How to storage heaters work

[Coffeesnob11]

I am in a rented flat in between selling my house and trying to buy another. The flat had only electric and has storage heaters. I have no idea how to use them and there is no manual. Are they rubbish and expensive (even more so now?) The flay is baking at the moment but my neighbour says that the opposite is true in winter. Does anyone have any tips on how best to use them etc?

I had twenty years ago in a student flat and they were dreadful. Hopefully they're more efficient now. Principle was that you had to predict you'd need heat 24 hours in advance then set them to charge up on cheap rate electricity overnight then they'd release the heat the following day. They weren't good for a cold snap or a surprisingly mild day. We had a fan heater on one downstairs which you could turn on for a quick warm up but that used to chew through the money!!

They’re dreadful things.
My flat has them, they are ridiculously expensive to run, and we were still bloody cold.
I bought an oil filled radiator and quite honestly it’s been a game changer.

I recommend getting the biggest you can afford, I shut the living room door (we have a through lounge/kitchen), then once the living room is warm open the door for the heat to filter through.
We only need to have it on for an hour or so at a time, last winter my electricity bill was £100ish a month. Dreading this year!

Storage heaters are very effective IF you know how to use them.

The basic principle is that they contain large blocks of clay that warm up overnight and retain heat like bricks. They then release that heat gradually during the day.
They are great at providing steady consistent background warmth. Safe, requiring little maintenance and cheaper to use than other forms of heating.

However, they take 24 hours to warm up so useless for someone who wants instant responsiveness, wants their house to be warm instantly after two weeks away. Also very hard to set temperature controls, a room is either warm or not. And not good for those who want a very warm house.

My gran loved them but she had the same routine everyday for years. I liked them when I was a poor student who couldn't afford to travel but spent every evening at home reading.

Yes they're expensive. Do they look like this? Or newer?

Very first thing you need to do, is make absolutely sure you are on a dual rate tarrif where your night electric is cheaper. Like economy 7.

There will be a wire going to a switch on the wall, this switch will control if the heater turns on overnight. You turn it on if you want heating the next day.

Overnight, your meter will switch to night rate, this will make the circuit that the heaters are on live, and they'll start to get hot. (they're full of bricks that get made hot, then a vent on the top controlled by the output dial that lets the heat from the bricks seep out into the room)

How hot will depend on where you've set the input dial. Smaller the number, the less heat (and less electric!). Make sure you turn the output dial down to the lowest setting overnight, otherwise the heat going in will come straight out again and you'll be baking overnight and run out of heat during the day. They will get hot with the output turned down, but not as hot as when it's open.

When you want heat, you turn the output dial up. The more you open it up, the less time it will last.

You'll need to experiment to figure out how much you need to heat them up overnight, to have enough heat in the day.

They will most likely run out of heat in the evening whatever you do.

I have storage heaters, without the manual may be a bit of a minefield, but I set mine to go off in peak times and on off peak - eg off between 4-7 pm on 7-10pm - provides enough hot water for morning shower, you might need to leave on longer for more water if household.

And then I set the system to Auto.

Obviously switch off all heating on the heater during summer, in winter just turn them on, you judge the heat settings and it will run according to your hot water water auto setting.

In normal times I found them efficient and economical.

There are many features like all day, 24 hours, Auto and Off - so, easy to control and switch off/on according to your needs.

Sounds a bit complicated but do an internet search, you should actually be able to find the manual for your particular heaters and lots of info about how to run them effectively.

It is wrong of me to presume that you will do internet search. People that do not/cannot are slowly being locked out of the 21st century.

Loads of videos and explanations on You Tube.

Thank you I can search the Internet but equally wanted some feedback from people with real life experiences. They do look exactly like the picture. We will need the heat most in the evening as I work in an office 3 days a week so will look up oil fired radiators. I have a night rate for the electricity so that's okay. I have vone from a house with hive heating and new insulation so it's going to take some getting used to. I am always cold which doesn't help and have to warm by fingers up gently in the morning otherwise they hurt (only in the winter)

Be aware the oil filled radiator will be much more expensive to run than for someone on a single rate tarrif because your 'day rate' for electric will be very expensive compared to the night rate. For instance, my night rate is 16p per kWh and the day rate is 31p per kWh.

You might find by leaving the nsh 'shut' with the output turned down as far as it will go all day, that they are still hot when you get home and you won't be cold.

I think @Mum4all is talking about an immersion heater for hot water rather than night storage heater radiators?

Horrendous - house would be toasty if I got up in the night, but the heat would never last the whole day if it was cold - and you need to plan what heating you'll need the night before. Cost a fortune and we had to supplement with open fires. We wanted to delay putting in central heating until other work had been done, but just one winter was ruining us. Never again.

They are awful. You are cold every evening. Utterly stupid design.

We had them years ago, expensive to run and very inefficient, sadly OP.

We have them and get on okay with them, except for there's no instant adjustment if it suddenly gets cold.
You should have 2 dials: input and boost.
Input sets how much they heat up the blocks overnight. We rarely have to use the highest setting.
Boost controls a flap. Lowest number flap is closed and you can see it open as you turn the dial up.
If the flap is open all night the heat will be released more and it will cost more to heat up. We keep the boost closed all night so it retains as much of the heat as possible.
If it's a cold evening we then open the boost flap so more heat is released.

They don't work. I always had them in rental accomodation. The estate agent would always praise them. I would think "bet the landlord doesn't have them in his own bloody house"

I had them years ago and they were awful and expensive. My friend has them now and can't afford to turn them on. She uses electric or oil plug in ones rather than the heaters she has.

Op are you on any kind of benefits (child benefits, UC, pension etc)

A few years ago there was a scheme to upgrade old storage heater to more modern ones for free with better insulation and better controls. I'd guess the scheme is still in place.

It had to be the occupier of the property who applies for it rather than the owner. But it obviously appeals to the owner to make the place easier to rent.

You probably have electric panels heaters in the bedrooms they work on a timer but don't store heat

No I am not and the landlord is the estate agent and has no interest in doing anything to modernise at all.

They will most likely run out of heat in the evening whatever you do.

Yep. If you work out of the home they are useless. The flat is warm during the day when you are not there and freezing in the evening.

I lived in a rented flat with them in the 90s. Great flat, but bloody freezing and massive electricity bills (we had a couple of oil filled radiators). My bedroom did even have a useless storage heater!

When we had then we got a person on the phone who actually understood them and switched us to economy 10. This meant they come on/recharged in the afternoon too meaning we had evening heat!

It was magic! It didn't cost any more than the central heating we had put in. And when I was a sahm it was perfect as it was warm all day. However althoyvh we are in and out now and you can't beat CH, for all day warmth when in economy 10 it was great. I half wonder if they'll come back into fashion with cost of living...

As above, see if there is another tariff other than Ecomony 7. I am on Flexiheat, which I think has been replaced by Ecomony 10. Flexiheat was for people out at work during the day so instead of 7 hours heating up the bricks, 5 was done at night and there a 2 hr boost 2-4/2.30-4.30pm so the top up would last into the evening.