How storage heaters work
Storage heaters work by drawing electricity over the course of a few hours at night (normally between midnight and 7am during the winter months and between 1am and 5am during the summer, although this can vary) and storing it as heat in a 'bank' of clay or ceramic bricks to use the following day.
The advantage of storage heaters is that they can consume electricity at night and give out their heat many hours later - but to benefit from this you will need to be on an Economy 7 tariff. Economy 7 is an energy tariff that offers cheaper electricity rates during the night. The cheaper off-peak rate usually runs from midnight to 7am, with a more expensive peak rate throughout the rest of the day. All suppliers offer Economy 7 tariffs, but you'll need a smart meter or a dedicated Economy 7 meter to get them.
We recommend that you avoid using supplementary plug-in heaters, or the convector button which is found on some storage heaters. It's better to turn up the input on your storage heater to store more heat.
Understanding how to operate your storage heaters as effectively as possible will help you to stay warm enough and not waste energy.
Controls
Most storage heaters have two controls, on right-hand side on the top of the heater, sometimes under a flap:
- The Input control (sometimes labelled Charge) which controls how much heat is stored in the heater when it charges up overnight; and
- The Output control (sometimes labelled Boost) which opens and closes the flap at the top of the heater to let heat out.
Some storage heaters have an automatic output control, where a thermostat controls the opening and closing of the flap depending on the temperature of the room.
Settings
In very cold weather, we recommend setting the Input to to the maximum. As the weather gets warmer, and you need less heat, remember to turn down the Input control to store less heat in the heater overnight.
- The Output regulates how much 'stored' heat is released by opening and closing the flap behind the front grille
- For the most economical heating, leave the Output control on a low setting during the day (and on the lowest setting when you are out). Turn it up in the evening or when you come home, if you need more heat
- Before going to bed:
- Turn down the Output control to its lowest setting to stop heat being given out while you are in bed
- Turn the Input up if you need to charge the heater more overnight, because you were cold or because you know the next day will be colder; or
- Turn the Input down if you were too warm, or you know the next day will be significantly warmer.
- If your house is warm enough in the summer, turn the heaters off at the wall - remember to turn them back on again when it starts to get cold, the day before you need the heating
- You can control storage heaters individually, choosing different heat settings for different rooms. Manufacturers recommend setting the Output control to '1' in unoccupied rooms and '2-4' when the room is in use.
Hot water
If you have electric storage heaters to heat your home it is likely that you will also have an immersion heater for your hot water. There may be two immersion heaters: one in the top of your hot water cylinder
and one in the bottom. Usually the bottom heater comes on at night, and heats the whole cylinder using cheap off-peak electricity (on an Economy 7 tariff). The top heater is used to provide additional hot water during the day if required, but will use more expensive peak rate electricity.
- Do not leave a peak rate immersion heater on all day and all night. You will waste a lot of money keeping water hot when you don't need it
- Your hot water cylinder may have a single immersion heater, controlled by a timer - contact us if you need to know how to set up and use the timer correctly.