Heatstore storage heaters not working

[CM]

Just bought a flat a month ago. It's got two Heatstore storage heaters, both of which we tried to turn on this weekend, and don't seem to be working.

The first one is a large heater, with two electric wires going into it, an input and output dial on top, a switch on the side, and a dial beside that.

sure of the model number - I've tried googling it, but it seems to be HSXC/24. The label is here:

dial at the side is here:

the orange light switch is coming on. So I'm sure power is getting to the unit.

We've turned on all combinations of the switches, it doesn't seem to be able to produce heat on demand or to store it at night.

The second heater is a small heater in the hall

it doesn't seem to have any dials or switches at all, apart from the one on the wall with the fuse (which we changed). Turning it on produces no effect. I think it's a HSX/A6 - but again google has no reference to it.

don't think we're on Economy 7 - the electric bill doesn't think so anyway.

Are we missing something obvious? Or are we just unlucky enough to have bought a flat full of broken heaters? (The owner lived in Singapore for years before selling and knows nothing about it).

Grateful for any info, as I know next to nothing about these heaters.

[Stephen Dawson]

How do you heat your water?? might seem like a daft question, but does your tank have two elements? are both switches on ?

I think from my experience that you do have an off-peak supply and that the time clock, or radio switch is faulty. Do you have two meters or one? If one it should be a multi rate meter. Can you post a picture of your mains position and electric meters and I will be able to help you more.

Steve

[john]

[CM]

You're right: our meter is multirate

our heater does indeed have two elements - and both switches are on.

would be really surprised if it was just about the Economy 7 thing, surely it should be possible to just turn on the heater, without using the storage facility?

[tim(yet another new home)]

Actually possibly not.

Even when you know what to look for it is hard to find. They also take more force to reset than you might expect

But I agree, this is probably why it isn't working.

Use a mains test screwdriver to follow the chain of where there is power and where there isn't. Though you have to wait up until 11:30 to check this :-(

tim

[Stephen Dawson]

Check the low rate meter reading before you go to bed, then check it again in the morning. It should have advanced, it probabaly wont, because I think the teleswitch next to the meter has failed. You will need to contact your supplier to fix this.

Let us know what you find.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 19 Nov 2006 18:36:33 +0000 someone who may be CM wrote this:-

pointing to the normal dials. Some time this evening, possibly 23:30 it should point to the low dials instead and point this way until tomorrow morning. If it does then your metering is working properly. If it doesn't then get it fixed, call the number on your bill.

top heater, which is just to boost the temperature in the day if necessary. If the off-peak electricity is working then it will heat the cylinder overnight. If it does then this is another indication that the off-peak electricity is working.

Depends on the heater. Some do have a fan boost, some do not. However, separate switches do imply a heater with a fan boost. Either, as suggested, the heater has overheated and something needs to be reset, or there is a thermostat turned down low.

The heater without controls is perhaps an automatic one, which will charge up as much as it thinks fit, or one that has a fixed charge.

Once you have worked out what is what label the switches. One switch will be permanently live, this is the one for boost and it should be off most of the time. The other switch will only be live at off-peak periods, this is the one to leave on all the time..

The numbers you gave sound vaguely like Dimplex numbers. I can't be bothered to research it any more, but you may be able to home in on the models if I am right.

[Dave Liquorice]

Maybe, maybe not. B-)

The larger heater appears to have two supplies. I suspect that the second (always on) supply is just to power a fan to get the heat out of the blocks "on demand". If the blocks aren't hot you aren't going to get any heat from them...

As your power bill doesn't appear to mention "Economy 7" (*) maybe that part of the wiring has been disconnected or the timeswitch permenantly set to off.

(*) It may mention "night rate" and "day rate" and give two sets of readings rather than use the phrase "Economy 7".

[CM]

We took apart the big heater and found the overheat switch - pressed it and we can now get heat!

The problem is it doesn't activate at night when what I think the Economy 7 switch is on. We've also tried with water heater and it's the same problem.

What would be causing Economy 7 not to work? I checked and our bill does seem to be for Economy 7 rate.

[tim(yet another new home)]

1) Have you checked that the meter does switch over at the correct time. It is not unknown for older ones to get out of step.

you could actually check this without staying up. Just make sure that the night rate dial increases each night: your fridge, clock, TV on standby (!) etc will use a couple of units each night.

2) Each SR should be on a circuit of their own. They should each have their own breaker (or fuse) in a CU in addition to the fused spur in the wall (you have checked this fuse?). Have you found these? Are they on? And if they are (and you still have no power at the heater), you need to make sure that they have power on the live side when the night rate is on (you need the magic circuit tester again)

If you haven't then the switch that changes over the meter is broken as is also switches on/off the supply to the heaters.

Unfortunately, the bill proves nothing. You could have a timer turning on (or not) your SRs every day at the normal rate (this would be stupid, but it's not impossible).

tim

[David Hansen]

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:19:29 +0000 someone who may be CM wrote this:-

Where does this heat come from? Does this heat come out instantly and your day rate meter clatter around rapidly when the heat is coming out?

You need to find out if it comes on. The easiest way of doing this is at the meter as described previously. Also check the night units reading of the meter a few days apart. If the number of units has not gone up a lot then there is something wrong.

Firstly check that the room and immersion heaters are switched on everywhere. There are local switches (and possibly a local fuse), and fuses/MCBs at the consumer unit for off-peak circuits. There is also a main switch at that consumer unit. If all these are on/not blown then the most likely suspect is the time clock. Does it show the right time? Does it move?

[meow2222]

Lucky you. Get yourself a nice a/c unit, plumb it in so it acts as a heat pump moving heat from outside to in. Now you've got a heater that costs less to run and is better controlled. The downside is it will have a fan, and there are upfront costs, but its worth it.

NT