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Zero-Hero

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Hi all, advice and inspiration needed.

(Please see Photos and Quick Summary at bottom)

Should I change my Consumer Unit and wiring ?

I have recently bought a flat which had old Storage heaters (with asbestos) and an unvented hot water cylinder all wired for Economy 7 electricity (No gas to the building).

We have removed the storage heaters and are planning to replace them with some form of electric panel heaters/radiators (advice welcome).

The problem is that the young (inexperienced?) electrician I have asked to move a some sockets has told me I HAVE to replace the consumer unit, an MK Sentry from Mid 90’s without RCD which was what I expected. The left side is wired for normal circuits, lights, Sockets, cooker, etc. The right side is dedicated to the Economy 7 Night Rate electricity and is individually wired to each storage heater and the hot water cylinder. He said he is going to disconnect the night rate side of the consumer unit and the meter and fit one 20 way consumer unit which thinks is mad considering it's only a flat. Someone else said it might be better to use two separate consumer units side-by-side?

Would it not be better to replace the consumer unit with an updated MK Sentry and keep the existing the Economy 7 setup even if it would only be used for the the Hot Water Cylinder?

Each storage heater  and the water cylinder was supplied by two flex outlet sockets, one for night electricity and one for the day electricity. He has suggested putting blanking plates over the night rate outlets and putting a normal switched single socket on each ‘day-time’ flex outlet to plug in the new panel heaters. He didn't know anything about the Hot Water Cylinder or how having only one of the two immersion heaters working would affect the water temperature and electricity bill.

Do I ‘HAVE TO’ replace the Consumer Unit or is it just recommended

Summary-

Should I..

1. Keep my existing consumer unit?

2. Replace it with an updated MK Sentry and keep the Economy 7 electricity for the Water Cylinder

3. Fit one 20-way consumer unit (then each of the old Storage Heater outlets which would now be blanked off and unused would have its own circuit ! ? )

4. Fit two separate consumer units (Don't know if this recommendation intended to use one for daytime electricity and one for Economy 7 Night electricity or just all daytime electricity without the Economy 7 but is easier than fitting one 20 way unit?)

5. Will the Hot water cylinder work ok with just one of the two immersion heaters used ( I need to investigate the Horstmann Economy 7 Timer)

Photos link - https://photos.app.goo.gl/UmSRDEd57c4o6mNy9

Thanks in advance

 
You already have a 16 way  Dual Tariff  board   so he is thinking of like for like  plus some spare ways   .   A 20 way is fine 

Nothing wrong with those MK boards but the  changing Regs have left it behind now ,  you need RCD protection   on all the circuits .  

You need to take advantage of the E7 tariff   during the night  as you pay a bit more  for it during the day . 

 
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I don't personally like storage heaters, but they are just about the best option for this type of property. Think long and hard before you change for "some type of panel heater" as you will be using real time electricity not off peak stored electricity.  There are a lot of "magic" heaters on sale claiming to be "better" than storage heaters, but how can they be when the cost of electricity they use is higher?  Remember any electric heater, no matter how old, is 100% eficcient.  100% of the electricity it uses is turned into heat. Replacing them for more modern storage heaters will probably improve how much is saved up for the evening and that might be a better option.

A like for like change from old to new storage heaters will not need an update to your consumer unit.

If you DO decide to scrap the storage heaters then get rid of the E7 and go to a single rate tariff at the cheapest 24/7 rate you can get.  The supplier (or a local sparks) would need to connect both halves of that CU to the 24/7 supply so the heater points still have power.

 
You already have a 16 way  Dual Tariff  board   so he is thinking of like for like  plus some spare ways 
Thanks Deke but he is not replacing like for like. He has already disconnected the Economy 7 supply from the meter (see photo) and intends to wire each of the old individual circuits to each storage heater outlet on its own fuse in the 20 way consumer unit which would not be split/dual tariff. I don't think this is the best way to go. Also each storage heater Economy 7 outlet already has an outlet next to it  (see photo) for daytime 'boost' so unless I or someone in the future opts for storage heaters, then we don't need the Economy 7 outlets, the circuit or even the 'ways' in the consumer unit or am I missing something. Thanks again

 
I don't personally like storage heaters, but they are just about the best option for this type of property. 
Hi Dave, I have no past experience of storage heaters but  my neighbours in other flats say that ours are not good and online opinion seems to be poor. I think mainly because the heat output is fine in the morning but poor it the evening, especially for anyone who works late. Other residents and flats we viewed before buying this often had electric radiators plugged in next to the storage heaters!  I am looking for some good quality electric radiators maybe with some smart programming similar to hive/nest but not sure they exist.

 
OK, as my opinion, there is no need to introduce RCDs for changing the heaters - this consists of replacing items attached to a cct and not the cct itself, which is maintenance. However it looks like you have a dual rate single phase meters which does  off-peak and on-peak metering, so a single board is not a problem. It also looks like you have dual supplies at the wall, so what you can get these days in storage heaters with an additional boost heater built in. This would give you the benefit of off-peak heating with the ability to boost room temperatures in the evening if needed, overcoming the worst fault of off-peak only NSH. Panel heaters look nicer, you can get some with pretty pictures on them even, but they are not the panacea they are made out to be by advertising bumpf. Whatever you get, a built in timer is a good idea.

As for the boards, they are getting a bit old, so replacing them might be a good idea, but it is not essential.

 
OK  Zero  lets look again.       Looking at  what Binky says  ..you could if you wish , leave that board as it is ....there are millions like them .    

And if your guy doesn't wire in any NEW circuits  you could forget about having RCDs ,  your decision   .  (  Your installation  is 14  or 15th edition Regs  we are just starting on the 18th )  

I think your guy was wrong in removing the E7  supply & metering  .  If I were you I'd put my money on some  dual  tariff  storage heaters  (  Restricted supply  and 24 hr supply )     Energy will only get dearer  ,  at least you'll have 7 hours of cheaper rate  between 00.00 hrs     and  0700 hrs  the recharge your storage heaters .

Dual supply heaters are not cheap but I think they are your best bet .    They all have the refractory blocks in them to store heat  ..plus ..a fan heater or a convector  on 24 hr .   

 
Thanks for all your input. I think I am going to ask him to reconnect the E7 reply at the meter and install an updated split board similar to what is already installed. I will do some further research on convection / conduction / storage heaters. I will post back with when I've finished. Thanks

 
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