Old style overnight storage heaters ..help

Moley27272

I've recently moved into a house with no gas pipes in the area so I'm electric only. I have 3 rooms with very old, I would guess 30-40 year old storage heaters. Each heater is connected to an on/off switch. One and only one has a red light to say when it's on. I know basically how they work but how do I control when they come on ? I'm on economy7 so I want them heating overnight only. The one with the light switch is coming on for period during the day, obviously not what I want to happen. Do I need an electrition to install a timer on each plug? Or is there another way of controlling them? Maybe at the electrical control box? I can find a make name or model number on the. 

My long term plan is to change these for next year. 
Appreciate any help, thanks

Moley27272

I've just found out the make is Sunhouse

nofoollikeold

1. If the one with the red light switch has two cables going to it, it may be on Economy 7 as standard, with an option to boost via the switch and the other cable.  
2. Try turning that switch off, and see if the heater is warm or cold in the morning.  If cold, the switch is in the Economy 7 circuit, if warm it is probably in the main electrical circuit.  
3. More modern heaters have much better control of how much heat is stored overnight and how and when it is released during the day.

Moley27272

Thank you nofoollikeold . The all have one cable going into a fused plug with on/off switch. It will be cold if I turn the switch off overnight, it's how they were when I moved here in October. It's the only way to turn them off. The heaters do seem to be warm most of the day and evening. I have them no higher than 3 input and I or 2 output. It's reasonably warm. I then turn the output down when turning in for the night, if I remember! Still seems warm in the morning 🤔

Ive just got off the phone with Sunhouse . They said I need to get an electrician in as storage heaters maybe connected or hotwired to one of the two mains electric boxes. Can one box just supply economic 7??  But then that wouldn't  explain why this red light comes on randomly during the day.

As for modern heaters I'm looking into an air-cool system, if I get some sort of government or local financial help that is

Thanks again

fenwick458

there should be a contactor somewhere that turns all the storage heaters on at the off peak times throughout the night. these used to be installed with the meters, but sometimes new meters get fitted and they just take them out and install a dual rate meter, but no time control.
heres an old radio switch, do you have one of these near the meter?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_teleswitch
to be honest if you say they are warm most of the day and they are only on 3 input, they are probably wired to the on peak supply and taking power all of the day

coffeehound

Hullo @Moley27272, if you could take a photo of your meter, the fusebox / consumer unit, and any peripheral switchgear, that would be a good starting point to assess your setup

If the forum blocks your photos, please host them online somewhere and post links with spaces in the URL and someone here can then repost them

Moley27272

Hope this works !

coffeehound

Thanks for the pics.  Is your meter out in an electrical cupboard?  A pic of that would be handy.  

When you say the one with the indicator light comes on during the day, is that for two hours in the afternoon?  If so, that would indicate that it is following the 'Economy 10' type hours.  Is that what electricity tariff you are on?

Moley27272

I've just checked yes it's economy 10. It's been awhile since ive used economy 7 and thought that the only option. 
Thank you coffeehound for your time and help 

Robin9

@Moley27272 Have you found the contactor and timer next to your meter ?

Be wary of trying to change from E10 to E7 -  has been known to cause metering issues.  

coffeehound

That's good Moley, so it's charging them up at the cheaper times okay.  The left-hand fusebox is probably the circuits that are powered up automatically during the off-peak periods so that should be the storage heaters plus your water tank immersion heater -- good idea to check that the daytime 'boost' immersion heater, if there is one, is definitely switched off.