Storage heaters advice

[RadiatorDummy]

Hi all,

Am hoping to get some advice on here on my old storage heater. See picture. It is basically broken, although the fan heater does work (and operates on normal electricity tariff).

I'm not a fan of this thing because it doesn't always have heat when I need it, so I wanted to take the opportunity to buy an electric heater (no gas in flat) that operates on the normal day time tariff, so that I can have heat whenever I want. I will keep the other storage heaters in the flat so I can still enjoy the cheaper Economy 7 tariff as well.

My questions are the following:

1. I will get a heating engineer to come and replace it, but is it just a question of replacing old with new? Presumably the socket that serves the fan heater will be fine for the new heater? I know I can ask the heating engineer, but having had a very bad experience recently with a tradesman, I am a little worried that he will exploit my ignorance and charge me more by "complicating things"

1. what is a good heater to buy? The room is 5m by 6m, heated space above and below flat, solid brick outside walls (old warehouse). There is a second heater in the room (a working storage heater). I have pasted below one I have found, would this be a suitable replacement? Better alternatives welcome!

www.screwfix.com/p/creda-75774415-panel-wall-hung-heater-timer-2000w/52849

Please help out this dummy before the cold weather sets in! thanks

picture of current radiator

You need an electrician, not a heating engineer.

I don't know what "basically broken" means. There are hardly any working parts in an electric heater. When storage heaters stop working it is usually because someone has draped towels on it and the overheat link has melted.

You can buy a panel heater if you want, it will be more expensive on electricity. The one in your link is unusually expensive. All electric heaters are equally efficient, where they are cheap or expensive. I prefer oil-filled radiators because they have thermal lag and give a more even heat. They also less able to start fires if for example a curtain or papers fall on top.

The timer is the part that will go wrong so I prefer heaters without integral timers.

There are people who sell high-priced electric heaters and will try to tell you that they provide more heat or use less electricity than cheap ones. This is however impossible, except by magic.

The room is quite large. I would prefer a 3kW heater at each end, each of them having a high/medium/low switch as well as a thermostat. A panel heater with optional fan will make the room feel warm more quickly when you come home and it is cold, but the noise will be irritating, and the fan will also wear out long before the heater. If the fan socket is on your usual full-price socket circuit, you can use it for the panel heater.

Look for an electrician who is qualified as a member of a self certification scheme such as NICEIC.