Electric Storage Heaters Blowing Cold Air

lg07

Hi all, 
I have two electric storage heaters in my living room but I cant seem to get them to product heat (blow hot air) when I set them on timed or advance. When I put them on either of these two settings, just cold air comes out. I can only get them to produce hot air when I put them on boost. I've never had storage heaters before so I have no idea if I'm doing something wrong so any advice would be greatly welcomed! 
Thanks. 

nofoollikeold

1. Basically, storage heaters work by heating up bricks / blocks inside them, then releasing that heat later by blowing it out with a fan.
2. It is normal for the heating of the bricks to be done overnight, on an economy tariff like Economy 7 or Economy 10. 
3. The economy tariffs only supply electricity for preset night time hours, sometimes with a mid afternoon period as well.
4. So if the bricks don't heat up at night, there is no heat in them for the fan to blow about during the day.
5. If you put them on boost, they will heat for a set time, often an hour, but at the normal, expensive electricity rate.
6. Modern storage heaters can get quite sophisticated in terms of the controls of the heat input, and the heat output.
7. See if you can find the make and model of your heaters, and look up the user instructions.  Probably online, or if necessary from the makers.
8. Also make sure that any switches near the heaters are on.  The heating process is likely to have a separate switch from the heat distribution side.

EssexExile

It sounds like they aren't heating up over night. Could be something as simple as a blown fuse but as it's both it may be something else. Do you have economy 7 or whatever it's called these days, cheap rate electricity at night.

lg07

EssexExile said:

It sounds like they aren't heating up over night. Could be something as simple as a blown fuse but as it's both it may be something else. Do you have economy 7 or whatever it's called these days, cheap rate electricity at night.

Hi. No I have standard. I noticed that the charge times on my heaters say 00:00. Do I need to input charging times? Sorry if this sounds like a silly question! 

EssexExile

I have no idea! I haven't worked on storage heaters for 20 years and they've changed a bit in that time. But if you don't have cheap overnight electricity what's the point of having night storage heaters?

lg07

EssexExile said:

I have no idea! I haven't worked on storage heaters for 20 years and they've changed a bit in that time. But if you don't have cheap overnight electricity what's the point of having night storage heaters?

Haha yeah well I'm starting to wonder that myself (I didn't install them as I'm in rented accommodation). Think I'll have to do some more investigating and do a switch to economy 7. Thank you for your help! 

lg07

nofoollikeold said:

1. Basically, storage heaters work by heating up bricks / blocks inside them, then releasing that heat later by blowing it out with a fan.
2. It is normal for the heating of the bricks to be done overnight, on an economy tariff like Economy 7 or Economy 10. 
3. The economy tariffs only supply electricity for preset night time hours, sometimes with a mid afternoon period as well.
4. So if the bricks don't heat up at night, there is no heat in them for the fan to blow about during the day.
5. If you put them on boost, they will heat for a set time, often an hour, but at the normal, expensive electricity rate.
6. Modern storage heaters can get quite sophisticated in terms of the controls of the heat input, and the heat output.
7. See if you can find the make and model of your heaters, and look up the user instructions.  Probably online, or if necessary from the makers.
8. Also make sure that any switches near the heaters are on.  The heating process is likely to have a separate switch from the heat distribution side.

Thank you very much for this information! 

nofoollikeold

1. If its rented accommodation, first port of call might be the landlord for instructions.  He / she has an obligation to enable you to heat the property.  Whether this extends to providing instruction on using what is provided is a moot point, but no harm in asking.
2. It's not just a simple "change to Economy 7".  You only want the heat input side of the heaters on the cheap tariff, or you will only have electricity at night.  This means the heat input side has to be on a separate circuit, which might not be viable physically or economically.  Again, check with the landlord.
3. Check your electricity meter.  Modern economy tariffs often only have one meter, which provides two (or more) electricity rates.  If your meter has a button, usually blue coloured, pressing it may reveal it is a multi-rate meter.  As you cycle through pushing the button it will come up with date, time, some other bits and pieces, then R1 for rate 1 and a meter reading, then R2 for rate 2 (usually the economy side) and another reading, then T and a total reading.  If your meter does this, then you already have an economy tariff available.  
4. If you have one, check your electricity bill.  This will show rate 1 and rate 2 readings if you have a multi-rate meter.

CraftyNan

I know that the above are old but I have recently had storage heaters put in and insulation etc curtesy of the Government grant and I am on ECO 7 and they have been working great with a bit of help  from the manufacturer of my heaters  what to do  but I have just realised that today they seem to have  run out of heat and I don't know why. Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong

GDB2222

CraftyNan said:

I know that the above are old but I have recently had storage heaters put in and insulation etc curtesy of the Government grant and I am on ECO 7 and they have been working great with a bit of help  from the manufacturer of my heaters  what to do  but I have just realised that today they seem to have  run out of heat and I don't know why. Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong

Weather is cold today. When did they run out?

RedFraggle

If you're not on economy 7 it's probably fortunate they haven't charged as it'd cost a bomb.
How many fuse boards do you have and what does your electric meter look like?
They could be on a switched circuit that isn't switching because you have a single rate tariff. 
If you ask the mods to move this to the energy board you'll get lots of help.