How do storage heaters work?

TheMagicPirate · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:36

Evening all,

Me and the missus are getting our first flat so I apologise in advance for what will no doubt be a slurry of questions.

The flat we are wanting has electric storage heaters but I'm not 100% on how they are supposed to work.

I understand I turn them 'on' all night, while my electric is cheaper (ensuring my electric tariff is set up like that) then open some vents during the day to let the heat out?

My main concern is that the house will be empty all day while we are at work. Surely the heat cant be stored for that length of time?

Dabbles · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:38

First result on google: http://www.storageheaters.com/

contracteur · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:38

You're pretty much right. Some heat will escape even if you have the heaters "off".

Windle · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:50

After living in a flat with storage heating for the last 6 years, don't do it. They are utter ****. It'll be roasting in the morning and by night-time the heat will be gone. Oh and they cost a fortune to run.

whitecrook · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:53

TheMagicPirate said:
a slurry of questions.

interesting use of the word 'slurry'.

Muban · 12 Jun 2011 at 01:21

Windle said:
It'll be roasting in the morning and by night-time the heat will be gone.

Can't agree with this, I've never had this issue in the 10 years I've been in my flat (my storage heaters are really old style ones too).

Windle said:
Oh and they cost a fortune to run.

Agree with this though, luckily I only have them switched on for about 6 months of the year. Unsure about how expensive they are to run in comparison to other forms of electric heating, but they are definitely far from cheap to run.

Evoss · 12 Jun 2011 at 01:58

Windle said:
Oh and they cost a fortune to run.

+1

me227 · 12 Jun 2011 at 02:08

Not cheap and in my experience they're poo.

LOAM · 12 Jun 2011 at 05:37

They are full of bricks that basically are heated up. One the heat source is removed them they start to release their energy regardless of cents vents open/closed. We had them at our first flat and hated them.

mangobreeder · 12 Jun 2011 at 06:14

they are rubbish, not only do they cost the earth, you have to plan the day before if you want them on or not.

TheVoice · 12 Jun 2011 at 08:32

I've got a couple in my flat, they're alright but as said above, by the time you get home from work they have lost most of their heat. That said, it does mean that you're not coming in to a freezing house/flat, so you can just use the normal heating to keep the room topped-up.

Normal central heating will be far better though.

Nightglow · 12 Jun 2011 at 08:48

Useless things,use to charge them with Economy 7 tariff overnight.
I use to install them years ago.
Give out heat out during the day, nothing in the evening, although some models had a boost option to charge the during the day.
I consider them expensive to run & inefficient as it's difficult to fully regulate the heat output.

TheMagicPirate · 12 Jun 2011 at 10:32

Thanks for all the replies. It seems my concerns are justified.

Sadly we have little choice in flats due to how much we want to spend renting.

I'm wondering if it will be more cost effective to get some electric heaters or oil filled radiators and use them in the evening when we'll be in.

I'm not sure installing gas central heating would be an option either. Both cost wise and physically.

Malt_Vinegar · 12 Jun 2011 at 11:11

They are fine once setup correctly, and using economy 7

We have them where I am now, and it took us a few days to figure them out. We just turned ours down for the summer, and its never really cold in here despite being a really old (16th century barn)

Just learn how to use the controls, and they work well.

Usually the input button tells the unit how much electricity to use, and store over the cheap rate, then the boost button essentially tells the unit how much to open up the vents during the day. A low setting willl maximise the time the unit emits heat for but at a lower rate. A higher setting will open the vents more, and give a boost early in the day.

Currently we have ours set for a low output, all day boost, and only use the lowest input setting over-night

As with all heating, it will always be more expensive in the winter than the summer, but does work well once you get your head around the system!!

Jonny · 12 Jun 2011 at 11:14

I don't know whether you'd be best off with the oil filled radiators as you've suggested but I echo the comments regarding them costing a fortune and letting all the heat out during the day

arknor · 12 Jun 2011 at 11:28

LOAM said:
They are full of bricks that basically are heated up. One the heat source is removed them they start to release their energy regardless of cents vents open/closed. We had them at our first flat and hated them.

i hated them aswell i dont have asthma or anything but anytime my missus had those heaters on i felt like i couldnt breath they are horrible

Malt_Vinegar · 12 Jun 2011 at 11:29

There may be a reason why they already have them installed.
For example, the barn I am in now is liable to get damp if there is no heat source present all the time. So all day heat is required to protect the building. I actually get paid back 50 quid a month in my tenancy agreement on the understanding that I leave the heating on even when we are away from the property.

J.B · 12 Jun 2011 at 11:36

I lived in a house with them for a year and I would say if I was looking to buy somewhere it would put me off. Wouldnt stop me buying a place but wouldnt put it on the 'con' list.

TheMagicPirate · 12 Jun 2011 at 11:54

Malt_Vinegar said:
They are fine once setup correctly, and using economy 7
/snip

I'm hoping this will be the case for us. A bit of trial and error at first but settling on pattern that works for us.

Malt_Vinegar said:
There may be a reason why they already have them installed.

I can't comment for sure, but I think it was for cheapness when building the flats.

J.B said:
I lived in a house with them for a year and I would say if I was looking to buy somewhere it would put me off. Wouldnt stop me buying a place but wouldnt put it on the 'con' list.

If we were looking to buy then I would be much more put off. We are just looking to rent somewhere cheap at the moment while we save a deposit for a house for the next 18 months or so.

I was doing some sums last night based on usage of all out electrical stuff in a 24 hour period and it looks like we can be expecting to pay around £100 per month all in all, which isn't too bad I guess.

My biggest worry was that heating is something that you cant really cut down on very much and it was going to cost us a fortune to be warm.

iraiguana · 12 Jun 2011 at 12:03

Storage heaters are rubbish. If you can afford remove and replace with standard electric heaters which can be linked with a central heating controller.

Good luck though!