Night storage heaters and the costs

37pisntenough

I rent a house which is all electric. This has 4 night storage heaters.

I've found that even with an Economy 7 rate and the heaters charging for the full 7 hours that 
1. They run cold by the evening.
2. Even at off peak rates they cost a lot to use. If I switch on all 4 then it's about £25 to charge them.
3. The "boost" does very little.
4. It's really irritating if I am away and return to a cold house (I switch the heaters off when I'm away) I can't get and heat until the next day. 

The way things are at the moment I've switched off the night storage heaters and I'm using plug in heaters which curiously, even at peak rate, cost less than £25 and provide heat throughout the day and evening. I'm considering moving to a flat rate and not using the night storage heaters.

Is this normal or am I not using them correctly? 

Swipe

I live in a poorly insulated detached rural bungalow with 8 storage heaters. I only use 4 of them due to cost. In winter it costs on average around £5.50 a day (38 off peak units + 3 - 4 peak). I achieve this by having the living room one (24KW output) on full to maintain 15C - 20C and the hall (18KW) and bedroom (20KW) ones on very low to maintain between 10C and 13C and the kitchen one (12KW) on about 3/4 to keep 12-14C. I wear thermal base layers and wool jumpers, hat and a fleece to keep warm and have an electric blanket on the bed and use an electronic foot warmer in a couple of rooms where I sit. 

When the weather turns milder (above 11C during the day) I will switch off the hall and bedroom heaters and use a dehumidifier in the hall over night. This is the only way I can keep my energy costs around £100 a month direct debit. If I ran my storage heaters like I used to before the prices went up 4 years ago they would easily cost around £25 a day as yours do. 

37pisntenough

I've been looking at how long night storage heaters dispense heat and as far as I can see it's about 12 hours. This fits with my experience and means that by 7pm I get no heat from the charged heaters. 

My landlord previously had convection heaters in the property but in an inspection by the local council was forced to put these night storage heaters in. It was expensive to buy and fit and is now expensive to run.
In speaking to the electrician who came to fix one of them (it kept overheating) he felt that the regulations simply didn't take account of how they are used and there seems to be a move to try and get electricity usage out of peak times without understanding how they work. 

I've lived in other properties but never had night storage heaters and I'm trying to understand how they can be successfully and economically used. As far as I can see the best way is to switch them off!!
Any thoughts will be helpful

Swipe

As old style storage heaters were designed for use when energy was cheap, I'm afraid it's either adapt to living in colder conditions, or don't use them.

37pisntenough

Swipe said:

As old style storage heaters were designed for use when energy was cheap, I'm afraid it's either adapt to living in colder conditions, or don't use them.

These aren't old style storage heaters. They are new (2 years old) and chosen from a list the council provides for rentals. 

Swipe

My point still stands.

37pisntenough

Swipe said:

My point still stands.

Do you mean all night storage heaters are old style?
It's a contradiction in terms if that's your point.
If it isn't then your post is irrelevant to the conversation!! 

Swipe

37pisntenough said:

Swipe said:

My point still stands.

Do you mean all night storage heaters are old style?
It's a contradiction in terms if that's your point.
If it isn't then your post is irrelevant to the conversation!! 

I mean you need to lower your temperature expectations or get the landlord to improve your insulation. £25 of electricity will generate £25 of heat. Try downloading the user manuals and check to see if you are using them correctly.

37pisntenough

Swipe said:

37pisntenough said:

Swipe said:

My point still stands.

Do you mean all night storage heaters are old style?
It's a contradiction in terms if that's your point.
If it isn't then your post is irrelevant to the conversation!! 

I mean you need to lower your temperature expectations or get the landlord to improve your insulation. £25 of electricity will generate £25 of heat.

Thanks for the clarification.

Actually in my case £25 of electricity generates the same amount of usable heat as £10 of electricity!

To explain, If I use night storage heaters it costs me £25 a day but runs out by 7:00pm If I use convection heaters during the day it costs £10 a day and not only keeps the same temperature but also keeps it up to temperature in the evening.
This was all in the previous posts. 

I was trying to see if others have the same issues and if there was a problem in the way I was using the night storage heaters. The conversation seems to have veered away from that as they do on these forums.

Swipe

Have a look at this post:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81270036/#Comment_81270036

Oliverleo

Swipe said:

My point still stands.

Hello, everyone how are you.