am brand new to storage heaters. This forum has really helped but I'm still slightly confused.

Firstly, I also have a comfort setting...does anyone know what this does?

Also, where can I change the dial? There's no main house dial. Each heater has it's own fuse switch and are Technotherm large storage heaters.

So when I turn the fuse switch onto each heater does this automatically turn the heater on or does it turn on when economy 7 starts each night?

If I turn 'input' dial to 0 does that stop the electricity being used so that I can still have the output on? Can I turn the fuse switch off and still output kick out heat?

Really would appreciate any guidance!

martynwsm

I have night storage heaters on Economy 7.
The problem I have is the length of time they are running. They are fine if the temperature is freezing, but a waste if I just want to take the chill off the rooms.
Is there a system that allows me to regulate what time through the night the E7 comes on and turns off. For instance, if I want E7 to run from 5am to 7am, is there a system out there that would allow me to do that?

HappyMJ

martynwsm wrote: »

I have night storage heaters on Economy 7.
The problem I have is the length of time they are running. They are fine if the temperature is freezing, but a waste if I just want to take the chill off the rooms.
Is there a system that allows me to regulate what time through the night the E7 comes on and turns off. For instance, if I want E7 to run from 5am to 7am, is there a system out there that would allow me to do that?

No....altering the input setting is the only way to regulate how much heat goes into them. At this time of year though the input setting should be on max and the output on minimum. They are quite well insulated and any heat loss will keep the room cool rather than freezing.

You could use a normal convector heater for a short period of time. Although it is at peak rate it is cheaper for up to ... let's say... about an hour maybe 2. You should be able to figure it out 7 hours at 1.7kw @ 4.5p per unit (53.5p) or 1 hour at 2kw @ 14p (28p). Use the rates on your bill to see which is cheaper.

lupine79

Can anyone recommend the best course of action in the following scenario:

Just took out a lease on a shop, and the only heating available is a storage heater on each floor. (I can take pics if it'll help?).

Long term i think i'm going to buy a couple of Calor Gas Heaters, but for the next week or so i need to use them to keep the shop warm during the day. I've read a lot of forums and there is conflicting advice, for obvious reasons (everyone uses them at different times, different models etc.)

Do i need to keep them on all the time? i'm aware that i need to set the output to low when i'm out, then raise it when i'm in. Do i also increase the input when i'm out, and lower it when i'm in?

Also, would having the heater on a timer help? Just run it 12am-7am on full charge? Or will this not provide enough heat for opening times between 12pm and 6pm? The heater is on a fused plug. It looks pretty old...80s or 90s maybe. It doesn't look big enough to house these bricks i keep hearing about. (I do know that we've just been signed up to an economy 7 tariff with N Power.)

Very confused, i keep hearing that these things cost a fortune, then other people say they're ok. is it maybe best to just use it as a conventional heater in the meantime, til i get the Calor Gas sorted? seems strange to have the thing on for so long while i'm not around!

Thanks in advance!

Lennon

Another storage heater related query here if anyone can offer any advise ?

This is our first winter in this apartment and we have only recently started using the storage heaters and being new to them i'm a little bit confused. No matter what time of day I switch the heater on at the socket it seems to start giving off heat around 3.5-4 hours later. I understand they are only supposed to charge during off peak so i'm a little confused as to why it seems to get hot a few hours later no matter what time I turn it on ?

We are in a modern apartment which was built in 2005 and it's a digital meter with two different rates on it. We are with Npower economy 10 tarrif and the bill just shows readings for night and day which seems to relate to the rates on our meter.

There's two storage heaters in the apartment and they both do exactly the same thing.

Looking at the fuse/circuit box it appears to be split into 2 halves and on one side we have the water tank heater, heating (which is the storage heaters), lights and smoke alarm. The other side has sockets, cooker and heating again (this relates to the panel heaters in the bedrooms)

I'm really confused about this and really paranoid about receiving a massive bill from it charging up during the day ! I did try manually switching it on at midnight but even with the lowest input it just seemed to stay hot constantly for the couple of days it was on as though it was charging up again during the day ?

drpritomshenoy

I have the same problem as Lennon.
I have a prepayment meter on economy 7 with storage heaters at home.
I had called up the storage heater company (Creda) who assured me that the heaters would come on only at night. However, whenever I switched the heaters on during the day, they would start emitting heat within an hour. My bill overnight for leaving 2 heaters of 12kWh capacity on at input 5 and output 1 was 6 pounds!!!
I'm not sure if I was being charged for switching them on during the day.
Will these heaters still emit heat if I leave them switched off with output at my desired value??

Thanks

Lennon wrote: »

Another storage heater related query here if anyone can offer any advise ?

This is our first winter in this apartment and we have only recently started using the storage heaters and being new to them i'm a little bit confused. No matter what time of day I switch the heater on at the socket it seems to start giving off heat around 3.5-4 hours later. I understand they are only supposed to charge during off peak so i'm a little confused as to why it seems to get hot a few hours later no matter what time I turn it on ?

We are in a modern apartment which was built in 2005 and it's a digital meter with two different rates on it. We are with Npower economy 10 tarrif and the bill just shows readings for night and day which seems to relate to the rates on our meter.

There's two storage heaters in the apartment and they both do exactly the same thing.

Looking at the fuse/circuit box it appears to be split into 2 halves and on one side we have the water tank heater, heating (which is the storage heaters), lights and smoke alarm. The other side has sockets, cooker and heating again (this relates to the panel heaters in the bedrooms)

I'm really confused about this and really paranoid about receiving a massive bill from it charging up during the day ! I did try manually switching it on at midnight but even with the lowest input it just seemed to stay hot constantly for the couple of days it was on as though it was charging up again during the day ?

TBLtd

If you have a house which is heated by Economy 7 or any other Electric system (or coal) then you may well be entitled to insulation measures carried out to your property free of charge under the Energy Companies Obligation scheme (ECO).

feynman33

hi, i have just moved into an economy 7 property and would like to check i have understood some things correctly...

one of the storage heaters is a storage/convector combi (creda supaslim combi), like the other basic storage heater it only has two controls (input/output)

the output dial seems to control the convector part, is it correct that i have no control of the output for the storage part of the heater on this model? does it just go straight to full in daytime?

the guide states that the convector uses normal price electricity, does this mean it is wired differently and uses normal rate 24/7 or does it use off peak rate if i turn it on at night? (this question also applies to the 'boost' function for the immersion water heating)

if so are these the only two things that use peak rate during night and all normal appliances are off peak?

thanks

amy888

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/meter-clocks-set-to-wrong-time-could-mean-millions-overpay-energy-bills-105148366.html?utm_source=social&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=10ways.com
I have just check mine and it is 50 mins slow don't think it will of cost me much but i will complain and see what they say. To get the clock on i have a blue button, i had to press it a few time until the clock came on, other info about the price came up as well.