changing my storage heater

CLAIRE123_3

We are going to have our hall way re-plastered and thought we would take the oppertunity to replace our very old storage heater. We have decided we want to try something different as feel storage heaters are not suited to our cold victoian end terrace house. We plan to change our hall way one for a new cost effective pannel type heater.

Im awear that storage heaters are set up on a different circuit so they come on at night. Will we need to have a new socket put in ready for the new heater. Am i wright in thinking that we can not use the power supply that the storage heater is using due to the fact it will only come on at night.
Please can anyone help, we need a new way of heating our cold house.

Owain_Moneysaver

The storage heater should be on its own circuit on the off-peak consumer unit / fuseboard. An electrician would be able to move it across to the on-peak consumer unit/fuseboard assuming that the cable etc is in good condition and there is a spare module on the on-peak CU.

However any electric heater using peak rate electricity on an E7 tariff will not be cost effective compared to a storage heater.

macman

You''ll be paying premium price for it if you do that-as you are aware, all your non-E7 consumption is charged at higher than normal rate, so a 2 or 3kw heater used on E7 peak rate is going to cost you.
If you have E7, you need to heat with it and not mix the two.

andyrpsmith

Claire, I assume you also have other storage heaters elsewhere in the house, which means you intend to keep E7 tariff.

If you determine your tariff rates you can easily calculate the cost of running a stand alone heater (max cost = KW x pence per unit x number of hours). If you wish to know the true running cost then you will need to use an energy meter (cost £5 - £10) as the cost depends on the thermostat setting, the number of elements on, the size of room and how quickly the heat is lost. For example the 3KW radiator I use will cost me 11p per hour when set at thermostat value 3.5 and all elements on. With everything on max and thermostat on max the cost will be 3 x 8.61 (my current cost per unit) = 25.8p per hour.

I also have an old house and it also has storage heaters which used to be on E10. I have now moved away from storage heaters and have a single tariff which is lower than the old E10 off peak rate. I now use oil filled radiators on a timer and thermostat.

You may find it cheaper with a stand alone heater if it is only on for short periods but it may be better to go with a new storage heater if you are happy with these in general.

I am saving £1000 per year by changing tariffs and using stand alone heaters.

CLAIRE123_3

Thanks for your advice. I know using a heater that is not on e7 will be using on peak electric. However we have our storage heaters set on about seting 3 - 3.5, our house is very cold and we are putting £35 easy on to our electric key a week and using it. As well as using two open gas coal fires in evening. We have been told that a 1 kw heater will be right for our hall way and will be able to have it to come on so warm in morning, off during day when we are at work and on for when we come home from work. Storage heaers just dont give us the heat we need when we need it, we need a convector haeter that we can get heat when we need it. At £35 a week its costing us and we are not even warm.

macman

Sounds like you have not set your storage heaters up correctly, you need to reduce the output during the day if you are not in then, so you have more heat left for the evening.

CLAIRE123_3

How do i change my output? I only have a input setting and a boost control that doesnt seem to do anything unless you stand right in front of it?

Ada3050

The input controls the amount of heat stored, keep this as high as possible when the temp is as cold as it is.
The boost should be set to minimum when you go to bed, and opened up when you get in from work to release the stored heat.

grahamc2003

There's a world of difference between very old storage heaters and modern ones. Modern ones are slim and controllable, so you have heat available even late in the evening (assuming you have correctly rated heaters and know how to use them).
I'm currently looking into air sourced heat pumps, which seem a much better bet than storage heaters. Basically they throw out heat for about 1/3 or 1/4 or sometimes a claimed 1/5th of the cost of any other (resistive) electric heater (such as the panel heaters you are proposing).