Storage Heaters

Scot_39

QrizB said:

@Scot_39 OP has shared photos and has answered several of your questions already.

It's definitely an older Dimplex storage heater. They are on the no-standing-charge standard-rate Utilita electricity tariff.

Yes - whilst I was typing me reply - so deleted the first post

EssexHebridean

Keep_pedalling said:

wrf12345 said:

Originally, you must have had an underfloor heating connection (assuming it was electric and not piped in water for the whole block) in a fuse box that bypassed the meter, the question is if the storage heater has been connected in the same way or is connected to the meter - if the latter you should point out that the twenty quid charge no longer applies. Not sure if you can have a fuse box with two separate inputs for supply, one connected to the grid and one connected to the meter (would be an open invitation for fraud)... 

You are paying for it whether you use it or not through the monthly fixed charge from your landlord so you need to turn it back on and cut down on your other heating that you are paying separately for. This is how it should be working anyway.

Can you post images of the meters please?

The question is whether the OP is actually getting the thing - heat - that they are paying for, though! If others who have had the NSHs installed in place of the underfloor are now being charged for the costs of running them, while still paying the £20.xx per month for the heating, that's an issue. 

WiserMiser

I wonder whether the underfloor heating was part of a building or district heating system?

That would have been a wet system and might have been condemned if corrosion or fractures had caused leaks requiring digging up the concrete floor.  That would also explain why it was paid for separately.

In contrast, there's very little to go wrong with an electric underfloor system, and any maintenance should be straightforward.  It's essentially a wire mat embedded into the concrete, hence no need for any electricity payments to go via the council.  Whoever charged the £20 may not have been aware that the underfloor system in that studio was no longer in use.

Philis89

What pictures of the meters do you want?

This maybe a silly question, but would keeping the hot water on also cost alot? I i have a switch that i flick down and the hot water tank heats up. This made my meter flash alot. 
I've not put my own little electric heater on today or yesterday. 

WiserMiser

It looks like you're on a single rate tariff rather than Economy 7, so that's likely to double your usage costs.  Again, that suggests the original underfloor system was not electric.

EssexHebridean

If it turns out that both the storage heater and hot water are at your personal cost, then you'd do best switching to an economy 7 tariff, then using both overnight on an off peak rate. An Immersion heater used at your current rates is going to be very expensive to run. You'll also need to speak with the council about stopping the payments to the for the heat element that they are charging, of course. 

QrizB

Philis89 said:

What pictures of the meters do you want?

A photo like this example, if you can, showing the meter and any other gubbins around it.

Philis89 said:

This maybe a silly question, but would keeping the hot water on also cost alot? I i have a switch that i flick down and the hot water tank heats up. This made my meter flash alot. 

Heting the tank up from cold, the first time, might cost £2. Keeping it hot once you've done that should be less than £1 a day, unless you're using huge amounts of hot water (long showers, deep baths, that sort of thing).

A photo of the tank would also be helpful.

Scot_39

Philis89 said:

What pictures of the meters do you want?

This maybe a silly question, but would keeping the hot water on also cost alot? I i have a switch that i flick down and the hot water tank heats up. This made my meter flash alot. 
I've not put my own little electric heater on today or yesterday. 

It would be the same light - and if a big panel (you suggest not) - it would be a slightly faster flash.

Compared to say the I guess 3kW water heater - and corresponding flash rate (its a flash per small amount of energy used - often not always set for 1000 per kWh - so 3000 in an hour for your immersion heater or 50 per second minute)

Thanks WiserMiser

On my generation / brand of manual input series heaters there were 3 ratings - 24 series 3.4 kW in lr  (18 series 2.5 kW) and 12 series in halls 1.7kW - which would flash a little faster / almost half rate compared to a 3kW immersion heater

QrizB

WiserMiser said:

It looks like you're on a single rate tariff rather than Economy 7, so that's likely to double your usage costs.  Again, that suggests the original underfloor system was not electric.

I think it's too early to say that.

If there is a separate, centrally-metered supply to the consumer unit, it would make sense for the original underfloor heating to have been electrical.

WiserMiser

QrizB said:

WiserMiser said:

It looks like you're on a single rate tariff rather than Economy 7, so that's likely to double your usage costs.  Again, that suggests the original underfloor system was not electric.

I think it's too early to say that.

If there is a separate, centrally-metered supply to the consumer unit, it would make sense for the original underfloor heating to have been electrical.

Possibly, but that seems a sure fire way to guarantee that tenants would turn the wick up to maximum and open the windows if it became too hot.

OTOH, most councils aren't renowned for their common sense...