Storage Heaters

Jenn_1234

Hi there,
I recently bought an apartment with storage heaters. Would anyone be happy to give me some advice please?
Thanks!

kuang1

Jenn_1234 wrote: »

Hi there,
I recently bought an apartment with storage heaters. Would anyone be happy to give me some advice please?
Thanks!

<snip>

An extremely vague question, too vague to provide s serious answer, you'll just get silly ones like the previous post (cleaned up).
I suggest you start here then come back if you have any questions.

Jenn_1234

Hi, I have recently bought an apartment with storage heaters. When I come home from work in the evening my apartment is cold. So far I have had a very bad experience using them. Can anyone please tell me what setting that I should have it on? Also, I have heard that they are very expensive- Is this true?

Zimmerframe

Are they hot when you are going to work ?
I presume you know, that they take in electricity during the night and give it out during the day.
Yes they are pretty expensive to run.

Jenn_1234

Thanks for getting back to me.
I had a vague idea that they store heat at night but I'm not sure if I have it set to the correct setting. Is there any way of knowing?
The apartment is warm-ish in the morning but freezing when I return in the evening.
I have used the boost button once or twice but I'm afraid that it will be very expensive!

Arrival

Shouldn't have bought an apartment with storage heaters. These things should be completely banned from being used in new apartment complexes, central heating, thick windows and good insulation should all be absolutely mandatory. Dickhead developers taking the cheap way out, trying to slap together apartments, has caused serious housing issues in this country.

You need to set them to run for a few hours overnight with the cover shut to store the heat.
But only worth using if you have cheap rate electricity at night.

Otherwise, try to get them replaced with another form of heating.

Gamer Bhoy 89

My girlfriend and I rented a bungalow a few years ago. No insulation, storage heating, and it was during winter.

It got desperate to the point we were both getting ill from it, and being asthmatic, the damp didn't help.

We forced ourselves into using those heaters. We thought an hour in the morning and then in the evening wouldve been fine.

Still freezing.

We were there from November until March. And our electricity bill came in at €1,700.

Unfortunately, it was correct, and we had to move out and pay that bill off. Took us over a year, caused numerous fights between us, blacklisted from that particular landlord (who has since retired) and really disrupted our Xmas budget the following year.

So. In short: storage heaters are Satan's invention and should be outlawed.

ercork

Usually storage heaters have two dials on them - Dial 1 to set how it charges up and Dial 2 to set how it releases the heat into your room. As far as I remember for the colder weather your best bet is to set dial 1 to the highest setting. For Dial 2, if you're out all day and only coming in at 5 or 6 in the evening you should set it to the lowest setting and then raise it to a higher setting when you come home.

However, most people's experience of storage heaters is not great - both from the point of view of cost and comfort. Have a look at this post here where some alternatives are discussed:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057930516

H3llR4iser

It can be a bit of a complex subject - insulation will help for sure, the apartment I am currently living in (renting) rarely goes below 18c and I've only switched the storage heaters on during the snowy week last year.

For solutions, if the area has natural gas piping you might want to inquire about getting a gas boiler + radiators (would also get rid of the immersion heater, which I assume you also have).

Alternatively, you might want to look into heat pump systems:
http://energywiseireland.ie/air-to-water-heat-pump.html

tvjunki

There are two switches next to the storage heater. One is for fan heating which is expensive as demand heating and other is for the storage heating.
Use the fan as a back up.

Two duals on heater...input is the speed to heat the bricks inside. Output is the rate the heat is omitted when the vent is opened. Set input at 3 as it charges over 8hours and you don't want to have them charged too soon.
Output ..before you go to bed put output to 1 or zero and before you go to work set output to 1. When you return from work increase to 4 or 5. The apartment should be warm.

The fuse boardinside property usually in the hall.

This will show when you are on cheap rate(late at night red light) a yellow light during the day. When you see the red that is when the heating will charge the bricks. Usually at 11 pm to 7am. At night do your washing or drying and charge your phone etc on cheap rate.get yourself timers for your appliances so they come on in the cheap times. Ask your supplier for the best rates.
What ever you do do not put in a key meter in as you will be robbed with fees. See my other post about it.
On the fuse board you will see a little button with a white mark on it. With it ispointing upwards it sets the heating to automatically set the temperature based on the temp outside. If you turn minus from 1 to 4 each reduces the heating by a number of degrees as well as reduce by 10% for each mark. The plus increases the cost and temperature.
Get yourself a back up heater I got a eco delongi heater and costs a lot less than the old oil heater.
When you are not using then heating turn off both switches at the wall.

Put your immersion on during the cheap rate as well to save you money.
Once you get the hang of it you will be fine.

bleary

Arrival wrote: »

Shouldn't have bought an apartment with storage heaters. These things should be completely banned from being used in new apartment complexes, central heating, thick windows and good insulation should all be absolutely mandatory. Dickhead developers taking the cheap way out, trying to slap together apartments, has caused serious housing issues in this country.

There are a lot of issues with housing in this country but storage heaters are not the main one.
I have storage heaters in my house, with extra insulation and some draught proofing I have one running only for the coldest months and my house is a lot warmer and cheaper to heat than many of my families houses with oil heating.