Storage Heaters

ksarah

Where can these be bought in Dublin?
Tired B&Q and they dont sell them

Both of mine in the apartment have stopped working and I need to replace them. Not keen on getting them repaired as they are quite old looking

Any help appreciated

Thanks

eoghan.geraghty

Kellihers,Eurosales,CEF,Eastern Electrical,Edmundsonsor any electrical wholesalers can get these for you.
Measure the ones you want replaced before you go in/ ring them.

Stoner

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055193263

Dirk_digbee

I have a quick question, thought I’d stick it in here instead of starting a new thread.

I have storage heaters in my apartment which, is on a “Domestic - Nightsaver” tariff with the ESB. Since I’ve lived here (nearly two years) I’ve used no night units at all. I have all my ESB bills since I moved in so what’s the story there? Is there supposed to be a timer that kicks in after a certain time in the evening/night, which switches me on to the night rate?
Also, are storage heaters supposed to switch on during the day?
I only turned on the storage heater today for the 1st time after the summer and it’s getting hot straight away. I know my particular heater has a boost function, which is basically a separate fan heater at the bottom; it defiantly didn’t switch this on.

Is my set-up normal or are my suspicions correct and there’s something fecked!?

Thanks all.

enmac

nightsaver works from 11pm to 8 am i think ( and varies during summer /winter as the esb do not adjust the clock for daylight savings) if you have a storage heater and it is turned on then it will heat up the bricks during this time and then release the heat during the day depending on the output setting you select- the higher the setting the more heat you get at an early part of the day.

you could check to see the storage heater is working correctly by monitoring the red light at the switch - this should only come on when the clock kicks in at 11pm ( assumiing you have the switch turned on) - if the light is on during the day then the wiring is screwed up

the following link may help to understand the various metering scenarios

http://www.esb.ie/esbnetworks/downloads/national_code_of_practice.pdf

enmac

nightsaver works from 11pm to 8 am i think ( and varies during summer /winter as the esb do not adjust the clock for daylight savings) if you have a storage heater and it is turned on then it will heat up the bricks during this time and then release the heat during the day depending on the output setting you select- the higher the setting the more heat you get at an early part of the day.

you could check to see the storage heater is working correctly by monitoring the red light at the switch - this should only come on when the clock kicks in at 11pm ( assumiing you have the switch turned on) - if the light is on during the day then the wiring is screwed up

the following link may help to understand the various metering scenarios

http://www.esb.ie/esbnetworks/downloads/national_code_of_practice.pdf

Hoagy

Dirk_digbee wrote: »

Since I’ve lived here (nearly two years) I’ve used no night units at all.

That sounds like the meter isn't changing over to night rate, which could be the ESB time switch at fault.

You're bound to have used some units between 11 and 8, the fridge for example.

Steve

Hoagy wrote: »

That sounds like the meter isn't changing over to night rate, which could be the ESB time switch at fault.

You're bound to have used some units between 11 and 8, the fridge for example.

Not necessarily, some installations have a separate NSH meter dedicated to the heaters, in this case fridge / washing machine / etc.. are still off the main meter.
In this case though, if the heaters seem to be on during the day then you are probably correct and the ESB clock or meter is borked.

OP, do you have access to the meter? i.e. can you see it? if so then post a pic of it.

Dirk_digbee

I'll have a dig around later on, what exactly am i trying to get a pic of?

Hoagy

Dirk_digbee wrote: »

I have storage heaters in my apartment which, is on a “Domestic - Nightsaver” tariff with the ESB.

SteveC wrote: »

some installations have a separate NSH meter dedicated to the heaters

Not this one then.

Steve

Hoagy wrote: »

Not this one then.

I'm not familiar with the different wording on the bill so bear with me on this..
Through process of elimination:-

More likely:
If it's not dual metering then its a single meter with dual tariff - leading to a diagnosis of a dodgy ESB clock.
Solution: ESB's problem so get them to fix it and investigate whether the day-rate charges for the storage heating can be claimed back (back to the last bill where there was night units consumed - aka when the clock was working)

Less likely:
If it's dual metering then the heater clock is dodgy and the heaters are not actually switching on (except the convectors which would be on a different circuit and metered through the normal meter).
Solution: the consumers clock is faulty and needs to be fixed by the consumer.

That's why I asked for a pic - it'll either be two meters or one dual tariff meter and a clock.

Stoner

gut feeling is that its an ESB issue.

You should be drawing some current 24/7, so nothing on the bill between the set times is irrelevant as regardless of a faulty clock or not you are always using some electricity in a house, the clock just turns the heaters on at the most economical time and back off again when the cost of the units goes up in the morning

Hoagy

Stoner wrote: »

gut feeling is that its an ESB issue.

You should be drawing some current 24/7, so nothing on the bill between the set times is irrelevant as regardless of a faulty clock or not you are always using some electricity in a house, the clock just turns the heaters on at the most economical time and back off again when the cost of the units goes up in the morning

But on the Nightsaver dual tariff the time switch also changes over the meter to night units and back to day units in the morning so any electricity used in the house after 11pm is charged at the low rate.
So there should be some night units registered even without the heaters.

Steve

Hoagy wrote: »

But on the Nightsaver dual tariff the time switch also changes over the meter to night units and back to day units in the morning so any electricity used in the house after 11pm is charged at the low rate.
So there should be some night units registered even without the heaters.

Unless the TC is broken.. no?

Hoagy

Hoagy wrote: »

That sounds like the meter isn't changing over to night rate, which could be the ESB time switch at fault.

You're bound to have used some units between 11 and 8, the fridge for example.

Absolutely.

Steve

Hoagy wrote: »

Absolutely.

Fair play to you Hoagy - it's not a competition though, I'm just trying to help the OP.:)

Dirk_digbee

Hey guys.
I finally got a chance to take a few pictures.
My flat is above a pub, so the meter cabinet may look a bit odd.
This is an explanation of the pictures.


Picture 1

This is an over all picture.
There’s four meters in the picture, the three in a row are for the three apartments and the one, on it’s own in the top right belongs to the pub.


Picture 2

I believe this is the night saver timer.


Picture 3

This is an up-close picture of the timer. The picture was taken at 2.55 am


Picture 4

This is picture is of my meter. I did airbrush a few details, I wasn’t sure if the serial numbers were sensitive.

Steve

Good work.

From your photos:
1. The clock is in an 'on' zone and the time is correct (GMT).
2. The meter is still on day rate.
3. From the overall pic it looks like the first two meters are on day rate so I'd guess that none of them are switching properly and your neighbours and the pub have the same problem.

This is clearly an ESB problem so you should call them to fix it.

I would also try to claim something back from them as you have been incorrectly charged for your electricity.

Chuchu

Hi I'm sorry to do something similar and ask another question here instead of starting new thread, hope thats ok with you and would appreciate some advice.
Moved in to new apt over the summer, same development just bigger place so am familiar with all the heaters etc as they're the same. I knew when I would put on the storage heaters for the first time after the summer there would be a smell (burning dust etc), my folks house gets it and our old place got it and it usually goes after the first night or two... however in this new place I was actually woken up with the burning smell last night, it was pungent and bad enough that we turned them off an opened all the windows, it was still there and very strong this morning... I'm pretty sure it can't just be dust... could something be buring inside? Wires? Trip switch? Also our fuse box started making a very loud buzzing sound as soon as the heaters kicked in, I know this is easily fixed but could it be related? Over heating or something? I'm just concerned having done a quick google (this morning at 4am when defuming the gaf) and read that someone in Wales died from Carbon Monoxide poisoning from a storgar heater didn't think this was possible!!!
http://www.theiet.org/Forums/Forum/messageview.cfm?catid=205&threadid=7152&enterthread=y
Just read this over... sorry for long post!

Steve

Hi Chuchu,

First, if you're really paranoid about 'waking up dead' from CO poisoning then get yourself one of these.

I would guess that it's likely the heater has never been used and it's just burning off dust and insects that have accumulated there. It could also be the remains of a rodent.
It could also actually be a fault in the heater and to be on the safe side I'd get on to the landlord and get an electrician to check it out. The smell of burning (electrical) insulation is distinctive and unless you knew what it was like, you wouldn't be able to tell.

The thread you linked is interesting but is highly unlikely to apply as most if not all storage heaters used here have brick cores. Also the fact that you could smell burning means that it's unlikely that you will be killed by CO which is odourless.

The buzzing sound in the fuse board is caused by dirt in the magnetic core of the contactor which switches the heaters. It can sometimes be solved by giving it a whack with something soft (like a wooden spoon).

Having said all this, I'd still advise you to get them checked out (at the expense of your landlord of course) in case there's any fire risk.

Chuchu

Thanks for a very informative reply SteveC, I will be getting on to the landlord alright as it doesn't seem right... here's hoping there's no rats in there!!! :eek:
I know, having read that other thread re poisoning I figured there was a one in a million chance but thought some of the regular posters in this forum might be interested. 80s metal band Megadeth have a song called Wake Up Dead... if you ever need any metal advice in return, you can find me lurking in Rock and Metal forum
Thanks again.:)

Bruthal

yes the night rate is 12 midnight to 9 am summer and 11 - 8 winter. The storage heaters should not come on outside these hours. Is it a dual rate meter. If so you should have night units even without heaters on. If its 2 seperate meters then one is for storage heaters. Either way they should`t work during the day unless its a boost heater in them.

If no night rate metering registering at all it sounds like time clock problem, in this case the storage heaters part of heaters should not be coming on at all

ESB problem by sound of it

Dirk_digbee

Well I was just chatting a lady in the ESB, she thought it was very odd that the meter hadn't moved and arranged for someone to come out to have a look