Economy 10 & Storage Heaters....?

GhostDog_2

Having recently moved into new (conversion) property we find ourselves apparently (I have still yet to organise account details etc) supplied by Scottish & Southern elec on an Economy 10 tariff. I understand that the less expensive hours are 12 - 5am, 1 - 4pm & 8 -10pm.

I'm hoping it will suit us....we both work throughout the day and usually collapse in front of the tv most evenings. I try and organise washing machine / tumble dryer for cheaper periods and have recently discovered how the delay timer on the w machine works! We only have a shower so the hot tap is only used for washing up and hand-washing rather than lovely full baths! (I miss my bath! )

What I don't quite understand is.....how do we maximise the benefit from the storage heaters? Do they automatically store up heat through the less expensive period and throw it out when its not? How do they "know" when its cheaper??? :rolleyes:

I've been fiddling (!!) with the controls on each but I'm still not convinced I've got it right. Is there a trick to mastering these?!

MATH

If the heaters are hardwired into the wall rather than using a standard three pin plug they will almost certainly heat up automatically during your off-peak periods. They do this becasue you meter will have a radion controlled tellswitch built in.
Being on econ10 reduces the problem of heaters using up all their charge during the day and going cold at night. However, to reduce your electricity bill I would still recommend turning the output control to minimum befofe going to bed, the radiated heat within the unit should be enough to give you a warm house in the morning. When you get home at night you can turn the output up to get stored heat convected into the room. Using this method you are reducing the amount of extra charge needed in the afternoon off-peak time and keeping your bils manageable. At the weekends when you require more output earlier in the day because you are at home the heaters stored heat will be lower by the afternoon off-peak period and they will automaticaly recharge more
By tweaking the store control you can reduce unecessary charging. This is trial and error and needs to be adjusted according to the seasons but aim to have the heaters going cold by bedtime. HTH

Lennylegs

Having recently moved into new (conversion) property we find ourselves apparently (I have still yet to organise account details etc) supplied by Scottish & Southern elec on an Economy 10 tariff. I understand that the less expensive hours are 12 - 5am, 1 - 4pm & 8 -10pm.

Hi

Just wondering if you have one of the 'new' Dimplex/Creda storage heater systems ? Im trying to get Southern electric to let us switch from E7 to E10 too but they say to me u have to have a Gledhill electric water heating system to be 'allowed it' !
I have the Dimplex Duoheat storage heaters but was thinking recently, if we managed to get them to switch to E10:
a) does everything switch over to the cheaper rates in the 10 hours or is is just the heating/hot water ?
b) how do you stop these newer types of storage heaters from charging ? They dont have the input/output dials ?

Ta

Leonie