Night Storage Heater Reviews

worlestone

We have a couple of very old (40 year old) storage heaters and been pondering on updating them with something newer, but they all look much of a muchness, except for the Quantum ones. I know they'll all operate in much the same way, but wondered whether anyone had found a review website for them? Not keen on the Quantum ones as ours just have the one off peak electric switch next to them and I don't really want to have to have additional wiring and sockets put in.
TIA

Gerry1

You can program the Quantums to operate from a single 24h supply.  Just make 110% sure that you're shadowing the E7 switching times accurately.

macman

All the new NSH's that are Lot-20 complaint will need a dual supply, it's no longer legal to manufacture the old type, though perfectly legal to fit refurbed ones.

clive0510

I remember when I was about 13 we moved to a house that had night storage heaters. they were so inefficient . dad decided they had to go. but they were so heavy nobody could move then. so we took them apart and inside they full of special heat bricks. we moved them brick by brick.

Gerry1

macman said:

All the new NSH's that are Lot-20 complaint will need a dual supply

According to these instructions the Quantum can operate from a single 24h supply.

matelodave

If you've got a separate off-peak circuit supplying the storage heaters & immersion heater then you might need to alter the wiring to accommodate a single supply to ensure that they get a supply 24/7 to operate the electronics and fan. It should be pretty straightforward but you might need a time switch on the immersion heater to ensure that it only operates during off-peak times if your wiring needs to be changed or updated.

You need to check to see how your system is wired and you may need an electrician to do the work

You need to then programme the charge time to operate during the off-peak period to ensure that you dont charge them during peak times.

worlestone

Thanks all for the input, this sounds more complicated than I thought!

Our immersion is just an switch on/off, so I tend to get up early on the days we know we want hot water all day to switch it on - not very clever I know.  I think I'd best find an electrician who understand Economy 7 /NSHs - most just seem to know how to remove them and replace with fisher heaters, not something I'm keen on

Mister_G

worlestone said:

  replace with fisher heaters

NO, NO, NO!

Talldave

If you're prepared to spend on the Quantums and invest in a decent immersion timeswitch, then as others have said you could swap your off peak circuits to be 24hr and just rely on timers to ensure all heating is done in off peak hours  You need to check very carefully when your 7 off-peak hours occur, as some areas split them during the night.  In addition you need to know whether the times change during BST or not.  The ultimate answer comes from staring at the meter late at night and early morning to see it swap between R1 and R2.

A decent immersion time should also have a Boost function that gives you a timed "n" minute boost of water heating at any time of the day, thus ensuring you can never accidentally leave the immersion on 24/7.

The more expensive  "proper" way to do it would be to keep the E7 off-peak circuit as it is and run a 24hr feed to all the storage heaters, then you're not limited to clever Quantums only.  Similarly for water, have two elements, one on the off-peak supply and a second on the 24 hr supply via a boost timer.