Another Storage Heater Thread

danrv

Yes, sounds like it’s only the immersion heater on a switched E7 circuit. Storage heaters aren’t connected to it.

supermario64

Hi all,
Once again, all this info has been SUPER useful - I feel like my understanding of these issues has increased by 1000% since I first posted.

I've added some pictures below as requested:
meter that was fitted by british gas when I bought the house. replacing an old top-up meter



Given your insights this is my current understanding:
1 - Nothing is actually connected to an E7 circuit. Even the immersion heater for the water is controlled with a timer and I've set it up to work during the cheaper rate hours (however if I play around with the timer I can get BOTH immersion heaters to work during the day, not just the boost). Gerry1 - thanks for the heads-up, I need to make sure this timer is really solid and won't get the immersion heaters to fire during the day. Luckily they're noisy so I can tell when they're on if I'm at home.
That said, is getting the NSH back on an E7 circuit a big job? Have no idea what that involves.

2 - The living room storage heater is broken. Right now though it looks like even though both electric switches have power the heater just doesn't heat. Only the convection element is working which isn't ideal.
The bedroom storage heater seems fine, just not connected to the E7 circuit so need to turn on and off manually.
The small NSH in the hallway is a bit of a mistery - seems dead and have no idea how it is supposed to be controlled since it doesn't have input and output switches like the others. Maybe some sort of sensor?

I'm leaning into actually getting an electrician to fix the storage heaters in the hallway and. living room. I've looked at CREDA replacement parts and don't seem TOO expensive - and it seems like a better solution than just replacing for something new that works very similarly OR something that is less efficient. Does this make sense or would you just write them off as super old and want to replace it? I have the budget but don't feel like spending unnecessarily.
Finally I would like them to be in an E7 circuit for convenience (and to avoid any mishap of them being on during the day). Could this be a huge work?

Thank you!

Gerry1

It's only worth upgrading to Dimplex Quantum or whatever's clever if you're always out nightclubbing, going away at weekends, taking frequent holidays, using the place only as a dormitory but planning to stay there a long time.

But as you're there in the day, just replacing a few thermostats and broken elements and getting the NSHs and lower immersion heater on to E7 switched circuits seems a better investment, especially if you can find a good sparks who will do everything as a turnkey job.

It will also mean that should you wish to sell you won't have a potential buyer with a good surveyor quibbling about the costs of sorting out an iffy arrangement.

Pics of the hallway heater, please.

Talldave

That consumer unit looks as if it's split for 24hr and E7?

danrv

No E7 timer? 

supermario64

danrv said:

No E7 timer? 

Added the timer that controls the how water below. AFAIK that's the only timer!

It's only worth upgrading to Dimplex Quantum or whatever's clever if you're always out nightclubbing, going away at weekends, taking frequent holidays, using the place only as a dormitory but planning to stay there a long time. But as you're there in the day, just replacing a few thermostats and broken elements and getting the NSHs and lower immersion heater on to E7 switched circuits seems a better investment, especially if you can find a good sparks who will do everything as a turnkey job. It will also mean that should you wish to sell you won't have a potential buyer with a good surveyor quibbling about the costs of sorting out an iffy arrangement. Pics of the hallway heater, please.

 

Thanks Gerry1, I think this is what I'll do! I had a whole imgur thread with all the pics and captions but unfortunately not able to post links yet. Adding the missing pics below:
Living room heater: only convection heat is working. both electrics plugs powered, even during the day:

input / ouput of NHS - living room and bedroom

convection switch on living room heater:

hallway: no heat whatsoever, even though electric plug is on (also not connected to E7). no input/output controls

bedroom NSH: seems to be the only one that works, but electric socket also not connected to E7

The timer for the hot water (no idea whether this would control the whole E7 circuit if the NSH were connected! but right now I can manipulate it to start heating the water at any point of the day so probably not. currently set to start heating water at 1am, by 7 the cylinder is full of hot water)

macman

The very small ones were generally designed for bathroom use. No input/output controls, just on or off from the spur. Output is quite small, so no real requirement to ever turn it down. 
That meter appears to be an E7 one, as it has a 'cycle display' button.
CU: it's hard to see clearly, but 3 of the 16A MCB's on the left side appear to be marked 'store rad' or similar, which indicates that you already have a radial circuit wired to each NSH, as they should be. These should be hard wired at each NSH for the E7 cheap rate side: the convector can run off the 13A ring main.

supermario64

macman said:

The very small ones were generally designed for bathroom use. No input/output controls, just on or off from the spur. Output is quite small, so no real requirement to ever turn it down. 
That meter appears to be an E7 one, as it has a 'cycle display' button.
CU: it's hard to see clearly, but 3 of the 16A MCB's on the left side appear to be marked 'store rad' or similar, which indicates that you already have a radial circuit wired to each NSH, as they should be. These should be hard wired at each NSH for the E7 cheap rate side: the convector can run off the 13A ring main.

Thanks macman - so basically the small one just needs to be fixed and hopefully it'll work again, not an issue with some controls I'm missing.

I definitely know I have two different rates, I need to press cycle and enter two different readings (I'm with Bulb and submit the readings via the app). Just seems like something is off with the E7 circuit since every electric switch seems to provide energy at any time of the day...

macman

What proportion of your annual kWh usage is currently on cheap rate? With only one working NSH, and presumably an immersion heater, it's unlikely to be enough to make E7 an economical tariff.

Gerry1

danrv said:

No E7 timer? 

Apparently it's built in to the Landis + Gyr 5246C meter.  The OP needs to look at the meter to see exactly when it switches over, then to program the Newlec immersion heater controller to the same switching times and to check the rotating wheel at least once a week to make sure it hasn't drifted because of a power cut.  It probably has an 8-hour battery backup which would make it more reliable, but the battery may have lost most of its capacity by now so it's still worth checking.

The water heater switch should be set to Timed and the boost knob seldom if ever used.