Economy 7 heater not charging overnight (but works on day rate)

[JBC]

I'm having problems with my central storage heater. Its an old 1970s one that does the whole flat. It worked perfectly up to the end of last winter, then just stopped. I woke up one morning to find it was only luke warm from the previous day and hadn't stored any heat so became stone cold over the next day or 2. As it was April, I just left it. Then around July in the heatwave I woke up to find it red hot! Obviously I hadn't touched it, so now switched it off. I switched it back on in October and it worked. Then, a week later, it stopped again and hasn't worked since.

However, it has a day boost setting, and, when using this, it begins to blow warm air out but still doesn't charge up overnight. I called an electrician out but it was a waste of time. He'd never seen a system like this before, couldn't understand the meter/fuse board combination and just did some basic testing to say the unit had electricity so must be an internal fault. However, surely the basic function of the unit is working if it works on the day rate?

Should I contact the meter company as it seems like the fault is the unit not receiving a charge in the off-peak hours? Obviously I'm guessing, as I'm not an expert!

Thanks.

 

[Loki]

Hi, firstly get better electrician lol

Night storage heaters like dimplex as an example have a thermal trip switch inside the casing. It could well be this just needs resetting.

 

[Davisonp]

Hi,
I have tested and repaired multiple storage heaters in the last year.
Firstly, you will be on the Economy 7 tariff from your supplier. This can work in two ways.
1) the storage heater and perhaps overnight immersion heater will have timers that turn them on overnight to catch the cheep electricity. or
2) There will be a second "Off Peak" Consumer unit that is switched on by the electricity company overnight. NOTE: There have been three or four times I have had to get the tenant to contact the supply company as the overnight supply switch was not working correctly.

When I test an economy 7 setup, I will test from the consumer unit to the heater to prove the cabling and storage heater is good. Once an electrician has supplied power to the overnight part of the storage heater, an electrician can dismantle the front of the storage heater to see if there is a problem with the thermostat, or cutout, or the elements.

The storage heater you have described sounds like it has two completely separate and independent parts to it. The overnight storage bits that has elements that heat bricks overnight to release heat over the day, and a boost which is wired to a different cable and supply on all day and this supply powers a simple electric heater the same as most plug in fan heaters. This means that the daytime boost function will work completely independently to the overnight part of the storage heater. It is like having a separate fan heater bolted onto an overnight storage heater.

Find an electrician that can work out how to test the storage heater something like this.

 

[JBC]

Thanks for the responses, very helpful. Is there anyone in South London who has experience of testing these? Or is it just a case of ringing round and asking the question?

Thanks

 

[simpson93]

Thanks for the responses, very helpful. Is there anyone in South London who has experience of testing these? Or is it just a case of ringing round and asking the question?

Thanks

Where abouts in south London? I’m sure there will be someone.

 

[JBC]

Sutton

 

[Deleted account]

Quick word of caution. 1970's e7 store heater may contain asbestos. Get someone who knows model numbers of asbestos filled heaters.
Ask if they are in the know.

 

[JBC]

I checked awhile ago and thankfully its not.