Dimplex Quantum energy supply question

Moley27272

Hi,
I have very old overnight storage heaters which I would like to replace with simplex quantum heaters. I'm on octopus intelligent go which I use the 11:30 - 05:30 cheap rate to charge my EV overnight. 
It makes sense to utilise the cheaper overnight rate to heat my house as well.
I have just the one supply mains point. My electrician has suggested the Dimplex quantum heaters need a day and night rate? It will use power in the day to run the fan and timer.
My question is can I have these heaters with one supply point? 
Thank you
M

Ectophile

Traditional storage heaters only needed one supply, for the off-peak nighttime electricity.

Quantum heaters work best with two.  One is the off-peak supply, and the other is on all the time.  Quantum heaters are computerised, and will turn on a fan to waft out warm air whenever you want them to.

It is possible to supply them with a permanent feed (on all the time), but make sure you program the on-board computer to switch on at times to match your local economy 7 times.  Otherwise you end up heating them up on peak rate electricity.

They won't work on an off-peak only supply.

Scot_39

If you really want single wired - see bit in bold below if you think you might want flexibility in future.

The quantums iirc allow 4 off peak slots daily - you will have to use 2 - one for the 5.5 hrs night rate - 1 for the 1/2 hour before midnight.

I looked at Elnurs - the Ecombi HRR - from memory only allowed 2 - and my E10 has 3 - so didn't look much further.

Yes just found an example - so follow this - except changing the 6:30 to 5 30 in that first slot (well check exactly when your rates shift - and match - not all e7 meters switch exactly as suppliers nominal quoted times)

https://help.gdhv.co.uk/support/solutions/articles/79000138589-how-do-i-set-charge-times-on-my-qmrf-

Just remember to recheck around GMT and DST switches (as otherwise to protect both ends you'd be down to 4 hours only at EV rate) that the timings stay aligned (there may even be a configuration switch for the heaters not to change if your EV tariff hours don't)

The single wire installation - is covered in the install manual fig 9b. (double wire above in fig9a)

https://www.dimplex.co.uk/sites/g/files/emiian551/files/media_import/medias/docus/13/Quantum G12 Installation User Instructions - Issue 2.pdf

Note you will have to also check your metering is suitable - and have your electrician modify the wiring - at the consumer unit(s) - accordingly (assuming those existing single feeds are restricted circuits - i.e. only live at off peak times)

If I wanted single mode - I'd probably have had to have my off peak NSH and HW MCBs moved to 24/7 live supply - then fit a 16A spur timer to my immersion heater. 

But in the end - as iirc Quantums are about the only model to accept a single live 24/7 feed - others I considered do require the two (Elnur Ecombi, a Creda model etc )- can others confirm or correct me please - I decided to stick with dual wiring when getting a quote.  

For me the electrician didn't think it would make a massive difference cost wise - single mode might even have been more - cannot remember.

As thought options not a bad thing - a couple of say second hand lot 20s - or cheaper modern Credas in halls (the supplier had those in stock too) might save me a few £100 if need be - and just have the quantum for the living room area.

But that quote was triggered by fear my units were going bad - turns out it was a bad MCB - £100+ to fix rather than £1000s - so still got my old ones.

Gerry1

If you use a single 24h supply it can be disastrously expensive if there's a variance between the IG times and the Quantums' programmed switching times, ditto the Quantums' internal clocks' times.

The OP is on Intelligent Go and just needs to make sure that the IG tariff and the Quantums always stay in sync with GMT/BST changes. 

However it's riskier for E7 users who would need to determine accurately the actual (not merely supposed) live times of their switched circuits.

Their best way to be sure would be to have an E7 outlet with a neon indicator somewhere where it can be easily seen at a glance.

They would also need to beware of BST/GMT changes and of E7 times with two.hours of peak rate in the middle of the night.

Qyburn

The OP's on Intelligent Octopus Go, not any form of E7. 

Gerry1

Qyburn said:

The OP's on Intelligent Octopus Go, not any form of E7. 

Thanks.

I've edited my post to make it clearer how the potential mismatch risks affect IG and E7 users.

Scot_39

Just a naive question - if intelligent go is cheapest time of day - is that any 1/2 hr window based - and so billing ?

And what then do they do to meter - particularly one with ALCS restricted circuits - say on E7 - change those to 6 hours - leave as is - and just bill on 6 hours of 1/2 hr slots etc etc ?