Understanding storage heaters.

Newbie_John

Normal rates are 25p/kWh, economy7 has something like 11p at night and 36p during the day - so storage heaters are only expensive if they are used incorrectly - you're paying 50% more for electricity through the year.

If you don't have gas then the cheapest option for heating is a heat pump which can cost £10k+, a storage heater costs £1000 and if you combine it with a good electricity tarrif they are quite cheap.
Many people who own houses would choose them.
The worst thing landlords can do is to instal basic £100 electric heaters.. especially when tenants are on economy 7 and ignore the night rate running everything during the day..

SpikeyKitten

RedFraggle said:

Quantum will only charge if they're set to heat a property as the intelligently make sure they store enough heat for the next day, based on how much heat was used the previous day. This means they don't automatically charge every night. In spring and autumn mine charge every other or every third day.
When they've been off in the summer mine take a couple of days to work it out.

I'd suggest looking up the manual online.

I'm a huge fan and prefer my all electric flat to gch.

How is your water heated? To avoid a large bill you'll likely need to get your head round that too.

That's good to know. Thanks. What provider are you with out of interest?

Water also appears to be heated via Economy 7, which I'm just getting my head around. I don't really understand this either. It heats up the tank overnight. In the morning I rush to get to work so have a shower which is heated by the shower itself I assume. Then when I get back from work and would love a hot bath, all the water's cold. And I have to boil kettles to wash up after dinner. 

I'll get there in the end 

QrizB

Is your shower a mixer (fed from the tank) or an instantaneous one? If the flow rate is a bit insipid, it's probably the latter. If you get a proper deluge, the former.

The tank should be insulated well enough to stay warm all day. If you're having to boil kettles, it might be that the tank is too small for your intended use.

Does it have a make and model that you can find? On a plate or label, perhaps?

SpikeyKitten

For those who use storage heaters: how do you approach ventilation. In my old gas-powered house I used to open the windows a lot. For a bit in the morning, and when cooking etc. The boiler would obviously have to kick in again after I'd closed them. But if I do that with storage heaters then I'll just be letting out all the heat without being able to warm it back up again.

RedFraggle

I'm with octopus 
My quantums have a feature of "open window" so if there's a sudden drop in temperature due to an open window they stop heating the room to avoid excessive heat loss. That is the default setting but it can be disabled.
They're really quite clever!
Our hot water is a thermal store (gledhill) we run that for 2 hours each night but use an electric shower. 
At the moment we're using around 35 to 50 kWh a day but that's keeping a large flat 70sqm at 20C and using a panel heater in my office for 9 hours a day and an oil filled rad 24/7 in the bedroom at 20C.

Scot_39

SpikeyKitten said:

For those who use storage heaters: how do you approach ventilation. In my old gas-powered house I used to open the windows a lot. For a bit in the morning, and when cooking etc. The boiler would obviously have to kick in again after I'd closed them. But if I do that with storage heaters then I'll just be letting out all the heat without being able to warm it back up again.

Not all the heat.

I have old manual nsh and regularly air home - 10-15 min - enough to exchange damp inside air for dryer ambient - on better winter days.

Without cooling structure too badly.

Dry air doesn't take a lot to heat.

And iirc the quantums may even have open window detection - so will not rush to release more energy as soon as do so.

Other days - really damp or really cold - I use a c£130 10l dehumidifier to maintain dry house after laundry etc.  2x2 hr sessions at off peak cost about 25p.  Adds a little heat to house and towels, bedding and heavy cottons like jeans etc dry in half the time.

Scot_39

SpikeyKitten said:

RedFraggle said:

Quantum will only charge if they're set to heat a property as the intelligently make sure they store enough heat for the next day, based on how much heat was used the previous day. This means they don't automatically charge every night. In spring and autumn mine charge every other or every third day.
When they've been off in the summer mine take a couple of days to work it out.

I'd suggest looking up the manual online.

I'm a huge fan and prefer my all electric flat to gch.

How is your water heated? To avoid a large bill you'll likely need to get your head round that too.

That's good to know. Thanks. What provider are you with out of interest?

Water also appears to be heated via Economy 7, which I'm just getting my head around. I don't really understand this either. It heats up the tank overnight. In the morning I rush to get to work so have a shower which is heated by the shower itself I assume. Then when I get back from work and would love a hot bath, all the water's cold. And I have to boil kettles to wash up after dinner. 

I'll get there in the end 

You cannot be fully heating the tank or your running a lot of water.

Is it modern and well insulated ?

Does it feed the shower- or is your shower electric - something like one of these 

Thermostatic from tank

https://www.screwfix.com/c/bathrooms-kitchens/showers/cat820272?mixertype=thermostatic

Electric het ftom cold 

https://www.screwfix.com/c/bathrooms-kitchens/showers/cat820272?showerproducttype=electric



Some here switched to only hesting their tank every 2nd or 3rd day to save on costs - including one poster taking 2-3 showers from it each day.  But larger home tanks are larger.

Do you know what model your hw tank is - or its size.  They range from 100l to 300l content.

Does it need any additional jacket to cut loses.

Most modern have own insulation - decades ago they were bare metal and acted as radiators without secondary insulating jackets (look a bit like a quilt) to stop them losing hest.

Baths use a lot of hot water as a rule - a full bath maybe 3-4 times a shower - but at least that's hopefully if on e7 - het at night rate. 

An electric shower worst case will be a peak rate.  something I cant always avoid but try to.  As off peak costs 25p the peak rate more like 45p per shower.

Bluebird67

I upgraded my 30 year old storage heaters to Dimplex Quantum heaters a year ago and they’re very clever and very efficient. I’ve probably used at least 700kWhs less this past year than in 2023. I can understand your confusion if you’ve never used storage before but don’t let all the scaremongering put you off. Below is a couple of links to Dimplex info. The manual is clear and should help with setting the times and the other is a great FAQ page that covers most questions regarding Quantum heaters.

https://www.dimplex.co.uk/sites/g/files/emiian551/files/media_import/medias/docus/14/08_83324_0-3%20QMRF%20Online%20G13%2023-023.pdf

https://www.dimplex.co.uk/sites/g/files/emiian551/files/media_import/medias/docus/14/08_83324_0-3%20QMRF%20Online%20G13%2023-023.pdf

I’ve set my heaters to 20 degrees (the temperature I wish my room to be) and have programmed how many hours I want the heaters to blow out the heat (I only want it blowing out when I’m around). The heater then works out how much charge is required to achieve this. It’s very accurate, though it takes a few days to warm up when switched on for the first time. It doesn’t take long at all to heat the room. I have mine switching on around 15 minutes before I get up. 

There are four main user modes. I use ‘User Timer’ but if your house is empty during the day you might want to start with the ‘Out All Day’ mode then tweak the setting once you get the hang of it.

A couple of points:
If you push the big dial on the control panel 3 or 4 times you’ll see the ‘7 day usage’ screen. This will show how much energy the heater has burned each day over the past week. You’ll notice that as the weather changes the amount of energy required to achieve your settings will increase or decrease.

There’s also an ‘Advance’ button which is handy. If your heating is on but you decide to go out, you can push Advance and the fan will stop blowing out the heat until the next time slot on your programmed schedule. As a result, the heater will have retained more of its charge so will not need to charge so long the next night. A good saving.

I would definitely get back in touch with British Gas to make sure they have you on the correct tariff. I’m about to change to Octopus who I knew were cheaper than my current provider, Ovo, but a big thanks to QrizB for the info on the Snug Octopus tariff which I hadn’t heard of. It’s less than half the price of Ovo’s.

Re. Your water heater.
Have you checked the temperature setting on the tanks thermostat as it may be too low. I also replaced my old, small hot water tank last year. I had to boil a kettle or put the boost on a couple of times during the day with the old tank. My new tank has much better insulation, holds 96ltrs and is set at approx. 55 degrees. It keeps hot all day (though I don’t have a bath and the shower is electric). Might also be worth getting another insulation jacket for it.

I don’t want to bombard you with info on the Quantums, but if you need more I’m happy to help. Good luck.

EssexHebridean

Best advice I can give for Quantums is to read the blurb then trust that they do what they say they will - they honestly do! 

SpikeyKitten

Apologies for the late reply everyone. I got my water sorted in the end. It turned out there was a switch hidden out of the way with a red light in it. This switch turned out to be the power for the immersion heater. I had dismissed it as some old redundant switch no longer in use, as pressing it didn't seem to do anything or even light it up. It obviously only lights up during the night...

So, a final question regarding the storage heaters: Is it more efficient to run multiple heaters or just one? There are two large ones in my living room, and another large one in the small hallway. This seems a bit overkill to me. Is it best to have them all going at perhaps lower temperatures, or just have one going at a higher temperature? 

Thanks for all your help.