Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Probably a stupid question about heating.

28 replies

Tohaveandtohold · 22/12/2018 13:03

This would sound stupid but do all houses in the UK have a boiler?
We don’t have central heating in my house but we have an electric storage heater (Elson electric hot water tank) and some radiators (dimplex). We only have electricity and no gas. Since yesterday, one of the radiators has stopped working.
When we moved in, we took our a boiler and radiator care with our energy provider. I called them to request a service engineer to visit but they kept saying that they need the name of the boiler to be able to send out an engineer. Apart from the electric storage heater and the radiators, I can’t find anything else that looks like a boiler. Is it possible that we have hot water, heating, etc and no boiler.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
PigletJohn · 22/12/2018 16:11

OK, so you meter has a separate live for the "off peak" and for the "24 hour" supplies. Observe that one of the grey cables has two orange identifying bands on it, and one has three. With luck they will be marked again on the other side of that wall, where perhaps they connect into your two consumer units. Possibly something is written on the bands.

It's probable that one of those cables is only live during the off-peak hours specified in your tariff (could be anywhere between 7 and ten hours, sometimes more). If this is so, you don't need to turn off your storage heater or your off-peak water heater (except maybe in summer, but the storage heaters should have a control panel, perhaps behind a window, top right front). Where you have neon indicators on the off-peak devices, you may observe they automatically come on round about 11pm or midnight. As electricity during these periods is half price, it's a good time to use your tumbledrier, washing machine etc, or to have a bath, because the cylinder will be re-heated at low cost. Your installation is not suitable for an electric shower.

Your consumer units ought to have rectangular lids over the fuses, and the purpose of each circuit ought to be written on the appropriate panels of the lid. Though IMO it is very useful to write, with permanent marker, on a strip of white vinyl tape above the row of fuses.

BTW as you have actual fuses, they must not be pulled out or put back unless the main switch of their CU has been turned off.

Storage heaters and immersion heaters are usually 15Amp and the fuseholder blue. I see you have a 20Amp yellow one. I don't know what this is for. Possibly two smaller heaters. 20A fusewire is not generally available. Fuses very rarely blow so it probably won't matter. MCBs to fit are obtainable, but opinions differ on whether that is worthwhile, or if it is better to fit a whole new CU at greater cost. I would guess your consumer units are somewhere around 1980's build.

Red is for 30Amp, usually Socket circuits or cookers. White is 5A, usually for lighting circuits. They are sized and shaped so they are not interchangeable. It's useful to keep a card of fusewire handy, there may be one hanging on the wall. They should last a lifetime.

PigletJohn · 22/12/2018 16:16

I found this link which, among other things, shows how the fusewire should be changed in those fuseholders, if it ever becomes necessary

www.flameport.com/electric_museum/wylex_fuse_boxes/wylex_standard_2.cs4

Tohaveandtohold · 22/12/2018 17:13

Thanks for your help pigletjohn.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page