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Storage heater Newbie

limboy

Hello,

I just arrived in Ireland, so storage heaters are new to me. I found a user guide online, but I still have some questions.

For example, in summer I only need hot water for doing the dishes, not for the heating (the electric shower heats water by itself). Isn't is a massive waste of (off-peak) electricity to heat almost the whole night for at most 7 litres of hot water for the dishes?

Second, if I heat (off-peak) anyway, why not switch on the heater in the living room to use the heat at least, even if it's only a bit chilly inside? I mean, I've paid for the electricity already, and there's no way I can spend all that heat doing the dishes. The heat surplus will otherwise simply disappear, right?

Does anyone know what exactly the 1 Hour Boost means? Does it produce the same amount of heat in less time, or simply less heat? Can I use it at off-peak hours too?

Finally, what if the heat runs out during a very cold day? Does it then heat during the day? I'm asking because there is just OFF-PEAK and OFF on the control panel.

Thanks!

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jkforde

thanks for the replies. I don't have the greatest mechanical mind on the planet so bear with me... I understand that the NSHs will work no problem without a Devireg controller but if there is one fitted with no associated sensors then setting it to anything other than Constant will just confuse the controller which will never get a signal from the non-existent sensors and so wont ever click in... hence in my case the Day dial has to be set to Constant thereby bypassing the Devireg, is that right? (by the way, the Devireg unit has nothing to do with the NightSaver hot water immersion right?) Thanks!

M cebee

yes -the devireg has nothing to with with electric water heating

have you checked for a sensor? a small white box on a 'shaded north facing wall 'probably

i think it would be unusual for one to be omitted

if you're competent it can be checked at DB-the sensor can be checked with a multimeter

jkforde

thanks. ya, had a good look for the sensor (like the one arik11 posted below) and there isn't one unless it's hidden away :P. have asked the landlady to ask the electrician who fitted the place.... i'm curious at this stage why they would bother going so far as to install the controller and then not follow through

Red Alert

You could try and trace the wires from the controller - if the sensor's not been connected at all there'll be two terminals not connected to anything. A multimeter should give you about 30k ohms across the sensor at about 10 degrees outside. Make sure you've completely isolated the power to the panel before you do this and don't unless you know what you're doing.

It could be fitted somewhere strange either like on a chimney.

jkforde

could this bundle of 5 wires hanging down beside the fusebox (I never gave them much thought before now) have been meant for the elusive sensor?!

(sorry, didn't mean to hog this thread)

M cebee

prob alarm wires

arik11

Hello there.Night storage has been working perfectly for 3 months.Last night the system went on as usual at 23:00 sharp.I saw the red light next to the two heaters but neither the heaters nor the immersion system actually did anything, The heaters staid cold and the water did not heat.All fuses were up and ruining,As I said the red light showing the night time electricity is on was there.Any idea what could have caused this?The heaters are OK.They worked perfectly(waiting to see today what will happen)

arik11

As strange as it sounds:We found out that the thermostats of both Creda Heaters was stuck.The electrician released it with his screwdriver.

RoundyMooney

Either stuck, or the thermal cutouts (they stop the things overheating) had popped.

It does happen that the stats stick (these are seperate) from time to time as well. I had to do it on two panel heaters in my aunts new apartment only last week.

On another note, any one else think we need a storage heating sticky, for all these people who rent apartments, and who may not be aware of the setup, or in some cases Irish installations in general?

I'll happily write one up, and Stoner or whoever can add edits as needed if anyone else wants to jump in?

arik11

Hi.yes . A storage heating sticky with "if so... then do that... " might be nice

arik11

Hi. I recall many have been looking for this Devireg 710-2 manual. so here it is.
Have a nice winter.
Attachment not found.

drsg

Hi Guys! hoping someone can help me out here. I am from Canada, and have recently moved to ireland where heating and water set up is very different. I have no idea how to set everything up so that I am using heat and water in the most efficient way.

I understand the concept of the heating, but overall I have no idea what I am doing. In my apartment I have a panel at the front door with a timer, and a switch that says water off/timed and knob for boost. Next to that panel is another switch that has a light if it is turned on (currently turned off).

In my living room, I have a storage heater, it has an input and output dial, a dial with numbers along the right side and a switch, as well as two switches next door to it. One of these two switches has a light, the other does not (one with light is on, the other if off)

in my bedrooms, the heaters are different. I dont see any input or output switches. Instead they have a dial with numbers, a 24 hour clock, and switch for either manual or auto. Next to the panel there is also a switch with a light (currently turned off).

Can someone please explain the switches and particularly the heaters with the auto/manual? Private message or reply here is great. I have no hot water right now becasue I am too afraid of the bill when not using peak hours and have no idea how to use panel next to my front door or in the bedrooms. Please help!!!

thank you!

Quadrature

They're a bit of a mystery to me too! I've avoided anywhere with storage heating like the plague! They're a really cheap and nasty way that buy-to-let landlords or low end property developers fit out generally budget apartments or cheap retrofits of heating to old buildings. You'll rarely find them in a house as they're inflexible, expensive to run, very unresponsive to changing weather (24 hours to respond) and excessively complicated.

The input dial is how much heat the unit charges with and the output dial basically controls dampers that control the rate the air exits the heater.

I just set them in one place by trial end error. Never quite figured it out though.

If you've two sets of switches at most heaters, they probably have day-rate and night rate. So, if you switch on during the day it's using full rate power to boost the stored heat in the bricks inside.

One switch will only work off peak as there's a central timer for the whole house that automatically turns on the heaters to charge them at night.

The bedroom panels sound like they're just electric heaters with timers. You're supposed to just set the time clock to heat when you want heat. If used on-peak, it'll be charged at full peak rate. You usually just move the segments in / out to set on/off periods much like the plug-in timers of the same era.

As for the hot water, it's supposed to be set to heat off peak and you can boost it at full rate power during the day if it runs out.

Assuming you've an electric shower, that's most likely instantaneous so it just heats the water as you use it at whatever rate electricity is valid for that time of day.

If you post photos of the various dials / controllers and also the electrical panel (where the circuit breakers are) it might help to identify how to set things.
( or post the make and model of the timers as I see you can't post pics until you've made 50 posts on boards.ie to avoid spambot accounts)

drsg

Quadrature wrote: »

They're a bit of a mystery to me too! I've avoided anywhere with storage heating like the plague! They're a really cheap and nasty way that buy-to-let landlords or low end property developers fit out generally budget apartments or cheap retrofits of heating to old buildings. You'll rarely find them in a house as they're inflexible, expensive to run, very unresponsive to changing weather (24 hours to respond) and excessively complicated.

The input dial is how much heat the unit charges with and the output dial basically controls dampers that control the rate the air exits the heater.

I just set them in one place by trial end error. Never quite figured it out though.

If you've two sets of switches at most heaters, they probably have day-rate and night rate. So, if you switch on during the day it's using full rate power to boost the stored heat in the bricks inside.

One switch will only work off peak as there's a central timer for the whole house that automatically turns on the heaters to charge them at night.

The bedroom panels sound like they're just electric heaters with timers. You're supposed to just set the time clock to heat when you want heat. If used on-peak, it'll be charged at full peak rate. You usually just move the segments in / out to set on/off periods much like the plug-in timers of the same era.

As for the hot water, it's supposed to be set to heat off peak and you can boost it at full rate power during the day if it runs out.

Assuming you've an electric shower, that's most likely instantaneous so it just heats the water as you use it at whatever rate electricity is valid for that time of day.

If you post photos of the various dials / controllers and also the electrical panel (where the circuit breakers are) it might help to identify how to set things.

Hi Quadrature, thank you for replying so quickly!! I hope you dont mind answering a few more questions!

I think my major problem is I dont quite understand which switches should be on and which should be off.

For instance, in the bedroom, the switch next to the heater, should that always be on if I want heat, or does it depend on my setting of manual vs auto?

Same with the switch next to my water heater panel, should that be on to have hot water? If I turn the switch on then I get the stored up hot water. but if I want extra hot water, I would boost it (and get charged the extra rate?) I want to make sure If I turn on these switches they will only be for night rate and not turning on extra heating for day rate.

The storage heater in my living room has three switches technically, which ones should be on so that it stores heat at the nightly rate and not the day rate?

Thank you!!

Quadrature

The panels in the bedrooms are just hardwired electric heaters. The manual / auto most likely just means "on" vs "timed" where it will be turned on/off by the time clock on the front of the heater itself. You will need to use these during peak rates at times.

The water heating, I can't really advise on without posting the model of the time clock as there were lots of different models uses by different installers in different eras.

It would normally be programmed to switch on when the off-peak rate begins. It is controlled by a thermostat too, so once the tank's at temperature it will stop heating and just maintain the heat so, it's not all that expensive to run (assuming it's well insulated). Some very old water heaters were very primitively insulated and wasted loads of heat.

The boost switch just switched the water heating on regardless of what the time is. I'm not sure how long for.

Also find your power meter. Your landlord should have shown you this and if not, ask to be shown it ASAP. Check the 24 hour clock is accurate. Some older ones can be way out of whack and end up charging peak rates at off peak times. This applies more if it's an old installation - these things can be ticking away for 40 years...

Night rate Times :

11pm until 8am - winter time
12am until 9am - summer time.

Bear in mind too this also applies to all your regular outlets. So if you're running for dishwasher or dryer, it's half price at night.

This is why a lot of European appliances have a delay-start timer built in. So, you can set your dryer to start your dryer at say 6am to finish at 8 etc etc