Advice on huge electricity costs

rero71

Fred2712 said:

Have you got an immersion heater for your hot water ? 

If so this will use a lot of electric if left on all day, much cheaper to turn on for 1/2 hour or 1 hour a day when you want it, for example.

Yes. not switching on anymore during the night as a few days ago an electrician disabled the 5th terminal on the meter.
But I don't leave it on all day, I just turn it on 3h for now. Thanks for the thought

I'm calculating costs of staying as we are and putting a smart meter, or, replacing one or both these heaters and putting again storage heaters.

You mentioned Dimplex Quantum which seem the top on the market.

I did a rough calculation and had a look at QM125RF model.
Would this be a good choice?
Do other models really differ a lot?

Please could anyone kindly explain to me the actual consumption of this model?
I see two different values for input and output.

I'd like to know which is the actual kW consumption so that I can calculate how much I'd spend daily when this stores heat during night at night unit rate (if we switch back to Economy7).
Right now it's not clear to me if a storage heater consumes only during night or also during day, many thanks in advance

Late Merry Christmas everyone!

Gerry1

rero71 said:

Fred2712 said:

Have you got an immersion heater for your hot water ? 

If so this will use a lot of electric if left on all day, much cheaper to turn on for 1/2 hour or 1 hour a day when you want it, for example.

Please could anyone kindly explain to me the actual consumption of this model?
I see two different values for input and output.
I'd like to know which is the actual kW consumption so that I can calculate how much I'd spend daily when this stores heat during night at night unit rate (if we switch back to Economy7).
Right now it's not clear to me if a storage heater consumes only during night or also during day, many thanks in advance

It charges at 2.76kW, so the maximum it can store over night is 19.32kWh.  At a night rate of 15p/kWh that would cost £2.90.  However, it wouldn't draw that amount every night unless the weather is very cold or you set the output for tropical, there would normally be some heat left over at the end of the day.

The output is lower that the input because it charges up rapidly for a relatively short time but releases the energy over a longer time, hence the 1.25kW output rating.

Old style NSHs only consumed energy overnight, hence the single E7 switched circuit.  However, if they weren't big enough, or you hadn't turned up the input control sufficiently or if the weather suddenly turned cold the next day then you'd be chilly in the late afternoon or evening and there wasn't anything you could do about it (except plug in a separate device such as a fan heater, convector or oil-filled radiator).  Modern NSHs have another heating element which can be switched on during the day, hence the need for the 24h circuit.  Bear in mind that its use should be minimised because any top up will be at the expensive day rate.

A quick rule of thumb is that if you'd always be warm enough with a 1.25kW convector then this model would suit you.  If in doubt go for a bigger model so that you'd hardly ever need to top up.

rero71

Hi Gerry,
thanks so much for your help.

After having a chat with my landlady and explaining everything, she just decided she's going to replace one oil filled radiator with a Elnur Ecombi ECOHHR40 High Retention Storage Heater, and re-plug the 5th terminal obviously for the Economy 7 tariff.

I have had a quick look and 3.48kW seems a lot but after a quick calculation, still cheaper than the daily cost for a single oil filled we currently have.
I hope this model will work for this house and thanks again to all of you

Gerry1

Remember that you'll also need a 24-hour supply otherwise you'll have a tale of woe like this one.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6321657/new-heatstore-storage-heaters-display-isnt-coming-on/

Make you that you read and fully understand the user instructions so that you can programme it yourself to meet your particular requirements.  Don't rely on someone else doing it for you.  If unknown to you it ends up charging at daytime rates or using the built in convector to top up, you'll be the one hit with massive bills, not the person that supplied it, installed it or programmed it.  Similarly, make sure the immersion heater(s) aren't using day rate.

Make sure you know exactly when the cheap rate period is: look at the meter on the wall and see for yourself when it changes over and back, don't rely on info from anyone or anywhere else.  Remember that there may be a two-hour peak rate period in the middle of the night in some areas.

Sorry for the dire warnings but it's easy to get things expensively wrong if you don't check diligently.