Dimplex Quantum Problems

Green_Driver

I've had 5 Quantum storage heaters installed under a Govnt scheme, replacing old Creda NSH & am very dissapointed, they tick, tap & crack when they are working & don't seem to be any cheaper to run, Can anyone please tell me if they are supposed to be cheaper to run set to 'Out all day' than ' Home all day' ? at the moment I have them set to Out all day & on the same settings every day, one night they use 40 units of electricity, the next night 53 units! nothing else is used extra per night. it does not seem possible to reduce the amount of power used overnight?, they are all or nothing, where as the old Creda units could be turned down to use less power overnight. I know they can be adjusted to come on at different times (almost too many options ) but cant seem to get them to use less electricity)

Olly_J

I had Dimplex Quantum's for several years, I would suggest you create your own schedule in the time settings, and don't rely on the inbuilt pre-canned Out all day program so it exactly matches your needs. Obviously you might only want some of them to provide heat between certain hours, and other at different hours. Currently they will all be providing heat at the same time etc

That said 40-50kwh during very cold periods, divided over 5 units does not seem that much in the scheme of things. Are you on E7?

EssexHebridean

The first thing I'd say is that if these have been installed correctly for you then you should be wanting them to use energy overnight as presumably you are on E7? The last thing you want if so is them trying to charge - or being used on the boost setting more than needed - during the day!

They require a bit of user intervention to work at their best. I've got one fitted currently - if we were looking to stay in our current property we'd be looking to have another existing heater changed for one too. At the moment we have the quantum in the hallway, and an older style (XLN I think) in the front room - and we are only using those two, and heating our flat very adequately with them. My use yesterday - including running a dehumdifier for 8 hours overnight/8 hours during the day - was around 28kWh total. Oh that included immersion heater on overnight as usual too. The =quantum had it's output temp set to 22 degrees, and was on the OAD setting - from memory that would have given output 7am - 7.40am and then again 5.15pm - 10.30pm. 

Delve into the menu and check that the OAD setting is set right for you, would be a first thing - think a few days ahead around what the temperature is expected to be (the heater will make some adjustments for that in any event, but best to continue to stay on top of it) and also think what your movements are. Even if you're an early riser, it might not work best to have too  much output early on as this can "clash" with the charging and mean the heaters are working harder and needing to pull more charge. I have a "crossover" of 10 minutes most weekday mornings, and no crossover at all at weekends. Although they are High Heat Retention, they do still leak some heat while charging - and we find that's enough for us. Similarly we are both people who prefer a colder bedroom so we have no heater on in there at all. The output temperature setting is also not the same as the desired room temperature in case that isn't clear - a lot of people think it's a bit like a CH thermostat! 

I've lived with NSH's for 20 years now and I'd honestly say that it's only in the last 5/6 years we've really learned properly how to get the best out of them - and that is best done by REALLY learning about them. They can work brilliantly, and be very economical - but you do have to get stuck in and keep on top of tweaking them - it's not like GCH where you can set  thermostat and the system does the rest.

Another thing to consider on yours: Do you need all 5 switched on? Do all 5 need to be set to "out all day"? Think about how each room is used and when the heat is required, and set the heaters accordingly, tailored to that. The front room might want to be set to start blasting out heat an hour before you get home, whereas a bedroom might want a short blast first thing, and a short blast mid evening perhaps. (Overnight the leakage while charging should more than adequately heat a bedroom I'd expect) The Quantums are incredibly controllable which is their main advantage, and that is where savings can be made, IMO.