Storage Heaters/Immersion PLEASE HELP

INAMESS

Hi i really need some advice, i am moving into a 1 bed flat, it has electric storage heaters for heating and a large water tank with 2 elements in it (2 switches also) for the hot water, there is no timer on the tank. Ideally i want heat and hot water from 5pm till 12pm Mon to Fri and probably similar at weekends although i may be at home in the daytime at weekends too, as far as i am aware the electric is with E-ON and it is not on any economy 7 tariff, the landlord just said it was on an on-peak off-peak tariff (whatever that is!), i have never lived in a place with electric heat and hot water so want as much info as poss on the best and cheapest way to get the heat and hot water to meet my needs, i am getting so much contradictory information that its very confusing, any help or ideas would be much appreciated, thanks

Swipe

Your on-peak off-peak tariff will most likely be economy 7 if you have storage heaters and an immersion heater. One of the switches on the immersion will be a boost connected to the day rate circuit, the other will heat the water during off peak hours. Make sure your storage heaters have the flaps closed overnight and during the day while you are out but open them up if you need extra heat in the evenings. That's most of the basic info you need.

INAMESS

Hi thanks for the message, should i keep the storage heater switched on at the mains all the time then? And with the immersion for the water should i keep them switched on all the time too?

chris1973

Running storage heaters outside the E7 period is going to cost you a small fortune. I'd double check the E7 situation with EON first, or better still check the meter itself to see whether there are two seperate readings for peak and off peak (day & night units). Since your landlord mentioned there was, I suspect you do have E7 which is basically what the peak and off peak readings refer to.

You would be much better running the immersion heater overnight during the off peak period, when electricity is sold and metered at around 1/2 - 1/3 of the cost of your daytime electricity). Usually the E7 period runs between the hours of 12 midnight to 7AM or 1AM to 8AM but it can vary depending on the energy provider. A decently lagged copper water tank will usually retain the heat overnight for use between 5pm - 12 midnight.

To give you an idea of the cost difference, a 3KW immersion heater will use 3 units of Electricity for every 1 hour it is heating the water. So at a daytime rate it would cost £0.45 an hour to run assuming a cost of 15p per unit for daytime electricity, compared to £0.15 per hour on the E7 period assuming 5p per unit during the off peak period.

The same applies to storage heaters, run these overnight to 'charge' the heaters with heat, ready to convect the stored heat during the more expensive peak periods. Most of the time, the heaters will only receive power to them during the E7 periods, if the outlet switches for the heaters have little indicator lights on them, you can prove this by switching them on to test during the day, when the light shouldn't light, compared to during the E7 period when they should light up.

An average 3.4KW Storage heater will consume upto a maximum of 23.8 units of Electricity for a 7 hour heating period. At E7 rate electricity this would cost upto £1.19 to heat, whilst at daytime peak electricity periods it would cost upto £3.57 to heat the same heater for the same period of time.

I've underlined the word 'upto' because once the bricks have warmed up to the correct temperature inside the heater then the built in thermostat will switch the element on/off as the internal temperature drops, so once its warmed up the current draw will not be continuous for ALL 7 hours of the E7 period. However from my own experience of monitoring the meter readings, its not much less, so I guess my own storage heaters take the best part of the 7 hours to reach the fully 'charged' temperature.

Either way, they are not exactly the cheapest form of heating, and certainly not if you are using them during daytime peak rates, which should be avoided.

P.S:- The immersion heater has two elements, one should be powered during the day for 'boost' purposes in order to top up the heat, the other element, like the storage heaters should only be energised during the E7 period. It would therefore be better to leave the element on E7 switched on all of the time and avoid the use of the element which operates at peak rate!.

Usually its the bottom element which runs during the E7 period, so this would be the one to leave on, if there is no timer fitted.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi INAMESS,

Lot's of info covered already so thanks guy's that's ace :T

Just a couple of pointers from me.

Make sure you take meter readings when you first move in to the property and give these to us, along with your details.

When you contact us, make sure you are on an E7 tariff and ask which specific tariff would be best for your needs.

Just because you have an E7 meter doesn't always mean you will be on a E7 tariff, so check this.

Ask for the E.ON energy efficiency info, you can also get this from the website for tips on saving energy etc.

And lastly give regular meter readings, keep your account up to date so you know where you are.

If you need any more info from me, just shout up.

Helena

INAMESS

Hi sorry its taken me so long to reply to these messages but i thought i would wait until i got more info from the landlord, firstly thank you to those above who replied, now i have spoken to the landlord and his electrician and i am wondering if anyone on here can make sense of what they said cos it seems a bit of an odd electricity set up they have, i am on an E7 tarrif with Eon, the landlord said that only the bottom element in the water tank is linked to this tarif, there is no timer for it either so does this mean if i want cheap hot water im going to have to wake up in the middle on the night to turn it on at the mains switch?? The top element is a booster which is not linked to economy 7. As for the storage heaters, they are on a timer set to come on between 3.30am and 7.30am, the timer is a Grasslin Ecosave (if this helps anyone), these storage heaters are not connected to the economy 7 tariff either (i thought all storage heaters would be?) Does this make sense to anyone? It seems like an odd set up to me and apparantly the electrician said the fuse box does not allow for the storage heaters and both water elements to be connected to E7, any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

INAMESS

Hi does anyone have any idea about the electric set up i have explained above? Is it normal? Any help would be appreciated, thanks

macman

All storage heaters should be set up to run off cheaper rate E7-there's no point to them otherwise. The tank set up is normal, but needs a timer fitting to the bottom element.

jackshelac

The meter should control the timings if there are no timers on the appliances. The energy companies rig these so they run over into peak rate which costs a fortune. Set your alarm for 7am check to see when the appliances switch off. There should be a light on the switches. If They're still on after 7:30am contact your ombudsman and or mp, watchdog etc. It's a racket which has been going on for years.