Another storage heater question - PLEASE HELP!

CluelessWiFi

Hi folks,

Firstly, apologies if this is retreading old ground, but I've spent a week Googling 'storage heaters' and can't find the answer to my question without being pointed to manuals that I don't understand!

Basically, I moved into an apartment last week that works off storage heaters. Having done extensive research, I reckon I've got a fair idea of how they work: i.e. leave input on full overnight, output on lowest setting, it charges overnight and gradually adjust output throughout day to release heat. That's all fine.

What I'm having trouble understanding:

1) The devireg setting in the fusebox is causing me untold levels of stress. I do not really understand how it works, or what setting it should be on. When we moved in, the 'day' setting was set to -2 (light beside it was red) and the 'night' setting was set to 0. Having read up over the past few days, it seemed as if most people had their 'day' setting on 0, so I changed it to 0 (thinking that the previous tenants had set it back to a colder setting because of the recent mild weather) and it went green. Fine.

The problem is that my heater (in the living room) doesn't seem to be emitting much heat during the day - regardless of how much I open the 'output' setting - and I'm wondering if I need to adjust the 'night' devireg setting to +2, so it takes in a longer charge at night?

2) Also, the front panel of my heater actually never feels as warm as it should be - all of the air seems to be coming out of the top of it, never the front. Does this indicate a problem with the actual heater unit?

I hear the boiler gurgling throughout the day and night at various points, but I don't think I've ever heard the heating come on. Yet there is heat in the heater - although I think there's not as much as there should be - coming out of the heater during the day, so it is charging at night.

Sorry for the long post, but any help would be VERY much appreciated - as I've said, hours of Googling this problem haven't made me any the wiser. I'm already worried about being stung by a massive heating bill in a couple of months because I've got the basic devireg or input settings wrong and I'm at my wit's end!

M cebee

You leave the day button at zero and adjust the night button

give it 24hrs after adjustment to take effect

you wont get stung as the devireg switches on during end of cheap rate period

CluelessWiFi

Thanks for the reply - do you think that has anything to do with why the front panel of the heater hasn't been warm/hot, either?

Diggerdunne

Is your input controller working?Can u hear it clicking when u exceed the current temp.. The devi is an external thermostat that tries to control the amount of heat u need based on the external temp...

CluelessWiFi

Hi diggerdunne, thanks for the reply.

I have the input on max at the moment, but if I twist it back, there's a click all right.

Right now I'm sitting here in the living room and it's bloody freezing. I opened the output vent to midrange when I got up a couple of hours ago, and there's practically no heat coming from it, apart from a lukewarm feel at the top of the radiator. It's extremely frustrating.

Diggerdunne

Do the other storage heaters emit enough heat? If so then the problem is not with the Devi controller and it's with that individual heater...

CluelessWiFi

I'm in the process of testing the one in the hallway - it's a much smaller version of the living room heater, but I think it's already heating up at the front as required, so the problem may well be with the individual heater.

Thanks for your help.

zom

Storage Heaters are useless - especially new one. Friends got installed one recently (similar to this http://www.harjuelekter.ee/public/files/unidare_salvest.gif). Convection is working fine but front panel is barely warm so no radiation at all (i presume it's safety issue - nobody get seared).
And because it's installed directly on the old external wall, half of heat is going straight to atmosphere. I touched the wall around heater and it's literally warm - wonder how UE didn't banned it yet (production and installation of SH). I know that better brands provide convection gap between heater and wall (even if all box is installed directly on the wall) but not this one. Because of weight it has to have bottom support anyway so no need for direct wall installation - WHY it's not designed like 100mm distance from the wall??

cast_iron

How are the stats on these usually wired?

In the one in my place (2 bed apt), there's a stat in the hallway that controls all of the storage heating - which is just one heater in hall and one in sitting room. And there's a stat in the sitting room that controls the convector part only. That one works ok, and I can see the logic of it.

The stat in the hall is a bit of a mystery though. For any of the storage heating to charge up overnight, the hall stat must be turned up above the "comfortable" temp. Is this what controls the "input" exclusively, or does the settings on the heater matter too, or at all?
So you can end up with the hallway being warm enough, and cutting out the overnight charging of the sitting room (if the door between the two is closed)?

Would that be considered normal? No devireg ar any of that.

M cebee

It used to be common before the devireg to have a room stat to regulate the input for all heaters

cast_iron

M cebee wrote: »

It used to be common before the devireg to have a room stat to regulate the input for all heaters

I see. It seems a bit strange that the stat that controls the input to the sitting room can be in the hall. As for it to be of use, you would have to leave the door between the hall and sitting room open. Seems a strange way to design it.

So the hall stat governs the overall input, then the heater input control knob is after that? Like 2 switches in series?
Does the hall stat not make the input control largely redundant then?

M cebee

Dunno how well it works really
Regulating storage heating input isnt the same as the usual control of a heating zone

The devireg should work better as you adjust the input via the dial and it compensates for variations in outside temperature

cast_iron

Well it seems the stat is like a master switch, and then the input knob on the heater determines how much it charges up.
All seems a bit of a daft setup if you ask me, which is why I'm curious as to whether it's a standard way of doing it. Place was build mid 90s. There's no devireg installed.

M cebee

Yes it was the standard method of regulating input

gold shield used to have a stat marked 'master control for storage heating'
which was fitted in hall afair
il post a pic of stat when i get a chance

CluelessWiFi

Hi folks,

If I turn my Devireg up all the way - to +4 - will it make a difference? I'm going to try it tonight. But what I'm worried about is adjusting the Devireg knob and it sending my bill sky high.

cast_iron

M cebee wrote: »

Yes it was the standard method of regulating input

gold shield used to have a stat marked 'master control for storage heating'
which was fitted in hall afair
il post a pic of stat when i get a chance

Yes it's a gold shield setup alright.

How is the early and late boost regulated?

raymogy

hi all, first of all hi, i am new here.

like the rest of you , i have been pulling my hair out with storage heaters and scared of the cost, after a month survey and watching the cost of my heaters i do the following

1) read the meter each day when i get up, and take note of the cheap rate usage and peak rate.


this is how to work out the cost of your storage heaters to see if wired into peak rate electric.

for this example i wil use 2.55watts as size and 3 as number of storage heaters and 0.055pence as my cheap rate cost at present, you will need to change size of storage heater to yours and cost per unit to your tariff.


2.55 watts * 3 storage heaters * 10 hours (economy 10) * 0.0555pence * 7days= £29.73 per week

this is the maximum charge for storage heaters set output to minimum as radiated heat is enough and input to 6.

input is the over night charge.

this usage will be different for everyone as in low traffic areas you will need less heat, like bedrooms and hallways, so you will probably find you dont have these on max, as you just want to take chill of room and stop cold draugh comming in living room, everytime door is open.

hope this helps some off you, if you have any other question please fell free to private message me

thanks

raymond