storage heaters ?

dandare

ive finally given in to my girlfriend and put the storage heaters on for winter!
i was under the impression that they heat up through the night? i put them on at about 6pm and by 10pm there was a heat in them? how is this? i see they have a separate fuse box , do they run off a differnt supply or something?
ta
dan

Xbigman

Is the 'boost' turned on? Is the timer set correctly?

If the timer is set right and the boost is off, they should stay cold.
Regards


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irnbru_2

dandare wrote:

i put them on at about 6pm and by 10pm there was a heat in them? how is this?

It depends on the timer. Sounds like you have a mechanical timer, rather than a radio switch, which has the wrong time. My E7 starts at 2140.

In lieu of Xbigman's post, you could be on an E10 rather than an E7 tariff.

Cagey

You may not be on E7. There are quite a few heating tariffs that have boosts during the day. Check your bill , it should say what tariff you are on. If you are on E7 it may be that you have a mechanical timer that is at the wrong time. Wee arrow pointer outside the dial should be pointing to the correct time.

dandare

ok thanks for the replies.
the heaters themselves have no timer on them, just an input control and output control.
as for the meter ive just had a new one put in last month, i had a problem with scottish power, well they had me on an e10 equivalent tariff and i tried to switch to atlantic, who were rejected as the only applied for 2 supply no:s instead of all 3, this is why i got a new meter on e7,hopefully, with 2 supply no:s so i can change supplier. i dont mind missing out on the extra 3 hours during the day, should save me some cash as well.
is it the meter that switches the electricity to the storage heaters and at the correct time, i thought it would do it as soon as it went onto off peak tariff?
any thoughts.

dandare

just incase its relevant, i turned the storage heater fusebox off the other day while i moved one of the heaters into the living room. could this put it out in some way, with regards to time and when it should switch on?

Xbigman

It shouldn't have any effect as the E7 timer is not fused along with your domestic fuses.

Is it an older storage heater? Modern ones have an input and output but also have a 'boost' switch which turns them on during the peak rate, usually the evening when they start to run down.

As to wiring, it could be done a number of ways. Earlier 'non boost' types could be wired only through the E7 timer, but usually they are just direct into the mains, but on their own circuit.

If the E7 timer is set right then the next step is a manual check. Turn off the storage heater and let it cool for a day. Get someone to watch the meter dial going around and then turn the starage heater on during the peak time. If the dial speeds up it is drawing power.
Regards



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