Panel heater puzzle, need help please it's cold :(

andyxeno · Dec 18, 2013

Hi there reader merry xmas, i got me a puzzle, i have 2 Glen panel heaters in 2 different kids bedrooms upstairs in my house. They are wired to switches ( looking like a light switch rather than a fused spur) and they work when i switch them on ( i do this by using a heating switch in my hallway, i have economy 7 storage heaters downstairs so my upstairs heating controls consist of a switch which can be set at off/timed/constant. my timer has never been working and have never required it so it's just off and constant (on). The majority of the time throughout the year i don't have a problem with the heating but sods law as soon as the weather turns cold it starts playing up.
Background over, my problem is that the panel heaters just seem to decide when they want to come on or not. They are not caked in dust, have no moving parts that can be damaged and have not been physically damaged. Now i've ruled out loose connection by visually checking both heaters, the sporadic heating is indicating to me that the heaters don't seem to be drawing an unreasonable amount of power (enough to damage them) as they will work intermittently?, although i have found that in one room the heater wont heat on full power , only half? when the heaters work they work together or not at all so i think it unlikely that the thermostats on both are faulty at the same times?
I thought they could well be an extension of the sockets circuit upstairs so i've tried heating when nothing is plugged in upstairs incase there was some kind of overload happening but the problem doesn't change sometimes the heaters work sometimes they don't. At the moment they're not but i'm reluctant to simply get new heaters if the underlying problem persists. Anyone any ideas? (apart from buy the kids thermal underwear lol) i would appreciate any insight please

telectrix · Dec 18, 2013

if the problem relates to both heaters at the same time, it would appear to be a problem nearer to the source than the heaters themselves. a few members are in lancs. hang around, you might get an offer of a visit at sensible rate. i, personally cover the south of lancs, up to chorley, at a push.

andyxeno · Dec 18, 2013

*EDIT* heaters are wired to a fused switch not just a switch, my error. Thanks for your reply telectrix, with you mentioning nearer the source i'm going to take a look at the switch in the hall (from paterson heating) off/timed/constant. Any other replies welcome folks

Richard Burns · Dec 20, 2013

Sounds more like a loose connection somewhere that may or may not permit the heaters to work and is probably getting worse over time.

I assume by "the panel heaters just seem to decide when they want to come on or not" that the heaters are never coming on when switched to off, either by the heating control or local switch, but once they are on they decide whether or not to work.
If this is the case then you would need to find the location of the loose connection / breaking down switch. As Telectrix says it will be at a some part of the circuit that is common to both heaters, but precisely where would require an on site assessment.