Storage heater installation in a shed

[Lieutenant Columbo]

A few years ago I built a detached building in my garden for work. A single course of bricks thick with a flat wood roof and foam insulated walls. Plastered, painted, the whole nine yards.
The local council consider it to be a shed because it has no bed or fixed heat source.

Up until I've been using an electric oil-free radiator to heat the room in the winter. The problem is that while the heater does manage to heat the room nicely it does take a few hours to heat up the room from a cold start. The unit comes with a timer but the real issue is that as soon as I've turned off the heater the room loses its heat very quickly.

My house actually has electric storage heaters since there is no gas supply to the property. I recently began to think about the possibility of installing a storage heater in my garden room as a way of producing more heat at a cheaper cost.

Here's the rub; my electricity is supplied to my garden room via an armoured cable taken from my house socket wiring circuit. The room has its own mini consumer unit.

If I were to fit a storage heater how would I get it to take advantage of my economy 7 tariff?
My house heaters are on their own seperate circuit for the Economy 7. I'm unwilling to dig up my patio and install a seperate supply cable and plug socket.

Could I fit a plug to the garden room heater's cable and plug this into a timer and plug that into an existing plug socket?

Finally, how to I fix the heater to the wall since there is nothing behind the plaster but foam insulation for a couple of inches.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The problem is that while the heater does manage to heat the room nicely it does take a few hours to heat up the room from a cold start. The unit comes with a timer but the real issue is that as soon as I've turned off the heater the room loses its heat very quickly.

That's because it isn't properly insulated. Why don't you do something about that?

My house actually has electric storage heaters since there is no gas supply to the property. I recently began to think about the possibility of installing a storage heater in my garden room as a way of producing more heat at a cheaper cost.

"The petrol tank in my car has a leak, and it's costing me too much money, with the fuel dribbling away all the time. Any ideas how I can get cheaper petrol so that the leak doesn't cost me so much?"

Here's the rub; my electricity is supplied to my garden room via an armoured cable taken from my house socket wiring circuit. The room has its own mini consumer unit.

It shouldn't have. Who the hell put that in? Did they actually sign an EIC to say that it complied with BS 7671? What happened about Building Regulations certification for the electrical work?

If I were to fit a storage heater how would I get it to take advantage of my economy 7 tariff?

By only having it charge up at off-peak times.

Could I fit a plug to the garden room heater's cable and plug this into a timer and plug that into an existing plug socket?

Get a heater with a timer.

Finally, how to I fix the heater to the wall since there is nothing behind the plaster but foam insulation for a couple of inches.

Then you need to use fixings which will go through the insulation (which should be thicker) into something solid.

 

[Lieutenant Columbo]

The problem is that while the heater does manage to heat the room nicely it does take a few hours to heat up the room from a cold start. The unit comes with a timer but the real issue is that as soon as I've turned off the heater the room loses its heat very quickly.

That's because it isn't properly insulated. Why don't you do something about that?

Yes it is. It's insulated with 70mm think celotex insulation boards and according to the company when I consulted them is more than enough to suit my needs. I actually came here for electrical advice, not insulation advice from someone with a chip on his shoulder.

My house actually has electric storage heaters since there is no gas supply to the property. I recently began to think about the possibility of installing a storage heater in my garden room as a way of producing more heat at a cheaper cost.

"The petrol tank in my car has a leak, and it's costing me too much money, with the fuel dribbling away all the time. Any ideas how I can get cheaper petrol so that the leak doesn't cost me so much?"

Again, not relevant to my question.

Here's the rub; my electricity is supplied to my garden room via an armoured cable taken from my house socket wiring circuit. The room has its own mini consumer unit.

It shouldn't have. Who the hell put that in? Did they actually sign an EIC to say that it complied with BS 7671? What happened about Building Regulations certification for the electrical work?

All electrical work was undertaken by a qualified engineer and past inspection after completion of works.

If I were to fit a storage heater how would I get it to take advantage of my economy 7 tariff?

By only having it charge up at off-peak times.

No **** Sherlock.

Could I fit a plug to the garden room heater's cable and plug this into a timer and plug that into an existing plug socket?

Get a heater with a timer.

Ah, the first thing you've said that my not have come out of your ass. I haven't seen a storage heater with an integral timer, but I'll have to look invite that. I assumed that they didn't exist.

Finally, how to I fix the heater to the wall since there is nothing behind the plaster but foam insulation for a couple of inches.

Then you need to use fixings which will go through the insulation (which should be thicker) into something solid.

Can't find the studwork because the insulation is too thick. I was hoping someone would have heard or used fixings that overcome this problem. My room is nicely decorated, I don't really want to start peppering the wall looking for a fixing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I did not say many of the things you claim I did - please correct your post to remove all those falsehoods from it.

I'm not aware of any fittings which would allow something a heavy as a storage heater to be hung off plasterboard.

 

[flameport]

Whether you can use the E7 for the outbuilding depends on what E7 arrangement you have - some switch the entire supply over to the cheap rate, others only switch the heaters.
Post one or more photos of the meter, consumer units, incoming supply and any other equipment in that area.

Storage heaters must be securely fixed, but if there is only 2 inches of insulation, extra long screws through the insulation into the brickwork behind would be a possible solution.