how to turn on my heater

norm said:
You'd call out an electrician to replace a faulty plug on an appliance? Because the complexity of wiring up that is no different than a flex outlet.
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of course it is dont be silly

replacing a plug on an appliance will be “dead” work. Relying on someone to correctly identify and isolate a circuit and then test for dead before replacement of a face plate is completly different
 
There's plenty of people I wouldn't trust to wire a plug properly either. Some just don't understand that sort of stuff because they've always relied on someone else to do it.
 
norm said:
You'd call out an electrician to replace a faulty plug on an appliance? Because the complexity of wiring up that is no different than a flex outlet.
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Stop giving dangerous advice to someone who clearly doesn't know enough about electrical work to keep themselves (and others) safe.
 
NoobCannon said:
of course it is dont be silly

replacing a plug on an appliance will be “dead” work. Relying on someone to correctly identify and isolate a circuit and then test for dead before replacement of a face plate is completly different
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The plug isn't going to be "dead" when you plug it back in though is it. Swap the neutral and live around and you've created a dangerous circuit.

thenewoc said:
But it's part of the infrastructure of the building whereas a plug is not. I wouldn't call out a painter and decorator either but I would expect to ask before altering what doesn't belong to me.
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Right. People advocating using an additional heater which is no doubt prohibited in the building rules, and theft of electricity. But we'll get all high and mighty by swapping a faceplate over.

LuckyBenski said:
Stop giving dangerous advice to someone who clearly doesn't know enough about electrical work to keep themselves (and others) safe.
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You may want to brush up on your definition of dangerous. I said only do it if you are competent.

Dangerous would be telling the OP to use a portable camping stove to stay warm.
 
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norm said:
Right. People advocating using an additional heater which is no doubt prohibited in the building rules, and theft of electricity. But we'll get all high and mighty by swapping a faceplate over.
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Prohibited maybe but the plug would have been fitted at the factory and safer than someone without the necessary knowledge rewiring an outlet.
 
thenewoc said:
Prohibited maybe but the plug would have been fitted at the factory and safer than someone without the necessary knowledge rewiring an outlet.
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Well said person with no electrical knowledge should not be plugging in a high wattage heater and potentially other devices via an extension lead. Probably why the building policy is not to allow such devices.

Extension leads can be of dubious quality, and even though fused at 13 amps they can happily pass a current of 20 amps long enough for the insulation to melt and potentially start a fire.

https://www.pat-testing-training.net/articles/fuse-operation-characteristics.php
 
norm said:
Well said person with no electrical knowledge should not be plugging in a high wattage heater and potentially other devices via an extension lead. Probably why the building policy is not to allow such devices.

Extension leads can be of dubious quality, and even though fused at 13 amps they can happily pass a current of 20 amps long enough for the insulation to melt and potentially start a fire.

https://www.pat-testing-training.net/articles/fuse-operation-characteristics.php
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I never suggested plugging the radiator into an extension cable. It's a student room so the length of cable on the radiator maybe long enough as it is.
 
thenewoc said:
I never suggested plugging the radiator into an extension cable. It's a student room so the length of cable on the radiator maybe long enough as it is.
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The length may be sufficient but the number of sockets in the room is probably not which would probably necessitate an extension lead.

Seems like the consensus here is that safely and competently swapping out a timer for a flex outlet so the existing specified heater in the room can be used is dangerous, which it's not.

Yet suggestions of using an electrical heater, have so far failed to point out the inherent danger of overloading. How do we know the OP won't buy two radiators and an extension lead, and inadvertently leave them on whilst out, and start a fire wiping out the building.
 
All you need is is to find an electrical device that has a motorised shaft or plunger that pops out then attach this over the boost button, then rig up a timer system somehow so the plunger pops out every 2 hours. Must be some gadget out there you can rig up to do this.

Edit:

You need an electric actuator.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pull-Frame...ocphy=1007345&hvtargid=pla-592296683277&psc=1

It pops out the shaft. You need to secure this over the boost button somehow then rig up a timer
 
guys can we keep it calm.

My guess going by the pictures is that the heaters are powered at set times so shouldn't need turning on manually very often, and the boost is probably only for if it's really cold outside those hours.
Most modern buildings tend to run warm rather than cold, especially if they're like flats because they tend to be quite well insulated and most of the heat everyone produces from just being there works to help keep it warm. I wouldn't be surprosed if much of the time you're going to be more worried about being too warm.

Rewiring a heater that is wired into the wall in the halls is not a great idea as you'll likely be working with a live connection, and if found out could result in being kicked out of the room due to the safety issues bot to yourself and everyone else.
Hooking up a heater to one of the sockets in the room may also not be a great idea, especially if the halls have a rule against it because depending on the wiring the halls may not be set up to allow for that, so if several people on the floor do it they may end up tripping a breaker which will make you very popular with the other students affected) especially any who are working on a normal PC at that time) and whoever has to reset the breaker.
You might be able to get away with a low power heater (I had one that was 500 watts), but it would be a case of being very careful with it's placement and use.
 
Werewolf said:
guys can we keep it calm.

My guess going by the pictures is that the heaters are powered at set times so shouldn't need turning on manually very often, and the boost is probably only for if it's really cold outside those hours.
Most modern buildings tend to run warm rather than cold, especially if they're like flats because they tend to be quite well insulated and most of the heat everyone produces from just being there works to help keep it warm. I wouldn't be surprosed if much of the time you're going to be more worried about being too warm.

Rewiring a heater that is wired into the wall in the halls is not a great idea as you'll likely be working with a live connection, and if found out could result in being kicked out of the room due to the safety issues bot to yourself and everyone else.
Hooking up a heater to one of the sockets in the room may also not be a great idea, especially if the halls have a rule against it because depending on the wiring the halls may not be set up to allow for that, so if several people on the floor do it they may end up tripping a breaker which will make you very popular with the other students affected) especially any who are working on a normal PC at that time) and whoever has to reset the breaker.
You might be able to get away with a low power heater (I had one that was 500 watts), but it would be a case of being very careful with it's placement and use.
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The thing you said about that the heaters are powered at set times, it is cold eveytime i touch the heater until I manually turn it on.
 
To the OP. it's simply a 2kw panel heater with a built in timer. They've put it on a two hour boost to stop people leaving it on all the time. If you search for any 2kw heater from somewhere and plug it in, it'll give you the same output of your wall mounted one. It's cold until you press that boost button because there is no power to the heater until you give it some via the boost button. It's not a boost as such, its a two hour timer.

Find a socket on a wall and plug it in, if it's not long enough buy one of these in whatever length you require (Probably 2m or 5m) https://www.toolstation.com/1-gang-..._VX4RqmAJHzdET3dDW0aAtlzEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
MrRockliffe said:
If he’s a student this may not be allowed
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I can't see why not, most electric heaters have built in cut-off mechanisms if it gets too hot / left on for too long.

I remember buying a portable aircon unit for my student flat (heat was an unbearable 30+ during the summer months) and no-one batted an eyelid.
 
Semple said:
I can't see why not, most electric heaters have built in cut-off mechanisms if it gets too hot / left on for too long.

I remember buying a portable aircon unit for my student flat (heat was an unbearable 30+ during the summer months) and no-one batted an eyelid.
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In every student accommodation I’ve lived in, I wasn’t allowed anything in the room with a heating element - kettle, heater, radiator etc

If they found one with random, regular inspections, I could be fined.
 
MrRockliffe said:
In every student accommodation I’ve lived in, I wasn’t allowed anything in the room with a heating element - kettle, heater, radiator etc

If they found one with random, regular inspections, I could be fined.
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Wow really? They're certainly not that strict these days. Did you not have an oven/grill? - those have heating elements in them.

Had no problems with a kettle in ours.

In fact i think the only thing that was prohibited was candles. - which is to be expected as a naked flame is much easier to catch stuff on fire.
 
norm said:
Seems like the consensus here is that safely and competently swapping out a timer for a flex outlet so the existing specified heater in the room can be used is dangerous, which it's not.
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Ignoring the safety aspects, you're missing the fact that the building wiring is not the property of the OP and so he has no place touching it. The landlord has responsibility for the safety of the electrics, and I can't imagine them seeing the OP replacing the faceplate as anything other than a significant breach of health and safety, regardless of their competence/ability.

While they might get a slap on the wrist for "innocently" plugging in an external heater, rewiring the property's electrics could potentially see them facing eviction (or at the very least having to pay for an electrician to come and refit the existing faceplate and provide an electrical safety certificate).

BUDFORCE said:
This is a windup.
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Nope, definitely looks mains-powered to me!
 
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