Feel stupid for not knowing how to use our storage heaters

[Beth2511]

We moved into our flat in july and only just needed to use heating. I can get the one on but its cost us £5 in 2 days and i cant figure how to even get the others on. All 5 are different. Our bedroom is so cold we can see our breath and my little girls room is too, we are layering her up with 6/7 blankets but we need to figure how to use them.

Any ideas?

We have two, both in hallways, and I don't know how to use them either. The person we bought the house from didn't leave us any instructions and there's no name on them or anything to google.

They cost us a bloody fortune so I've taped the switch into the off position because DH seems to have a knack for turning them on accidentally, as we just can't afford to use them.

Luckily we don't have them in other rooms and the two hallways aren't essential for being heated.

They could be on for over a day and still feel cold, then suddenly be pumping out heat hours and hours after they'd been turned off.

Can you ask your housing association to provide you with instructions for them?

I have never pipped constant or otherwise Majestic.

Please know that I feel your pain. We used to hang blankets over the door of the living room and sit under a duvet all night.

Storage heaters are a cock

Before bed, set them so imput is as high as possible and output is as low as possible and at (I think) 11pm, when electricity is cheap, they start storing the heat inside the thing in blocks or oil. When the electricity goes back to the higher price in the morning they stop taking in heat. You can then choose how quickly you want the heat to release by turning up the output dial and (if the heater has one) using the fan boost to circulate the heat. I'm surprised that you haven't got non storage electric wall heaters in the bedrooms as storage heaters work best for rooms you want warmed during the daytime.

Depends on the kind of building your flat is in, but if you are contacting the landlord, ask them to check the loft insulation as well?

I assume you are on a pre-pay meter (as you knew the amount spent straight away)? You may prefer this so you always know where you are, but on the other had it does work out more expensive. You could see if you can find an energy advisor to check if there is a cheaper tariff for you - landlord's website might offer a suggestion, or try the council's.

If you are in a bigger block, probably all your neighbours will be suffering the same way. Some landlords are arranging to have the whole outside of blocks of flats insulated, as they don't want their tenants sick/broke/fed up but would prefer them to be warm and happy. And they are more motivated to do it if they get more complaints, so make sure they know how tough it is for you!

If your in receipt of any benefits or have a low income please go to your energy providers website and apply for the heating grant. One of the validations is heating being more then a certain percent of your income and with storage heaters you will be eligible.

I'd also bang on to the HA about them being inefficient. I've got pretty new ones and they are expensive compared to gas but I have a lot more control then you do with yours.

OP the convector heaters should respond immediately if you put the thermostat dial on the highest setting, and select the 'on' position, rather than 'timer' or 'off/0'. Like you have in your first picture (though I can't make out the thermostat position).

Unless the heater is switched off at the wall/broken/has blown a fuse it should start to release heat immediately.

What BrandNew said. I must have lost the 2nd half of my now singularly unhelpful post, sorry!

Have a look at your energy provider's website, it is usually easy enough to find the right bit... OK it may be a couple of clicks hidden... it may be called the Warm Home Discount

www.gov.uk/energy-grants-calculator/y

might be of use if you can't find it on your provider's site.

And continue to badger your HA!

Have managed to get thw first one sorted and on a timer to heat up an hour before we go to bed :D and hopefully the second one too.

Third one we have come to an agreement is not sorking because we cant get it to work at all. Frustratingly its DDs room that we cant get any heat to.

Going to look into grants and nagging the HA tomorrow.

Thabk you for all your help

My HA came out and showed me how to work mine! They also set the timer on my boiler for economy 7 which will drain your electric if that's electric and heating up on the expensive times.

They are very expensive to run and the heat they kick out is not great either.

Does the one that doesn't work have a wall on/off switch with a fuse in it?
If so check the fuse isn't blown/is even in there

If you can afford it I would ignore them and go and buy some oil filled radiators. I have them and they are quite efficient. A lower watt one is adequate for bedrooms , a bigger one for the front room.
It will still be quite expensive though, all electric heating is.

Form starage heaters to work correctly you need to be on 'economy 7' or it's latest equivalent. Do you have 2 electricity meters?

Economy 7 gives you cheaper electricity throughout the night but much more expensive during the day. Storage heaters are basically a brick wall in a cover, overnight the cheap electricity is used to heat them and then they should gradually release the heat during the day. A 'boost' feature blows air over the bricks so it comes out warm but will cool the bricks quicker.

The first pic does look like a storage heater, the third looks like an electric convection heater and the second I'm not sure.

If you are not on a tariff where you have cheap overnight electricity the storage heater will cost you a fortune, if you are then you need to start putting things like the washing machine and dishwasher on overnight not in the day.

Personally I would get a simple convection heater for your little girls room, you can wall mount them so she can't touch. Something like this.

www.amazon.co.uk/PORTABLE-ELECTRIC-INSTANT-CONVECTOR-THERMOSTAT/dp/B00H2IUPKI/ref=sr_1_21?s=kitchen-appliances&ie=UTF8&qid=1448348209&sr=1-21&keywords=heater

Then experiment with putting different heaters and watching your meter. I'd also call the electric company and check the tariff.

In the first pic the dial on the right - does it have little plastic bits you can click in and out? If so click in for the times you want the storage heater to heat up (not the same as give heat out).

The slidey switch needs to be on 'clock' I think the other dial and switch are for the temperature (dial) and 'boost'.

The third one looks as though it is just on/off

Argh with the storage heater on stiring overnight and our bedroom one on for an hour plus the mini bathroom one for 20 minutes we have gone through £7 of electric.

We dont qualify for the warm homes discount by about £600 :(

Op you have my sympthany. Not helpful but we lived with one one cold winter and it was the reason we moved flats before the next winter. Each flat now we check. Our solution was to keep doors shut, wrap up very warm, and just keep the main room warm with electric heater and we never got the storage heater to produce more than a luke warm heat. Agree with storing it up overnight.

£7? That is madness!

Definitely check your tariff. If you can't get economy 7 (no idea how this is arranged - we had two meters I think when we had it?) really the landlord ought to replace the storage heater with a direct heater, otherwise you are likely to be paying good money to heat the bricks - which heat the flat when you aren't there

It's highly likely your tariff is set too high, probably to recover a debt by the previous occupiers.
Get the energy suppliers to check them

Beth £7 that's very high for such a short amount of time.

Like another poster said if you can afford it I'd look at buying some heaters or radiatore.We've bought a few different types from Argos.

www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Browse?s=Price%3A+Low+-+High&storeId=10151&catalogId=25051&langId=110&c_1=1|category_root|Home%2Band%2Bgarden|33005908&c_2=2|33005908|Heating%2Band%2Bcooling|33007608&c_3=3|cat_33007608|Heaters%2Band%2Bradiators|33016652&authToken=
Hopefuly something on there might help.We've bought the small air type one's before and the radiator,the radiator type did give out alot of heat and quickly and seemed to stay warm for a good while after it was turned off.

I wouldn't bet on an incorrect tariff - my ndn used £40 in 48hrs with his.

OP are you on an economy7 tariff? £7 seems impossibly high. On 7p/kwh (night-time charge, at a guess) £7 gives you 100 kwh. On 20p/kwh (daytime charge, at a guess) it's 35 kwh.

If your storage heater draws 3.5 kwh for 8 hours that's 28 kwh. A convector heater for 1h, 2.5 kwh.

It's much more likely you are being charged daytime rates. You need to call your supplier, and check your meter. Does it show separate night-time/daytime energy? If not, get them to fit an economy7 meter.

Also speak to your ha again. In a flat I used to live in, the storage heaters were wired/programmed incorrectly and charged up at the wrong time (early evening instead of nights). I got a horrendous electricity bill from that.

Any joy OP?