Night storage heaters were once considered the answer for home heating, sadly they have had their day, they are expensive to run. They do not have control knobs as such, just a kind of half wheel with slots to poke a screwdriver in to adjust the setting. (or from our experience a two pence piece seems popular)
‘Economy 7’ was launched and the tariffs were very attractive at the time They were heavily promoted by the Electricity Boards. Sales of storage heaters reached an all high in the late 1980’s at 1.2 million per annum.
Nobody worried about global warming and energy efficiency but that changed when the Boards were privatised in the early 1990’s.
The result however was that lots of heaters were sold but energy efficient measures were not promoted. A lot of homes were poorly insulated and people begrudgingly accepted homes became cooler in the evenings
Lack of Control and High Electricity Bill
A recent case study revealed the following:
The problem was that even though the storage heater was on minimum output it didn’t seem to make any difference to the amount of heat that comes out. This means that in the morning the house is too hot, but by 7pm (when you most need the heating) they are only just warm so the house is freezing. Also the electricity bill is horrendous even though economy 7 is installed, in this particular case they were spending in the region of £900.00 per year on heating alone!
How controllable should the heat output be on old night storage heaters?
This particular night storage heater was made between 1983 and 1989. The controls are recessed and only operated by a pen or small screw driver ,or a two pence piece.
The fact that on minimum setting the night storage heater still gets very hot would suggest that the thermostat is malfunctioning. As the night storage heaters are approximately 25 years old, obtaining a spare part would have been difficult.
How do night storage heaters work?
Electricity to the units is restricted to off peak hours. When ‘on’, electricity heats the elements, which in turn heat the bricks inside the heater
Although surrounded in a layer of insulation as the brick get hotter the casing of the heater becomes hotter. Essentially it is the heat from the bricks that heats your space/ room.
In recent years additional heat is released from the night storage heaters by the operation of a damper valve or output control.
It takes energy at night time and first thing in the morning it’s at it’s hottest, but – it’s overnight when outside temperatures are coldest. As the day progresses the bricks become cooler and hence the heat output decreases, so not a good heating system in winter and you need heat at night making night storage heaters in-efficient and outdated.
In the evening the casing is becoming cool, there is no doubt most of the heat has been expended and complaints of too much heat in the morning and not enough in the evening is very typical of night storage heaters.
Replace your old night storage heaters with a modern eco renewable heating system
By changing over to an eco heating system we guarantee you we will save you money on your heating bills
