Night Storage heaters and economy 7 electric question

electricalkid · 29 Dec 2008

I have a house that I rent out which has 2 night storage heaters - neither are working as they should although I have tested each heater by disconnecting from the wall switch and merely wiring them directly to the ring main and bingo they both work - so nothing wrong with the heaters themselves.

I have also checked the night storage consumer unit and both fuses are ok and the unit is functioning perfectly.

My last resort is to believe that there is no power coming through from the meter box when the economy 7 kicks in.

I had a squint in the box and see there is a "Radio Teleswitch" which could be the culprit. Looking through the glass panel of the teleswitch I see there is a small switch to the left which says "on" at the top "80a" half way down and "off" at the bottom - the switch seems to be set in the "off" position.

Does anyone know whether, (cos the switch is in the off position) - this is the reason why the teleswitch isn't working. In any event who do I contact to have the teleswitch tested ??. I did wonder whether I should merely remove the glass fronted case on the teleswitch and move the switch to the on position - I know I ain't supposed to touch this but it looks like all the security seals are missing on it anyway. Any thoughts. Thanks in advance - and HNY !!

Diyisfun · 29 Dec 2008

I know it dosnt answer the question, but if you rent the house, why not get it sorted by the person you are renting from.

electricalkid · 29 Dec 2008

Your correct - it doesn't answer my question. If you read it again I said "I have a house that I rent out" - meaning I am the Landlord - not the tenant !!

macca · 29 Dec 2008

If the seals are broke then i'd flick the timer to the On position - from what i remember dont they have 3 positions - On/Off/Timed On? If they heat up when in the on position then looks like a faulty timer - your electricity provider will swap it FOC and install a digi one instead.
Also are the storage heaters each wired into a fused switch - if so have you checked the fuses there too?

electricalkid · 29 Dec 2008

Thanks Macca - the two storage heaters are not connected via a fused wall switch and I have checked both the switches and they are ok as well.

I'm inclined to flip the switch as you say on the electric board outside the house- although the switch does only have the markings as I previously mentioned.

Do you know who I should contact about getting the radio switch replaced or repaired ?? - me thinks it's not the electric supplier ie Atlantic ??

Thanks for your help

Taylortwocities · 29 Dec 2008

It will be whoever you pay to provide your electricity.
They are very helpful by putting their name on the bill they send you!

electricalkid · 29 Dec 2008

Thanks Taylor - but as I have said before this is a house I rent out to Tenants and I haven't a clue as to which company provides the electricity cos the tenants often change supplier and don't tell me - neither of course do I ever see a bill - cos I don't pay !!

I understand somewhere there is a facility that will let me know who supplies the leccy to the house, can I find this out via the internet ??

electronicsuk · 29 Dec 2008

electricalkid said:
Thanks Taylor - but as I have said before this is a house I rent out to Tenants and I haven't a clue as to which company provides the electricity cos the tenants often change supplier and don't tell me - neither of course do I ever see a bill - cos I don't pay !!

I understand somewhere there is a facility that will let me know who supplies the leccy to the house, can I find this out via the internet ??

Sorry to state the obvious, but... speak to your tenants and ask them who supplies their electricity! Failing that, ask the tenants themselves to ring the supplier and explain the situation, as they will probably want all sorts of information to confirm the billpayer's identity before they will even speak to you.

Diyisfun · 29 Dec 2008

electricalkid said:
Your correct - it doesn't answer my question. If you read it again I said "I have a house that I rent out" - meaning I am the Landlord - not the tenant !!

opps

Diyisfun · 29 Dec 2008

electricalkid said:
I understand somewhere there is a facility that will let me know who supplies the leccy to the house, can I find this out via the internet ??

I think you can only see who COULD supply.

electricalkid · 29 Dec 2008

electronicsuk said:
electricalkid said:

Thanks Taylor - but as I have said before this is a house I rent out to Tenants and I haven't a clue as to which company provides the electricity cos the tenants often change supplier and don't tell me - neither of course do I ever see a bill - cos I don't pay !!

I understand somewhere there is a facility that will let me know who supplies the leccy to the house, can I find this out via the internet ??

Click to expand...

Sorry to state the obvious, but... speak to your tenants and ask them who supplies their electricity! Failing that, ask the tenants themselves to ring the supplier and explain the situation, as they will probably want all sorts of information to confirm the billpayer's identity before they will even speak to you.

It may seem obvious but my Tenants have already vacated !! - leaving the house a bit of a tip, I shall be withholding some of their bond - they will probably have gone owing money to the electric supplier and are currently living at an address I know where not !!

Jaymack · 29 Dec 2008

electricalkid said:
[quote="electronicsuk";p="1092914 they will probably have gone owing money to the electric supplier and are currently living at an address I know where not !!

If the seal is missing, this should be reported asap to the supplier; they will probably investigate and may lay charges for fraud. As the landlord you will be held responsible. Are the meters read periodically? The reader should have detected and reported the missing seal; or maybe not, if he's only in it for the beer money.

Prisons are a bit more comfortable nowadays or so I've read, the only item missing is the choice of sex partner.

Regards

electricalkid · 29 Dec 2008

Jaymack said:
electricalkid said:

[quote="electronicsuk";p="1092914 they will probably have gone owing money to the electric supplier and are currently living at an address I know where not !!

Click to expand...

As the landlord you will be held responsible.

Now I doubt that very much !!

I have subsequently found out who supplies the leccy by phoning a company I traced via the internet - they were very helpful and didn't bat an eyelid when I said I was not the tenant but the owner.

bongos · 30 Dec 2008

Jaymack said:
they will probably investigate and may lay charges for fraud. As the landlord you will be held responsible

Not likely! Can't see the electrical company holding a landlord responsible for abstraction of electricity.

In my experience it's normally the landlords who report it anyway!

Electrical kid, your profile does not say where in the UK you are but this is as good a place as any to start.

electricalkid · 31 Dec 2008

Thanks Bongos - I have found out that npower are the supply providers.

Anyway, there has been a development.

As I said earlier the house has only 2 night storage heaters fed from a separate cu (2x15amp cartride fuses)

One storage radiator works (so my thoughts that no electric was getting through when the timeswitch triggered economy 7 were incorrect.

The stupid thing is that I have tested the heater that doesn't kick in when the eco7 is in force, but I can make it work by disconecting at the wall socket and temp wiring up and plugging the heater into the ring main, - that kicks the heater into life - so proving the heater is ok

I have checked the consumer unit and done a continuity test of both neg and pos wires from the cu back to the wall socket and thats ok. I can only think there is some prob with the cu itself, any ideas ??? oh yes - any a Happy New Year to my readers !!

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Night Storage heaters and economy 7 electric question

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