sorry storage heater ?

Torry_Quine

grahamc2003 wrote: »

It will cost you a bit, since the heater will have to put in more heat the next night.

But it's the most effective way of using the storage heater. Ideally, for the cheapest cost for a comfortable temperature, you want to completely deplete all the heat at the end of the evening and the room temperature as low as you feel comfortable. If you have heat leftover, then turn the input down a little for the next night (assuming the weather isn't going to turn colder).

So ideally, for cheapest cost, the cycle should be

- last thing at night - room temp the minimum you can stand, no heat left in SH, set output (or boost) to zero
- next day, when the room temp drops below comfortable, then turn boost up to get room comfortable
- a couple of hours before bed, the output boost should be max, and the room comfortable
- last thing set boost to zero, and adjust input - if too cold, increase a little, if too warm or boost not set to max, then set it down a little. Then adjust again for the weather the next day compared to the current day.

If you don't mind the extra cost, you can just set the input to max all through the winter, then just use the boost to adjust the room temperature.

Have to disagree here.

The output on mine is rarely if ever used, even in the coldest weather. Its for extra heat not regular every day useage and if you need it regularly then something is wrong. My input is rarely above half-way other than when it gets several degrees below freezing outside. The heating never runs out and again if it regularly does then something is wrong.

grahamc2003

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Have to disagree here.

The output on mine is rarely if ever used, even in the coldest weather. Its for extra heat not regular every day useage and if you need it regularly then something is wrong. My input is rarely above half-way other than when it gets several degrees below freezing outside. The heating never runs out and again if it regularly does then something is wrong.

You're welcome to disagree.

It just means you're paying more than you need to for your heating, and operating it as I said in my final sentence of my previous post.

Richie-from-the-Boro

grahamc2003 wrote: »

It will cost you a bit, since the heater will have to put in more heat the next night.

But it's the most effective way of using the storage heater. Ideally, for the cheapest cost for a comfortable temperature, you want to completely deplete all the heat at the end of the evening and the room temperature as low as you feel comfortable. If you have heat leftover, then turn the input down a little for the next night (assuming the weather isn't going to turn colder).

So ideally, for cheapest cost, the cycle should be

- last thing at night - room temp the minimum you can stand, no heat left in SH, set output (or boost) to zero
- next day, when the room temp drops below comfortable, then turn boost up to get room comfortable
- a couple of hours before bed, the output boost should be max, and the room comfortable
- last thing set boost to zero, and adjust input - if too cold, increase a little, if too warm or boost not set to max, then set it down a little. Then adjust again for the weather the next day compared to the current day.

If you don't mind the extra cost, you can just set the input to max all through the winter, then just use the boost to adjust the room temperature.

Ditto - disagree grahamc2003, sorry M8

A storage radiator will take 24-36 hours to come fully 'on stream' from cold. Heat from it is then (1) absorbed into the fabric of a room and (2) lost through infiltration. There is however a benefit [assuming as I often preach] the home has reasonable insulation and the heater is on an Internal wall .. .. that wall is, and is of itself, a reservoir of heat after a day or 3 of operation, and importantly will continue to give benefit till next Easter when the heating is finally turned off, indeed the fabric temperature of the room itself is raised and available as a heat source.

Your fragile assumption is that heat is wasted whereas it is not, any heat leached from the fabric temperature of a room by running the storage heater flat [ish] will immediately begin to be reabsorbed from a heat source the very next time the heat is turned on and the cycle begins again. Your way would inevitably mean 'starting from scratch' each 24th hour with the 24-36 hours [U-value] it takes to charge both the heater and the fabric of a room .. again.. and again .. and again etc.

Fabric : a conduction loss / elements ; structure windows walls roof and floor
Infiltration : heat losses, ie warm air from within the home escaping to the outside
U-value : the overall coefficient of heat transmission

Richie-from-the-Boro

BTW grahamc2003, your were correct about the efficacy of newer insulating materials on storage heaters, nano-tech in fact. Whoever would have 'thunk' it ? nano-tech in a storage heater insulating material !

luvchocolate

thank you all for taking the time to help.
I have input at 3 and boost at 1 at the moment. as it gets colder I will raise the input up to 5 but I have never moved the boost as I was afraid it would cost a lot. I know have a better understanding how they work. Many thanks

Richie-from-the-Boro

Boost, as others have said is misleading and refers to a particular different type of heater that uses extra non cheap daytime 13a electricity. Its better luvchocolate to just call them input & output. The thing you call boost is really the output control. If you look at this picture you can see :

- the knob called 5 is your input, how much heat you tell it to store
- the knob called 1 is your output, how fast you want the heat to come out
- the thing called 2 is the bi-metal strip

When you turn up the output knob 1 it moves 2 that lifts the big metal damper [flap] you can see underneath 2 to allow hot air out quicker. The cheapest way to use these heaters is to keep the output closed [not on number 1] unless you are absolutely desperate. To do this you may need compensate by turning the input up another notch. You should never have the output set to anything but closed especially when you are in bed.

grahamc2003

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

Boost, as others have said is misleading and refers to a particular different type of heater that uses extra non cheap daytime 13a electricity. Its better luvchocolate to just call them input & output. The thing you call boost is really the output control. If you look at this picture you can see :

- the knob called 5 is your input, how much heat you tell it to store
- the knob called 1 is your output, how fast you want the heat to come out
- the thing called 2 is the bi-metal strip

When you turn up the output knob 1 it moves 2 that lifts the big metal damper [flap] you can see underneath 2 to allow hot air out quicker. The cheapest way to use these heaters is to keep the output closed [not on number 1] unless you are absolutely desperate. To do this you may need compensate by turning the input up another notch. You should never have the output set to anything but closed especially when you are in bed.

No, that categorically is NOT the cheapest way to operate them at all.

Keeping the output closed means you still have quite a bit of heat left in the heater last thing at night. When you go to bed, that heat is still radiating out heating your room when no one is in it. You want no heat left when you go to bed, so no heat gets radiated when you're not there. (in practice, there'll always be a little heat left of course).

All through the night, with the heater heating up as per normal, if there was heat left in at the start, then there'll be hours and hours of heat radiated at a greater rate than if there were no heat at the start.

Again, that is self-evident - the warmer a body the more it radiates. This nighttime heat output is usually termed 'leakage'. And, a further self evident property, the warmer the room, the more heat loss to the outside, irrespective of your insulation (I feel you'll misinterpret this sentence, so please read it again if you think something is wrong with it).

modern slimline storage heaters give you an effective level of control older types didn't have, and that is an effective output control (and I agree, much better to call it output rather than boost - problem is, I've seen the output labeled 'boost' actually on the SH). The output controls the convective heat - the other heat transmission from a SH is radiative, which you have no control over (it's fixed by the SH temperature). Your very strange view (which seems to have passed to another poster too!) that one of the major advances in SH technology giving a much needed degree of control shouldn't be used is just very enigmatic, and I can't think of any (sensible) reason how you possibly came to form that view. Just because you have had that view for 30 years and used your SH without using to boost for all those years doesn't mean it's a sensible way of using the SH. In fact, you are spending more than you need to because the temperature profile of the room is warmer than needs be when no one is there to take advantage of the warm room.

Anyhow, let's see your view of the cheapest way of operating them subject to a comfortable room temperature - substitute your suggested input and output settings in my four set times (reproduced below) , and give the reason of why you think it minimises the cost .. (please copy and paste my procedure and just edit it with your suggested settings for minimum cost).

last thing at night - room temp the minimum you can stand, no heat left in SH, set output (or boost) to zero
- next day, when the room temp drops below comfortable, then turn boost up to get room comfortable
- a couple of hours before bed, the output boost should be max, and the room comfortable
- last thing set boost to zero, and adjust input - if too cold, increase a little, if too warm or boost not set to max, then set it down a little. Then adjust again for the weather the next day compared to the current day.

luvchocolate

Thank you all for explaining this to me, actually my out put is called boost on the control and cannot go any lower than no 1.
just got in from work so am tired but its warm enough!!!!

luvchocolate

Hi Graham2003.... I think we are across with some facts I have been in this property for 4 yrs I believe the heater have been in approx 20-25 yrs so no instructions, as I am on a very tight budget I was concerned by turning the output as you call (labeled boost on mine) it would cost me more.
I am a woman alone and never had to deal with things before. I do appreciate all your help but am very comfused now!!
Glass of wine and x factor maybe!! x

Richie-from-the-Boro

I've no reason to change my advice, the way I said it in the first case was / is simple, easy to understand, correct, and succinct, it needs no further embellishment.

The cheapest way to use these heaters is to keep the output closed unless you are absolutely desperate. To do this you may need compensate by turning the input up another notch. You should never have the output set to anything but closed especially when you are in bed.