New heatstore storage heaters, display isn't coming on?

roosaaliiee

I just got 3 new heatstore storage heaters installed (rental property, so landlord organised it). I'm on economy 7.
They are: dynamic hhr storage heaters, hsdhhr050 and 070.

They're wired into the wall and the switches are all on, but the display doesn't show anything. I phoned heatstore and they say that these should be wired into the wall twice, with two switches (or something). I then phoned the electrician and he said that they will start working and i shouldn't worry....

I don't get it. I think something needs to be on the display at all times? I can't even put in any settings right now, am i supposed to wait until midnight, when the night rate comes on, to do this?

And does this mean they will only be on and adjustable when my night time electricity comes on, between midnight and 7am? They need power during the day as well, I'd say, i know that they charge at night but they need power during the day for example for when i want a 'boost'?

Any insights would be really helpful. 
Thank you

[Deleted User]

Hi,

did you get a user manual with the heaters, if not have a look HERE, scroll to page 23 for settings instructions.

roosaaliiee

[Deleted User] said:

Hi,

did you get a user manual with the heaters, if not have a look HERE, scroll to page 23 for settings instructions.

Yes I've looked at these. They state that the display should be all owing something. Mine aren't.

Astria

Before they are used for the first time they should be commissioned/setup by the electrician or land lord which typically involves using the display to set the "advanced" parameters that tenants typically don't need to adjust. It sounds like they are installed but not yet ready for use.

They typically require 2 connections, one for the heating element (that typically only comes on at night) and one for the fan (which can run during the day as well).

Gerry1

Ideally it should have a E7 supply switched by the meter and also a 24h supply for the fan and occasional top ups in the afternoon or evening at the expensive day rate.

It sounds like you only have the E7 supply.

Your electrician needs to install an additional 24h circuit to each radiator.

It's also possible to change the existing single circuit wiring to 24h, to rewire the heaters internally and to program them to follow the E7 times.  If your landlord is a cheapskate this is probably what will happen.  Make sure that the immersion heater doesn't end up on a 24h circuit, that would also work out very expensive.

However, you need to be absolutely certain that the heaters are correctly programmed to follow the E7 times of your meter, otherwise you'll be paying a fortune using day rates.

You need to look at your meter to determine the exact times it switches over; don't phone anyone or trust the electrician, YOU need to see it changing over yourself.  Bear in mind there may be a two-hour gap which is charged at daytime rates, e.g. in the South East region.  Get the times wrong and it'll work out cripplingly expensive.  Also read the instructions very carefully and make sure you're not unwittingly using the day rate boost.

Above all, make sure it's a different electrician, yours obviously hasn't a clue.

MWT

Did you have night storage heaters before?

If so then they have probably just put them on the same circuit and missed the need for a separate normal power connection as well.

Electrician will need to fix that...

roosaaliiee

Thank you all, really really useful info. I can't believe that this is happening! Arrggh!


Astria said:

Before they are used for the first time they should be commissioned/setup by the electrician or land lord which typically involves using the display to set the "advanced" parameters that tenants typically don't need to adjust. It sounds like they are installed but not yet ready for use.

They typically require 2 connections, one for the heating element (that typically only comes on at night) and one for the fan (which can run during the day as well).

I wonder then if they've even done this? Given that they installed during the daytime when (I think?) the heaters weren't even powered? Thoughts?

MWT said:

Did you have night storage heaters before?

If so then they have probably just put them on the same circuit and missed the need for a separate normal power connection as well.

Electrician will need to fix that...

I did have night storage heaters before, they have simply changed them over for the newer ones and wired the new ones in the same way the old ones were, so it must just be on the Economy7 supply.

Gerry1 said:

Ideally it should have a E7 supply switched by the meter and also a 24h supply for the fan and occasional top ups in the afternoon or evening at the expensive day rate.

It sounds like you only have the E7 supply.

Your electrician needs to install an additional 24h circuit to each radiator.

It's also possible to change the existing single circuit wiring to 24h, to rewire the heaters internally and to program them to follow the E7 times.  If your landlord is a cheapskate this is probably what will happen.  Make sure that the immersion heater doesn't end up on a 24h circuit, that would also work out very expensive.

However, you need to be absolutely certain that the heaters are correctly programmed to follow the E7 times of your meter, otherwise you'll be paying a fortune using day rates.

You need to look at your meter to determine the exact times it switches over; don't phone anyone or trust the electrician, YOU need to see it changing over yourself.  Bear in mind there may be a two-hour gap which is charged at daytime rates, e.g. in the South East region.  Get the times wrong and it'll work out cripplingly expensive.  Also read the instructions very carefully and make sure you're not unwittingly using the day rate boost.

Above all, make sure it's a different electrician, yours obviously hasn't a clue.

So it sounds like the fan won't work during the day which will affect the effectiveness of the heaters, or possibly they'll hardly spread heat at all?

I'm thinking of forking out the money myself for an electrician to come out and program the heaters to work solely on the 24h circuit. Does anyone here have any idea roughly how much that would cost?

Gerry1

Print out page 17 of the manual.  Rewiring the innards of the heater should take only minutes.  However, the NSH circuit will have to be rewired at the meter and that may need attendance by your network operator to break the seals and isolate the incoming supply.  You'll also need to make sure that the immersion heater doesn't end up on a 24 hour supply: if the wiring layout means it's unavoidable then a local timer needs to be installed (and programmed correctly) so that it shadows the E7 switching times.

For these reasons it would be better to refer the problem back to the landlord to sort it out by getting an electrician who knows what he's doing.

It would also be better to do the NSH programming yourself so that you understand it fully.  You'll have to do that for the heating settings (how hot, which hours, which days of the week) so it'd be no big deal to add in the meter switching times as well.  The risk is that if someone else programs the charging times incorrectly then you'll get massive bills and not know why.

It's not as difficult as it sounds: the risk is that someone attending in the daytime probably can't establish when the meter switches over and may overlook any knock on effect with the immersion heater.  Their mistakes, but your massive bills.

roosaaliiee

Just an update.
The letting agent phoned the electrician who said that I should be able to program the heaters according to the instructions that were left by his guys after they installed the heaters.
And he apparently has no plans of being of any more help than that, so I've had no heating and probably only after new year someone else can come out.

I'd like to check: if they are all wired correctly, the wall switch is on, then the heaters SHOULD have something showing on the display, right? I think they're meant to show the 'setup wizard' upon  the power coming on. Or am I missing something? I just don't get why the electrician is telling me it's all ok and they should work and yet the display is blank...

I even stayed up until the night tariff came on, at midnight, to see if I could program them then, but the displays still were blank.

I'd love to hear your expert opinions.

Thank you!

Swipe

It's obvious the electrician has no clue. Not sure what your rights are but I'd get back on to the letting agent ASAP.

roosaaliiee

Swipe said:

It's obvious the electrician has no clue. Not sure what your rights are but I'd get back on to the letting agent ASAP.

Thank you. What do you mean 'what my rights are'? I don't know what direction to think into.
I did ask the letting agent who tried to get this electrician to sort it, and when he didn't, said that probably they can't get anyone out until after New Year.