How does my heating work?

faigs

Hey, just wondering does anyone know how to use the storage heaters in my apartment? Pics attached.

There are two heaters in the living area. Fig.1 shows heater A. Fig.2 shows the switches on the wall, for heater A and heater B. Fig.3 shows the power switches for heater A for the storage heater and the ‘boost’ fan heater. Fig.4 shows the Input/Output controls for storage Heater A. Both heaters A and B are identical.

The problem is my flatmates come in at night and just turn on the ‘boost’ fan at the bottom of the heaters for hours to get instant heat, and this makes the ESB bills huge! When I turn on the storage heaters they don’t heat up straight away, I can never tell when they will give out heat as I don’t see any type of timer. Is it something to do with the input/output controls? If not, what do these controls do? Sometimes the heaters give out heat the next morning when we don’t need them to, even of they are turned off! What should the controls be set to and should power be left on all the time?

If anyone could enlighten me as to how to control the storage part of the heaters I would be grateful as I would save money on the ESB bill and it would save me going crazy with my flatmates one of these days! The living area is quite large so it takes a while to heat.

Thanks,
K.

brightspark

Have a read of this wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_heater

Storage heaters are more suited to schools, offices and workplaces as they store heat up at night when the electricity is cheaper and slowly release it throughout the day.

The problem with your situation is that you are all out all day when the room is the warmest!

bertie1

faigs wrote: »

Hey, just wondering does anyone know how to use the storage heaters in my apartment? Pics attached.

There are two heaters in the living area. Fig.1 shows heater A. Fig.2 shows the switches on the wall, for heater A and heater B. Fig.3 shows the power switches for heater A for the storage heater and the ‘boost’ fan heater. Fig.4 shows the Input/Output controls for storage Heater A. Both heaters A and B are identical.

The problem is my flatmates come in at night and just turn on the ‘boost’ fan at the bottom of the heaters for hours to get instant heat, and this makes the ESB bills huge! When I turn on the storage heaters they don’t heat up straight away, I can never tell when they will give out heat as I don’t see any type of timer. Is it something to do with the input/output controls? If not, what do these controls do? Sometimes the heaters give out heat the next morning when we don’t need them to, even of they are turned off! What should the controls be set to and should power be left on all the time?

If anyone could enlighten me as to how to control the storage part of the heaters I would be grateful as I would save money on the ESB bill and it would save me going crazy with my flatmates one of these days! The living area is quite large so it takes a while to heat.

Thanks,
K.

You have creda combi heaters. The input control is the controlling the heat going in , the output is physically opening a flap to let the heat out. ( it also controls the temperature of the convector part) . I recomend you put the output setting to 1 to keep the bulk of the heater in the heater while you are out at work.
Storage heating works on a night rate electricity, the Esb clock brings it on for 8 hours at night , if you want heat tomorrow you must turn it on today)

You also have wall thermostats put in under the gold shield conditions about 15 years ago.
You will need to play around with the thermostats to find a comfortable setting for your self.
The boost that your flat mate is putting on in the evening is costing more to run than the storage heater does all night long

faigs

Thanks bertie, great help. So I should leave the wall switch on for the storage part then to build up the heat obviously...?

bertie1

Yes . There is a thermostat over on the wall as well if you find the place too hot in the morning s turn it down a little until you find a temperature you are comfortable with. ( it will take a few days to get it right as those stats are not really user friendly in my opinion. )
I would turn the switch for the convector off & save it for emergencies as it costs a fortune to run. It is usually the one with the fuse. built into the switch

faigs

Great stuff, thanks. Should the input be on all of the time or should I turn it down when I have the output up for heat, and just input over night? Or does the tarriff control this?

bertie1

faigs wrote: »

Great stuff, thanks. Should the input be on all of the time or should I turn it down when I have the output up for heat, and just input over night? Or does the tarriff control this?

Leave the input up to max in very cold weather , you can turn it back to mid ways when the weather gets milder. The Esb meter will turn it on &off you shouldn't need to go near it.