Storage heater and immersion heater

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Joyce

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Hi All, I hope someone would be able to help me. I just moved into an apartment with 4 storage heaters installed which seems not working initially.

I had an electrician coming in to check and set all the heaters so they can charge during the off peak period but nothing happened so he suggested to contact my supplier and make sure my eco 7 tariff is activated and ask to double check the meter. My supplier sent an engineer to check the meter and confirmed everything is ok with the wiring but eventually changed the meter with a newer version. The heaters were still not working after the new meter installed however after a week they started heating up but not continuously and just the front panels (no heat from the side panels) so not sure if the heat are from the off peak or on peak?

I have three switches (see pictures/link attached), I have tried keeping just the switch with the light on and got the same  amount of heat as keeping all the switches on. Are these from the on peak circuit?

The heaters are heating up also with both the background and comfort mode set at 1 bar. I don't understand why I get heat with both settings down?

Another problem is I also have immersion heater (boiler) for hot water but this is not working either with the off peak. It works only with the boost.

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

https://paste.pics/623d4ed8701473f32049efceda0e5e42

https://paste.pics/72WT2

 
What make and model storage heaters are they? and do you have the user manuals?

I can't recognise them from the picture you posted.

If they / the flat are new, then they may well be LOT 20 complaint so they take more setting up than the good old units .... its more than turning a knob or 2

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi there, thanks for replying.

I have 3 dimplex duoheat 300i and one 400i. And the boiler is A class Pulsacoil.

I have set the storage heaters following the manual and also the electrician who came verified and set them again. 

Boiler not working at all off peak.

 
The Duoheat heaters are electronic controls, so they NEED the 24/7 peak supply on all the time to function, and they then should use off peak electricity to charge up the storage part overnight. They will also top up in the daytime with peak rate.

They are imho complicated things, if you don't have it, search out the users manual and read it.,

 
Hi, the electric heating system is controlled by dimplex pw4 controller on the wall and this is set to "comfort mode" .  Can this be the reason why the heaters heat up during the day at different hours? Each of the 4 heaters doesn't heat up at the same time. They cool down and reheat at any time.

Thank you for your help.

 
Hi, the electric heating system is controlled by dimplex pw4 controller on the wall and this is set to "comfort mode" .  Can this be the reason why the heaters heat up during the day at different hours? Each of the 4 heaters doesn't heat up at the same time. They cool down and reheat at any time.

Thank you for your help.
I am a sort of "I like to know how it works" sort of person, and I don't like systems like that because they don't publish or even describe properly how it works, and how it makes it's decisions whether to store up with off peak or just use peak rate real time heating.  They just think that setting a temperature and a comfort mode is all that most people need to know.

 
This was set by the electrician who came to check the heaters. Should this be off to allow the heaters use the off peak rate?

 
Joyce , maybe look on YouTube to see if the manufacturer has got any tutorial information 

my crystal ball sees more and more of these issues arising in the coming months and years.

 
Unfortunately I have tried anywhere also on YouTube but couldn't find info that's why I hoped you guys could help me here.  :(

 
I think the OP needs to contact Dimplex to air her frustrations .............. we need to get customers to do this so these manufacturers can understand the issues that end users have with their products.

 
At a basic level, are the heaters maintaining the rooms at the temperature you want?   And is their electricity usage as you would expect with a reasonable split between peak and off peak?

If the answer to both is yes, then they are doing their job.  If not then what other settings have you tried?  e.g what alternatives are there to "comfort"?

 
Hi all, I have had the OP coming in and saying that he thinks the problem come from the meter which I have already replaced with a new one. I have had also an engineer from my supplier coming in and said that the meter is fine.

I have just bought one of those pens to test the voltage/power in the off peak live wire and also bought a power monitor. 

The power monitor with the CT click attached to the off peak wire shows no consumption during the off peak. The pen gives a very signal when close to the off peak wire during the off peak time and no/very low signal when close to the off peak fusebox.

Is the problem coming from the fusebox? 

 
Sorry, I meant that there is signal with the off peak wire coming from the meter during off peak hours but it seems that the fuse board is not receiving that power.

Therefore i'm assuming the issue must be between the off peak isolated fuse switch and off peak fuse board?

 
This would all be solved for a modest amount if you just get an electrician in.  Anyone competent should diagnose the problem in an hour or probably less.

 
Where are you guys based. Any suggestion of a good and competent electrician in Leicestershire?

 
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