New Lot20 compliant storage heaters require a peak rate supply as well as an off peak supply and each needs to be switched I believe Does anyone make a twin dp switched FCU to provide a neat solution to wire these things in?
Storage heaters don't normally need FCU (on the dedicated radial circuits) and the largest ones are usually >13
Don't most people just plug the fan in to a normal socket unless yyou want to have a boost durign the costly periiod. I understood the better insulation was supposed to avoid this. Brian
Thanks Owain.
That's raised another query in my mind. The on peak power is used for both the fan control of LOT20 heaters and a lower power heater for daytime boost. I wonder if the peak power can be supplied from a nearby ring main via FCU or if they have to be radials too.
So far web searching has not produced much about Lot 20 compliant heater wiring possibly as they are quite new.
The new heaters need a continuous supply to power features such as open window detectors some sort of soft start heating. How much of this stuff is mandated by LOT20 and how much is what makers are putting in to make the overall performance LOT20 compliant I'm not sure. It is all a bit new.
It would be more traditional to use a 20A DP switch than a FCU.
You would probably need a grid or modular system to do this, but like you I am not sure is the peak load needs to be fused down.
In most cases the day boost will be less than 2 kW, and subject to consider able diversity as the load is thermostatically controlled rather than conti nuous off-peak charging, so from the ring final should be ok. In t'olden da ys everything was run off the ring including space heaters.
If there's a separate kitchen ring that will take most of the load off the general ring too.
Owain
More very advisable to use a 20 DP switch than a FCU. Says him having had a brand new FCU go into melt down feeding a
Almost every ring circuit in the UK can have its load exceed 7kW. That's not a problem. OTOH plugging permanent multikilowatt heating into a ring is not good practice.
NT
Nice photos. Ta.
I have been in touch with Bob about this auxiliary heat load. Neither of us know much about it either!
is the link I sent him.
I did suggest that as part of the works he might as well provide a separate ring for the auxiliary power instead of trying to tap off the exiting ring. This was not so much for the load but that it could have a separate RCD so at least some heat can be provided if there is a problem.
Usual address for the rights invoice? B-)
Well at least we know the "boost" rating from that, 1.38 kW @ 240 V for the biggest one. At that level and not on the kitchen ring you'd need 5 + of the big ones and a 1 kW base load to start pushing the 7 kW ring capacity. I'm not convinced about applying much "diversity reduction". The thermostatically controlled convector here is running at over 80% on.
The other thing that makes me nervous about this auxillary feed is that to fully isolate the heater two things have to occur. They've made a fuss about fans with switched and permenant live supplies, so why aren't they making a fuss about these heaters?
At first fix time a seporate ring would be best IMHO. Retro fit a spur to and SFCU adjacent the E7 20 A DP switch.
I was puzzled how they get away without stating how the supplies should be connected so I had a quick look for the installation instructions.
It doesn't add much. It states that 2.5 and 1.5 mm2 heat resistant flex required. But from a skim has nothing at all about isolation.
I assume the 2 supplies have to be on the same phase...
I post the above then go to close the PDFs and see:
"For each supply, a means for disconnection must be incorporated in the fixed wiring by a double pole switch with a contact separation of a minimum of 3mm and in accordance with the current IEE Wiring Regulations."
Trousers will be rolled even higher for the duration.
Nice doorbell in those pics. (It would get nicked in many parts).
Will these new-fangled heaters cope with that snow ?.
Snow is insulation. And draft-proofing. Better that than a gale blowing freezing air across* bare walls and roof.
*or through: a layer of snow makes a heck of a difference to an attic under a slate roof without sarking or insulation.
Snow generally isn't a problem, it doesn't often get to or stay at
-10 C for long. -5 C is "normal"
Yep, the wind is the biggest creator of heat loss. -5 and still the heating will cycle, -5 with a gale blowing the heating has a job to keep up.
The snow does reduce the drafts a bit but not much. We don't get wet, sticky snow. We get dry powder snow that doesn't stick together(*) and is porous when lying.
(*)Useless for snow balls. snowmen, igloos... And if the wind changes direction the drifts will move to new alignments.
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