Electric Heater Installation Advice

bigp26

Hello All!

Before I start, I want to thank you all for your help in advance!

I have recently been refurbishing my flat and decided to replace the storage heaters whilst the builders were in. I opted to replace my old and bulky storage heating solution with some panel headers from the Adax NP range.

What my builder has done, is to convert the fused spurs which previously powered the storage heaters into standard 3 pin sockets and simply plugged my wall mounted electric panel heaters in. This works, however I hate the fact that there is a wire hanging between the socket and the heater (in 4 areas where I have the 4 heaters).

I had asked him to feed the wires for the heaters behind the plasterboard wall, directly into fused spurs rather than fitting a standard 3 pin socket however he had the following comments:

• The wires for the previously fitted storage heaters were not placed behind the wall so there must have been a reason for this.
• Hiding the wires behind the plasterboard could pose a fire risk as the heater would heat up the cable (nb. maybe 5cm of wire is directly behind the heater. This would be the case regardless of if the wire was placed in front or behind the plasterboard wall).
• The plug sockets are getting warm and therefore it poses a fire risk (nb. I tested this theory and the plug sockets for the 2kw heaters do get very slightly warm after a couple hours of use).

Now I’m not sure whether the builder is either being lazy, or simply isn’t sure about the rules and regulations and guidelines about this sort of stuff.

Your thoughts on the matter would be much appreciated!

Kind Regards,
P.

lstar337

bigp26 wrote: »

Hello All!

Before I start, I want to thank you all for your help in advance!

I have recently been refurbishing my flat and decided to replace the storage heaters whilst the builders were in. I opted to replace my old and bulky storage heating solution with some panel headers from the Adax NP range.

My thoughts are that your bill will now increase 300%.

Panel heaters on E7 are the most expensive form of heating, bar none.

This will be a costly mistake that will result in high bills and a reduction in value of your flat should you choose to sell it.

tberry6686

Why are you having the builder do the electrics ? Would you have a sparky build you a house !

Get a sparky in to have a look, builder sounds like he's making it up as he goes along.

bigp26

Hi all,

Many thanks for the replies so far!

@lstar337 - Unfortunately I have already decided to go for this solution. I did some reading into all of this and concluded that panel heaters would be better for me for a couple of reasons. The first reason was the lower up front cost and the second was that the storage heater setup released heat during the day. As I am at work during the day all of the stored energy would be wasted. You however obviously have more experience than me in the matter so appreciate your comment and fingers crossed that by bills stay affordable!

@tberry6686 - I am a first time buyer and this is the first time I am really doing anything like this! I really underestimated the time and energy in getting a place refurbished and redecorated (the parents did warn me but being youthful I didn't think it was a big fuss) The builder assured me that he had an electrician on his team however it seems that this electrician is an over-the-phone mate of the builders! To be honest, the builder does seem to know what he is doing in terms of the electrics generally; this was the only point of discussion and dispute.

tberry6686

Sorry BigP but your builder obviously does not know what he is doing with the electrics. Yes plugs will get slightly warm with use, but slightly is the operative word. To reach the temperature that the cables become a fire risk there would have to be something very wrong with the install.

The reason for the cables to the old storage heaters not being put into the walls would most likely have been for ease of installation. You would generally connect up the power to the storage heaters when they had been attached to the wall and it is difficult (if not impossible with some storage heaters) to hide the cable in the wall.

There is absolutely no reason that the cables to your new heaters cannot be hidden in the wall (can be a pain if you want to move them though)

lstar337

bigp26 wrote: »

@lstar337 - Unfortunately I have already decided to go for this solution. I did some reading into all of this and concluded that panel heaters would be better for me for a couple of reasons. The first reason was the lower up front cost and the second was that the storage heater setup released heat during the day. As I am at work during the day all of the stored energy would be wasted. You however obviously have more experience than me in the matter so appreciate your comment and fingers crossed that by bills stay affordable!

In that case, I suggest you switch to a single rate tariff so you don't have to use your panel heaters on peak rate electric.

You will need to sort out your consumer unit and get all the NSH cables moved so the will operate for single rate. Get an electrician to sort out your cabling, a builder is not suitable.

Also look at your hot water system. Make sure your tank has good insulation and even if it does, fit as much more as your can! Then get yourself a timer and set it to only heat once or twice a day depending on when you will need it and how much you will need.

With careful usage you should be able to keep your bills at a sensible level, but you will not have the comfort level you would have had with NSH for the same cost.

Good luck with your renovation, and your bills.

bigp26

Thanks all!

@lstar337 - I was thinking to stay on the EON Economy 10 tariff for the first year at the flat so that I could calculate my peak/off-peak usage. From there, I would be able to compare which tariff would work best for me. Would you still suggest that moving to a standard tariff would work out better?

In terms of the hot water, I've installed a timer to the water tank (it has 2 3kW immersion heaters, so I have hooked the timer up to the bottom one). How do I go about finding the correct insulation for the tank? On a slightly more negative note, I had a leak from my water tank on Sunday . It was the first time that I had turned the hot water on (admittedly my oversight for not checking this considering I bought the flat in September), and the tank started to overflow - ended up with a pool of water on my new laminate floor .

Anyway, luckily I had taken out home insurance including home emergency so they came round and had a look at what was going on. The tank is an Ariston WRC-NSF, and it was overflowing for some reason. They identified the following problems:

1) Tank is overflowing. Why is it overflowing? They will be changing the T&P valve however I have also read online that it may have something to do with thermostats?

2) The overflow pipework is leaking as soon as it comes out of the tank - the engineer used some PTF tape at a joint which seemed to sort things.

3) The overflow pipework is leaking as it goes round the back of the tank and down to the waste (with a tundish in between). It seems that this tundish is leaking and splashing the water out. Having done some reading, am I correct in my understanding that there HAS to be a gap in a tundish? Can I not get a sealed one with a see-through window?

Responses appreciated in advance!

Have a good evening

MX5huggy

Once the at T&P is changed your tundish won't be splashing as there won't be a leak.

Your tank is well insulated just make sure the pipes are insulated as well.

bigp26

Thanks @ MX5huggy!

Is the T&P a common problem with these tanks? What causes it to go faulty and how often should I expect it to do so?

Also, will I be OK to run both immersions at the same time in case of emergencies?

p.s. This site is amazing. Thanks so much all!

sniggings

I can't see how having a duel tariff meter for a year is needed/cheaper.

You should be ale to work out what usage you will have on the cheaper night rate now...I can't see it being enough to justify the higher daytime rate you will be on because of it.

bigp26

Hi Sniggings,

I don't think I can work out the costs as I only bought the place recently...Do you have any suggestions as to how I can estimate without historical readings?

Thanks!

sniggings wrote: »

I can't see how having a duel tariff meter for a year is needed/cheaper.

You should be ale to work out what usage you will have on the cheaper night rate now...I can't see it being enough to justify the higher daytime rate you will be on because of it.