Night storage heaters installation in a conservatory

[corkyboy]

My query is pretty basic and concerns just what is involved on the "electrics" side of the installation.
Firstly we have a meter with separate day and night readings (Economy 7?)and the conservatory has four dual 13 amp wall sockets and our consumer unit (Crabtree Starbreaker) was installed 2 years ago.
So my questions are can the heaters be just plugged into the wall sockets or are they hard wired, will my CU or Meter need changing/adapting and will I need a specialist electrician or is this sort of thing just "run of the mill".
TIA, Colin

 

[eddiewakey]

Just plug them in as normal.

Economy 7 just means that between the night hours - your "night" reading will increase rather than the day, so its all energy used at night - (Do the washing at night too, its cheaper! )

 

[EFLImpudence]

It may not work like that.

Does all your electricity change to cheap rate at night or just the supply to your heating?

Picture of meters will help.

 

[JohnW2]

... So my questions are can the heaters be just plugged into the wall sockets or are they hard wired, will my CU or Meter need changing/adapting and will I need a specialist electrician or is this sort of thing just "run of the mill".

If you have a standard E7 setup, your meter will change your entire electrical installation over to 'cheap rate' during the night hours, so your present meter would probably be OK.

If the setup is as I have suggested, you would need time switches to switch on the storage heaters during the cheap electricity period, otherwise they would be on 24/7 (using 'expensive' electricity for much of the time).

It would not normally be regarded as good practice to run storage heaters from a standard sockets circuit. They would normally have their own separate circuits(s) from your CU. Are there any 'spare' ways in your existing CU that could be used for this purpose?

How well insulated is your conservatory?

You don't need a 'specialist electrician', but you do need to discuss with an electrician what needs to be done.

Kind Regards, John

 

[corkyboy]

It may not work like that.

Does all your electricity change to cheap rate at night or just the supply to your heating?

Picture of meters will help.

All electricity changes to the cheap rate, currently we do not have any electric heating we are oilburners.

 

[JohnW2]

All electricity changes to the cheap rate, currently we do not have any electric heating we are oilburners.

That's as I expected, so my previous comments therefore stand. Plugging storage heaters (with time switches) into the sockets would 'work' but, as I said, that's not really good practice and I would advise you to discuss with an electrician the provision of separate circuit(s) for the storage heater(s).

Kind Regards, John

 

[corkyboy]

If you have a standard E7 setup, your meter will change your entire electrical installation over to 'cheap rate' during the night hours, so your present meter would probably be OK. etc.


Kind Regards, John

I am not sure if there are any spare ways in the CU but I have a hunch the 4 outlets are on different circuits so that could be a way around that problem. With regard to insulation, that is in hand with the roof being done later this month.
With regard to time switches, if the the units are hard wired, how do you set up timers if the units themselves are not fitted with them? Anyway thanks for your input and to EFLI and Eddie for theirs.

 

[EFLImpudence]

if the the units are hard wired, how do you set up timers if the units themselves are not fitted with them?

They are normally individually wired to separate fuse box which is only energised at night.

 

[JohnW2]

They are normally individually wired to separate fuse box which is only energised at night.

Indeed, but that approach could perhaps be 'overkill' in the OP's case, if he is just installing one or two storage heaters in a house which is primarily oil-heated. If it is only 'one or two', then they could perhaps each be controlled by, say, a standard 'immersion heater' time switch.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I am not sure if there are any spare ways in the CU but I have a hunch the 4 outlets are on different circuits so that could be a way around that problem.

Indeed - and and electrician who determined what is going on could easily advise.

With regard to insulation, that is in hand with the roof being done later this month.

That's certainly a start, but I would suspect that windows are at least as big an issue in a conservatory. I don't really know, but is there not a regulatory/planning issue as regards the roofing of 'conservatories'?

With regard to time switches, if the the units are hard wired, how do you set up timers if the units themselves are not fitted with them?

There are various options, a couple of which EFLI and I have just discussed. Again, your electrician could advise.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

Indeed, but that approach could perhaps be 'overkill' in the OP's case, if he is just installing one or two storage heaters in a house which is primarily oil-heated. If it is only 'one or two', then they could perhaps each be controlled by, say, a standard 'immersion heater' time switch.

Well, my reply is just a statement of fact in response to "How are they timed, if they don't have timers themselves?".

However, as you have advised against 'plugging them in', I presumed that 'hard wired' did not apply to the socket circuit, so - if they are to be wired back to the CU then they may as well be connected to the appropriate CU.

If there are no other storage heaters then having E7 may not be advantageous and storage heaters not the best choice.

 

[JohnW2]

However, as you have advised against 'plugging them in'...

Would you advise differently?

... I presumed that 'hard wired' did not apply to the socket circuit, so - if they are to be wired back to the CU then they may as well be connected to the appropriate CU.

Yes - but as I said, if there were, say, just one storage heater (or even just two), I'm far from convinced that having a separate CU would be justified, would it?

If there are no other storage heaters then having E7 may not be advantageous and storage heaters not the best choice.

That's certainly true, but it's a different discussion.

corkyboy, do you know roughly what proportion of your electricity usage is at cheap rate? If it is less than about 35% of your total usage, then you are probably paying more for your electricity than you would if you got rid of the Economy 7 and changed to just a standard single tariff.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

Would you advise differently?

NO. Read the rest of the sentence.
How is it you "just know" what posters mean when they write something which is wrong but have trouble with me when I write properly?

Yes - but as I said, if there were, say, just one storage heater (or even just two), I'm far from convinced that having a separate CU would be justified, would it?

I had assumed that the house had a storage heater fuse box. I had missed where it was stated there are no others.

That's certainly true, but it's a different discussion.

WHY? If he's buying inappropriate heaters and paying too much for his electricity.

corkyboy

, do you know roughly what proportion of your electricity usage is at cheap rate? If it is less than about 35% of your total usage, then you are probably paying more for your electricity than you would if you got rid of the Economy 7 and changed to just a standard single tariff.

Oh. Is this another discussion, now?

 

[JohnW2]

Oh. Is this another discussion, now?

Yep, that's why I added it. Some will probably be critical because it is "off-topic"!

Kind Regards, John

 

[big-all]

as an aside

have you worked out the heat loss calculations ??
theres a fair chance a storage heater will not be the best choice as the heat loss may be far greater the the heat output or stored heat ??