Hoping to de-modernise flat heating system.

[Mike Halmarack]

The previous occupants of my newly acquired electric only flat had the night storage heaters removed. They were replaced with these fairly insubstantial panel heaters from Aldi. "EasyHome Panel Heaters Model Number PH-ET07H"

ATM I can't quite understand why this was done. The flat still has the Economy 7, 2 rate meters I don't know if this metering system is still operating in any valid sense.

I also don't know if the flat's night storage circuitry has been replaced or just utilized to supply these new heating panels.

Either way I'm hoping that I can reverse the process and get the night storage system back without to much disruption and cost.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

[Alan]

Have you seen how much storage heaters are now? And, you will also likely have to give them a peak electric supply as well as the off-peak. Modern ones use 2 supplies to control them.

[Mike Halmarack]

Yes, about 600 quid each, which is quite pricey. I discussed this regarding energy supplier options on moneysavingexpert and folks there seemed to think that the cheap (to buy) panels in place now would be inadequate for the task.

I don't know what this would mean in terms of work and cost.

[spuorgelgoog]

Not that much if there is a nearby 13 amp socket which can be spurred from, and the flat electrics are up to some heating load on the socket circuits. I think the largest Quantum is 2kW load so you can get a couple on a 30A ring okay.

You may be able to get pre-LOT20 secondhand storage heaters cheaply if you can collect from nearby ebay/gumtree sellers.

Depends on how the metering is arranged - it's possible the supplier has turned off the E7 function on the meter and it's now supplying all circuits 24 hours at the same rate. A photo of the intake/meter/consumer units may provide further insight.

Owain

[The Natural Philosopher]

The problem with night storage heaters is they dont. Store. Or heat.

Lovely in the mornings... icy cold by sunset

You need somethong with more thermal capacity than that, but you cant fit it in the small flats.

Air source heatpump might be a better bet

[Mike Halmarack]

I'll make that the first job after breckie, ta

[Chris Green]

'Modern' economy 7 systems don't usually use separate wiring, just (as you seem to have) a meter which switches rates for overnight consumption.

So there needn't be any explicitly separate wiring for the heaters (except in that it must ba capable of handling the load). My *guess* would be that all you need to do is install heaters and get your electricity supplier to switch you to an Economy 7 type tariff.

[newshound]

I was going to say that. Especially if it gets hot in the summer, with one of the "reversible" systems there's a double benefit.

[spuorgelgoog]

Found you on MSE.

Your meter is a two rate meter but the rate changeover is controlled by an external time/teleswitch between terminal 5 (thin wire) and Neutral.

You then have to arrange your own off-peak load switching which might be by the same time/teleswitch used for the rate change, or a separate timeswitch which has to be kept in synch with the rate change switch, or your off-peak load will be charged at peak rates.

It therefore seems likely that an electrician will have rewired the off-peak circuits to an on-peak supply as part of the customer's wiring, rather than this having been achieveed by the supplier setting the off-peak supply to 24 hour.

Owain

[Mike Halmarack]

Ahhh, thank you for bringing back fond memories of Machynlleth.

[Mike Halmarack]

Owain, I'm always deeply impressed with the extent and complexity of your knowlege in these matters. Consequently, it'll take me a bit of time to digest and comprehend the implications of the first 2 lines of your answer.

Regarding the third line on the subject of whether it would be the local electrician or supplier who caused the current situation. I'm supposing that a call to the supplier would confirm this one way or the other?

[Mike Halmarack]

Not that I doubted Natch in any way but you adding your agreement with the idea has made it more interesting as a possibility.

[ARW]

It also depends what was done with the existing storage heater supplies and the type of E7.

The last one I did had a separate fuse box (yes fuses) for the storage heater supplies. I was able to set it up so that instead of the fuse box been switched on at night it was on all day and I used the existing storage heater supplies to provide the 24hr supply together with an immersion heater timer to provide the E7 timing for the storage elements at night.

[Mike Halmarack]

What a cheering and most encouraging idea, thanks.

[spuorgelgoog]

That's my laugh for the day.

Owain

[Brian Gaff]

Well a look at the meter readings and the bill tariffs would be a good clue. Sounds a little bonkers considering the cost of new storage heaters is not insignificant, they surely all cannot have been faulty?

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Yes well mine don't thank goodness. Brian

[Andrew]

There are an awful lot of very stupid people out there.

The same sort of people watch 'Homes under the Hammer' and get the ideas from that program -

"BAxi Bermuda BAck boiler = BAD, Combo Boiler = Good" Ditto storage radiators.

If your electric *tariff* is still E7 then just acquire some storage heaters and connect them back up. I'll be surprised if you still are on an E7 tariff though.

[Brian Gaff]

I just have an immersion heater on a time switch set for the off peak times and with an over ride if needed at other times. Brian

[Andrew]

How ever poor their storage is, it is infinitatley better than the replacement panel rads.