Problems with storage heating

wanderer 22

Hi everyone,


I'm having a problem in my rented apartment with my storage heating. Basically they (one in hallway, one ni living room) stopped working a week ago, both at the same time. I told my letting agency who sent an electrician round. He had a look at the fuse box and the meter outside and said the problem was in the meter box and that the ESB needed to fix it.

The ESB guy came today (while I was at work, the person I made the appointment with in ESB said I didn't need to be at home) and said that all was fine with the meter box ; he would need to look inside the house. So I have made another appointment for Wednesday morning and will need to take the morning off work. I have a strange feeling that they will say that there is nothing wrong inside and that it is up to my letting agency to fix it...


Anyway, it seems to me that 1.Everyone is passing the buck and 2. I have spent most of the past week on the phone trying to sort this out!

I feel the letting agency should be the ones doing the work in sorting this out,am I right? The silence from them on any type of maintenance issue is deafening :mad:

Apologies for the long winded post to ask a short question and thanks in advance

punisher5112

Hi I have a few questions were you using the heaters much? Together? did they work no problem up till now?

I am an electrician and may be able to help.

wanderer 22

Hey ,

yeah we've been using them 5-6 months a year for the past 3 years. And they both stopped working on the same day last week.
and we've had no problems at all with them until last week.

punisher5112

colm18 wrote: »

Hey ,

yeah we'e been using them 5-6 months a year for the past 3 years. And they both stopped working on the same day last week.
and we've had no problems at all with them until last week.

Right were you using them recently all the time or was there a gap from use?

Is it possible there was anything spilt or damp clothes or so on left on them or very near?

wanderer 22

There was no gap in use recently. We would have had damp clothes near to the one in the living room, but not the one in the hall. A mystery!

punisher5112

colm18 wrote: »

There was no gap in use recently. We would have had damp clothes near to the one in the living room, but not the one in the hall. A mystery!

Did the Electrician that came look at anything apart from meter which wouldn't be a cause to this unless something really bad.

How old do you think the units are? or if not known how old would the apartment be ?

punisher5112

Damp and dust can cause problems but we will get to that.

wanderer 22

punisher5112 wrote: »

Did the Electrician that came look at anything apart from meter which wouldn't be a cause to this unless something really bad.

How old do you think the units are? or if not known how old would the apartment be ?

He had a look inside the fuse box ; the apartments were built early 90s and I would guess from the look of the unites they are original to it. Cheers for replies btw.

punisher5112

The MCB(fuse board) would be my 1st look but after that he should have checked the night time change over to make sure.

He then should have looked at the storage units themselves, did he?

wanderer 22

No, he didn't look at the units. How can I check if the night time changeover is working? Sorry for stupid question but I am clueless about this..

punisher5112

It could be very possible that the elements have fried and are finished which would be an easy problem to find also quite possible the safety gear tripped out in the units themselves.

wanderer 22

punisher5112 wrote: »

It could be very possible that the elements have fried and are finished which would be an easy problem to find also quite possible the safety gear tripped out in the units themselves.

That's unlikely to have happened to both at the same time though, right?

punisher5112

colm18 wrote: »

That's unlikely to have happened to both at the same time though, right?

True unlikely but not impossible and stranger things are known to have happened

punisher5112

ESB won't look at the units so not really sure what they can do for you.

Have you contacted Lanlordor agent about the problem?

I think whoever they sent out wasn't an electrician because really it's the units that needed checking.

How many other storage units are there in the property?

wanderer 22

There's one other unit in the bedroom, but that works differently in that it can be turned on and off manually

punisher5112

colm18 wrote: »

There's one other unit in the bedroom, but that works differently in that it can be turned on and off manually

So just a convection heater eg just a element in it and instant heat right? or is it a combi where it has both.

I would take a guess if they are the original units and haven't given trouble till now that they have done there job and are at the end of life.

Now whoever looks at them for you can decide but usually its just easier to replace th whole unit as they tend to be outdated.

Borderfox

Fuse box for sure especially if they both stopped working at the same time. Check timer and there should be another box on the fuse box that controls plus or minus time

wanderer 22

Borderfox wrote: »

Fuse box for sure especially if they both stopped working at the same time. Check timer and there should be another box on the fuse box that controls plus or minus time

Cheers. Odd that the electrician wouldn't have spotted this though?

punisher5112

colm18 wrote: »

Cheers. Odd that the electrician wouldn't have spotted this though?

He either never dealt with storage heaters or wasn't a electrician. But as said the other may also be a cause.

wanderer 22

Heaters back working :-) i adjusted the apartments thermostat (as recommended by the esb electrician) and this seems to have done the trick.thanks for replies and advice.