storage heater/economy 7 queries

Andy_WSM

sasuke wrote: »

We have similar problems to this, in that we used to pay ~£50 per month for energy and when we asked for an overview of what we owed (to see if our direct debit amount was about right) we found we owed £650 for 6 months' electricity. It turnes out that we use £120 per month and I have no idea how - I'm reading these forums to try to work it out!

My question is: If the storage heater has no controls whatsoever (apart from on/off at the wall) is it possible for it to be on during the day? Occasionally they feel very hot and although I know they're supposed to be dissipating energy, it seems like they're on during the day as well....

Does anyone know of other appliances (laptops, kettles, etc) that might really inflate an economy seven bill?

I don't think £120 a month is excessive by any means is it for an all electric household? I presume that's all your hot water?

Cardew

sasuke wrote: »

We have similar problems to this, in that we used to pay ~£50 per month for energy and when we asked for an overview of what we owed (to see if our direct debit amount was about right) we found we owed £650 for 6 months' electricity. It turnes out that we use £120 per month and I have no idea how - I'm reading these forums to try to work it out!

My question is: If the storage heater has no controls whatsoever (apart from on/off at the wall) is it possible for it to be on during the day? Occasionally they feel very hot and although I know they're supposed to be dissipating energy, it seems like they're on during the day as well....

Does anyone know of other appliances (laptops, kettles, etc) that might really inflate an economy seven bill?

It is rare for a storage heater to not have controls. Are you sure it is a storage heater?

Most storage heaters are on a separate circuit with Economy 7 and so only come on(using electricity) during the 7 hour off peak period.

The items that consume serious power are anything that heats. Dryers, ovens immersion heaters etc etc.

Katie-Kat-Kins

sasuke wrote: »

We have similar problems to this, in that we used to pay ~£50 per month for energy and when we asked for an overview of what we owed (to see if our direct debit amount was about right) we found we owed £650 for 6 months' electricity. It turnes out that we use £120 per month and I have no idea how - I'm reading these forums to try to work it out!

My question is: If the storage heater has no controls whatsoever (apart from on/off at the wall) is it possible for it to be on during the day? Occasionally they feel very hot and although I know they're supposed to be dissipating energy, it seems like they're on during the day as well....

Does anyone know of other appliances (laptops, kettles, etc) that might really inflate an economy seven bill?

It is probably your immersion heater that is the main culprit, I was astonished by how much ours uses even though it is well insulated! Having said that £120 for an all electric house is not that high.

Can you find a picture of your heater? maybe someone will recognise it.

Have you checked that the controls aren't hidden under a little flap??

How many rates do you have on your electric meter, we have five, with three just for the heating circuit! We have a combination of storage heaters, normal panel heaters and then there is a boost facility on the storage heaters. The ordinary panel heaters have a dial that acts as a crude thermostat and that is the only control on them. Do your heaters feel hot at night? This might indicate that they aren't actually storage heaters.

It would be worth checking what each dial on your meter represents and monitering your usage daily for a few weeks to get a handle on what you are using most of.

SamanthaEllaRose

What would you recommend for a 2 bedroom flat without gas for heating. The existing heating is underfloor (electric) which has proved to be expensive. The flat is used by two people who are at work during the day but the flat becomes very cold if no heating on.
Has anyone any experience of intelligent storage heater?

http://www.cnmonline.co.uk/Intelligent-Storage-Heaters-pr-34641.html

or would it be better to have say oil heater with a thermostat that is just used when they are in the flat.

or does gas central heating work out cheapest to run as the cost to instal will be the landlords.

Any advise most welcome.

vien

Hiya, Can anyone help with a quick storage heater socket question? Where it is wired in to the wall - does that socket need to be 20 amp or 13 amp .

The socket itself is on the economy circuit and the heater works but when it turns on (at the correct cheap time) the lights flicker in the flat. So is it drawing too much power (its got a 20bamp socket atm) and does it only need 13?

Cheers for any help.

Cardew

vien wrote: »

Hiya, Can anyone help with a quick storage heater socket question? Where it is wired in to the wall - does that socket need to be 20 amp or 13 amp .

The socket itself is on the economy circuit and the heater works but when it turns on (at the correct cheap time) the lights flicker in the flat. So is it drawing too much power (its got a 20bamp socket atm) and does it only need 13?

Cheers for any help.

Most storage heater I have seen are 'hard wired'. e.g. they don't have plugs. They are not portable so why would they need a plug?

I suspect that it would contravene regulations to have any appliance that can be 7kW, and draw 30 amps, on a plug in domestic stuations.

The kW rating of the storage heater will determine the amps it draws. A 3kW appliance draws approx 13amps. Look at the kW rating and multiply by 4.5 to get the amps it uses.

If lights are flickering, it may be something is arcing in the heater or supply wiring - get it checked.

cbrown372

Haven't noticed it as yet this year but in the past have always had a slight dipping of the lights when the boost came on around 8.30pm ish.

vien

Cardew wrote: »

Most storage heater I have seen are 'hard wired'. e.g. they don't have plugs. They are not portable so why would they need a plug?

I suspect that it would contravene regulations to have any appliance that can be 7kW, and draw 30 amps, on a plug in domestic stuations.

The kW rating of the storage heater will determine the amps it draws. A 3kW appliance draws approx 13amps. Look at the kW rating and multiply by 4.5 to get the amps it uses.

If lights are flickering, it may be something is arcing in the heater or supply wiring - get it checked.

Yeh it is 'Hard wired' in but the switch (bought at B and Q) says it is 20 amps. I wasn't sure I needed a13 amp cos those switches have fuses in them and I have NEVER seen a storage heater wired to a socket with a fuse in it (doesn't mean much though lol)

Thank for the info about how amps it will use - I shall check that later.

It is toasty warm in here just now though!

storageslave

Hi - I'm new to this site - I've also just moved into a one bed flat which is supposed to use Economy 7 in conjunction with Sunhouse Storage heaters (model 79363S) -

I looked everywhere on Google trying to find manufacturer with a view to getting hold of a users guide but no luck - some answers in this thread but would be great if someone could help me out with following:

on top of heater there is 'output' and 'input' dials -
- how do I fix it so that I turn heater on at night and can then release heat when I get home in the evening (ie no heat during the day) -
- what do 'output' and 'input' actually refer to?

it's a bit dispiriting reading the threads above - looks like I'm in for some horrible electric bills

Swipe

Input is the amount of electricity you charge with overnight (i.e. the higher, the hotter the heater will get) and output will control a flap that opens to let heat out. This output flap should be closed overnight when the heater is charging and opened if you need to let out more heat during the day/evening.