Modern, high heat retention storage heaters are better insulated than older heaters, preventing heat leaking out when it’s not needed. Their heat output is also more controllable and fan assisted to heat up a room faster if required.
With modern controls, you can set a thermostat to automatically switch the heater on when the temperature in your room drops and off when it reaches your required temperature. Modern storage heaters can also automatically calculate how much heat to store overnight based on room temperature, previous usage and weather patterns.
If you do not have modern storage heaters and cannot currently afford to install them, using the controls on your existing heaters effectively will maximise their efficiency.
Standard electric storage heaters have two controls – an ‘output’ controller and an ‘input’ controller. The output setting controls how much heat is given out (as long as there is stored heat available).
The input control determines how much electricity the heater uses to heat up overnight, and therefore how much stored heat will be available the following day.
You need to set the output dial according to how much heat you want now, and the input dial according to how much heat you think you will need tomorrow.
If a heater runs out of heat in the evening while you still need it, or if the weather gets colder, you may need to turn the input dial up. If the weather gets warmer, or the heater never runs out of heat in the evening, you can save money without getting cold by turning the input dial down.
You can also avoid wasting energy (and money) by turning the output dial to zero before you go to bed or leave the house so you’re not heating empty rooms. Do this about an hour before you go to bed or leave, as it will take a while for the heater and room to cool down.
In summer when you don’t need the heaters, it is more efficient to turn them off at the wall rather than just turning the dials to zero. You will need to turn them on again the day before you need the heating to come back on.
Still confused? A home energy survey from BHESCo’s award-winning Energy Saving Team will quick identify all the ways you can improve the energy performance of your home or organisation.
1 Comment
Trade Plumbing · 24/11/2020 at 17:05
Nice blog. Thanks for sharing.