storage heater/economy 7 queries

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?

Are you sure you are E7??

I had a similar issue, thought my storage heater was faulty as it was baking hot in the evening. Turns out that we were on E10 even though all our bills back years said E7 on them and we were on a tariff only available for E7!!!

Katie-Kat-Kins

storageslave wrote: »

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

Sadly you can't fix it to work like this, 99% of storage heaters will need you to manually adjust the controls.

To get the effect you want you will need to set the input at a suitable level. Leave this as it is every day and only adjust it if you don't have enough heat.

You will need to turn output down to minimum when you go to bed and then turn it up to say medium when you get in from work.

The bad news is your heaters leak heat and if you don't store enough over night they will have run out by evening, further bad news you can't program them you have to do this manually every day, so you won't be able to get the house warmed up for the time you usually arrive home.

The good news is though that the leakage normally means that the house has had some heat and isn't too cold when you get in.

It takes a bit of experimentation but storage heaters aren't too bad once you get to know how to use them.

bikebluechippy

Hi when my storage heaters come on at night. one of the heaters and the hot water does not. ive tested the heater and its ok. checked fuese.s there ok to. when economy switches on there is no power to those to. any idears .

thedog29

Hi Folks, have been reading this thread with interest.

1st things 1st, i live in Belfast, Northern Ireland with my dad (who's 76) in a 1st floor apartment which is "kitted" out with economy 7 storage heaters (i don't know what make, but they are big, ugly and probably contain asbestos). There is no gas in the area and i think oil would be out coz its an apartment and there's no where to securely put an oil tank. So I’m stuck with the storage heaters (unless anyone has any alternative - i liked the sound of the Karile system until Cardew opened my eyes!!).

The heaters in the apartment have been there since it was built over 12 years ago and i was wondering if it would be worthwhile upgrading them to newer, more efficient, more cost effective models. (Like the dimplex ones, if they deliver to Northern Ireland, but that's another topic in itself)

oh another thing in the meantime, the heater in my bedroom isn't working. The light comes on at the socket but it doesn't heat up. Does anyone know if it would be an easy job to fix???

Firefly

Take the covers off and press the reset button. Ours can switch off if someone leaves washing or something on the top and they 'overheat'. Its easy to find.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Could be a blown element, we had that with one of ours, got a replacement very cheaply on ebay and my dad fitted it. They look just like a kettle element, and are easy to fit, the problem is finding out if that is actually the fault. Unless you are very handy with electrics get an electrician to have a look.

Cost I think £50 and we got more elements than we needed.

Try the reset button first though and check that there isn't a second fused switch for your heater and that that is on and the fuse hasn't blown. Only one of ours has a light and that is for the fan/boost and there is another switch for the main heater.

Hayley_s

:j

storageslave wrote: »

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

The output control

Most of the stored heat is radiated from the casing during the discharge period. However, some of the heat is emitted through the grille at the top of the heater & this additional heat (or boost) is regulated by the output control. with this set to 6 the boost begins in the early afternoon, turning the control to 1 will progressively delay the commencements of the boost. At 3 the boost will start in the evening. Once set, the boost will repeat itself automatically day after day. If no boost is required e.g. when the room will be unoccupied for a long period, set the output control to 1. With the control in this position, the heater will take less energ yduring the next charging up period.
Hope this helps

♥ Hayley ♥

Cardew

Hayley_s wrote: »

:j

The output control

Most of the stored heat is radiated from the casing during the discharge period. However, some of the heat is emitted through the grille at the top of the heater & this additional heat (or boost) is regulated by the output control. with this set to 6 the boost begins in the early afternoon, turning the control to 1 will progressively delay the commencements of the boost. At 3 the boost will start in the evening. Once set, the boost will repeat itself automatically day after day. If no boost is required e.g. when the room will be unoccupied for a long period, set the output control to 1. With the control in this position, the heater will take less energ yduring the next charging up period.
Hope this helps

♥ Hayley ♥

Welcome to the forum.

With Economy 7 you don't get an 'afternoon boost' just 7 continuous hours in the 9 hour period between 11:30pm to 08:30am.

Presumably you are on Economy 10 or one of its variations?

Ada3050

I think Hayley was referring to the output control giving semi automatic control of the stored heat. I find if you are out all day this setting would give more heat during the early evening period, though the heater will run out of heat earlier.

Good point about economy 10, not all areas have it though

jislaaik

I've just moved in to a flat with storage heaters (first time using them) and have a question about their control. I can confirm they are wired to a separate board hooked up to the E7 meter so will only be 'on' at night.

On one of the heaters the only control I can find is a silver dial on the side that seems to go from off to 6. Is this an input control or output?

On the second one it has two switches on the front panel. The left switch has a single dot below it, the right switch has two and there are three dots between them. I'm assuming this means switch one is low, switch two is medium (switch one off) and both is high. Once again is this input or output?

I've read a lot about storage heaters but most references are to both input and output, although there were some that automatically controlled the input with only an output control. Is this what I've got?

Another thing I'm not sure about is that the E7 meter is set to switch on at 23:00 (it's a dial with a 'marker' and a red line pointing to 11:00) and from what I can see switch off about 07:30-08:00. I can't really tell exactly as the off 'marker' doesn't have a distinct line on it as does the on one. Either way this seems longer than the 7 hours. Is it possible it's some extended tariff? It's rented accommodation so the supplier was organised by the owner so I have no idea who it is.