Economy 7 and storage heaters

cjhami

Hi,

I have just moved into a property, which has storage heaters and an Economy 7 meter. Now I haven't moved into the property yet, however yesterday I switched a storage heater on in the lounge and there was no power to it. So I tried the rest of them. I checked the fuse box and the storage heaters have a fuse box all to themselves. Am I right to believe that power would only be received to these storage heaters once the off peak rate is activated.

Thanks in advance,

matelodave

Thats the normal arrangement - the separate fusebox is only energised during the off peak period, usually between midnight and 0700 although you might find that its a bit later or earlier in the summer of if you've got an external time clock.

You should also find that the immersion heater is connected to the off peak supply as well so your water gets heated at the off-peak rate. Some hot water tanks have either two immersion heaters (one near the top and one near the bottom) or even a dual heater which allows you to get a hot water boost during peak hours if you run out.

Make sure that any boost switch is turned OFF as peak rate leccy can be everso expensive.

If you've got E7 then its worthwhile trying to use as much energy as you can during the off-peak period. Some washing machines and dishwashers have a delay timer function which allows the appliance to switch on during the night and use off-peak leccy. Doing the vacuuming and ironing overnight is taking it a bit too far though

Some would advise against running a tumble dryer overnight.