Storage heaters

Night Storage Heating are insulated boxes containing bricks with electrical elements running between them. When the electricity is switched on, the bricks heat up. This is called ‘charging’ the heater.

The storage bricks are covered with insulation. This holds most of the heat in the box for up to 14 hours or so but this heat will eventually ‘leak’ out.

At the top of the box is a flap, which can be opened to let the heat out more quickly.

The objective of night storage heating is to utilize the cheaper electricity available during the night.

FAQ – Do Night Storage Heaters lose most of their heat in the daytime and are therefore cold in the evenings?

This may well be true if the property is badly insulated and/or if the Heaters are old. Under these circumstances, supplementary heating is often needed in the evenings.

FAQ – How expensive are they to run compared to oil or gas heating?

Heating a property with night storage radiators costs around 55% more than heating with a modern mains gas-fired condensing boiler, 13% more than with a modern oil-fired condensing boiler, 26% less than with an LPG-fired condensing boiler, and 47% less than using peak-tariff electric heating

How to control?

Input control – This is sometimes called ‘Charge’ or ‘Auto-set control’. This determines how much heat is ‘charged’ into the storage bricks during the night. On older models this is determined directly by the ‘Charge’ control setting. On more recent models ‘charging’ is thermostatically controlled either by room temperature or by an external weather sensor.

Remember! The higher the input setting, the more heat the heater will store, this will increase the amount of electricity used. If you have it set too high for the size of room, you will be wasting money.

Output control – This is sometimes called ‘Boost’ or ‘Room temperature’. Heater has a flap, which open to release heat. How much the flap opens is determined on older models directly by the output control. On more recent models the flap is controlled by a thermostat. You set the thermostat by adjusting the setting of the ‘Output’ control.

Tips if you have old type of storage heating:

• Remember to turn down the ‘output’ control before you go to bed to stop heat being given out when you don’t want it.

• If the room is cold, turn up the ‘output’ control until it warms up.

• As the weather gets warmer turn down the ‘input’ control to store less heat.

• When the room is warm, turn down the ‘output’ control to save heat for later in the day

Tips for all Electric heaters:

For a property to be adequately and economically heated it is recommended that wherever possible all cavity walls should be insulated (or be of modern, insulated, timber-frame construction) or if of solid wall construction, has either cladding or dry-lining. Loft/roof insulation should be to the highest possible level (currently the minimum standard is 250mm (10 inches) thickness of mineral wool (or its thermal equivalent). In addition, open fires (including gas flame-effect) should be removed.

It is also recommended to use a new Economical & Energy Efficient type of Electric heating such as "Lucht" "Farho". These by 40% more economical, have more efficient heat output, have built in digital timer and can be switched on/off any time of the day.