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Old 01-10-2007, 01:50   #7
Charlie_Bubble
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Woking
Age: 53
Posts: 2,266
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Re: Storage heaters - cost to run?

Quote:
Originally Posted by superbiatch View Post
I moved into my new apartment in February so only really caught the tail end of winter. Its now getting a bit chilly and i'm wondering how expensive my heating actually is to run?

Its a brand new build, i have a seperate megaflow water tank which i found out to my detrement is very expensive to run leaving it on all the time, when i received my first electric bill - so don't want the same to happen with my heating.

My heaters are really modern slimline looking, and each one has its own digital timer control. I have no control over the energy input (i've read some people control their own input levels) but i assume its on some kind of cheap tarrif and is stored in a central point within my block. Incidentally i can't change my electricity supplier as the management company who run the building have a deal with the supplier which means we all buy together for cheaper. Every year they find us the cheapest supplier (supposedly).

Has anyone got any idea how to use them in the cheapest/energy efficient way? The plan is to have it on in bedroom and living room 1st thing in the morning for an hour, then just the living room of an evening depending on how cold it is. Btw, each one has its own thermostatic control, so ive been trying to keep it to just under 20.

Sorry for long-winded post, just don't want to end up with a massive bill
You should get a sepecrate bill for your electricity. You need to check this to see what your current tariffs are. You should have at least 2 different charges, daytime and night time/economy. You may have more than this. My own electricity has 4 different tariffs, weekday daytime, weekday evening, night time and weekend daytime. Each has a different charge, with weekday daytime being the most expensive. All of your hot water and heating should be connected to a seperate circuit that is only switched on by your electricity meter when the economy tariff cuts in. You need to check your bill to have an idea of what your tariffs are.

I have a megaflow water heater and they are very good water heaters, but you need to make sure that yours is only used by the economy circuit. Your tank should have 2 separate heaters on it with 2 separate switches on the wall. One of these is economy and the other will have the tank on all the time. work out whichis which and only have the economy one switched on. Use the other one as a booster if you are home all day and need some hot water.

I normally only have one of my storage heaters on at a time except during the most severe winter temperatures. I have a big heater in my living room and a smaller one in the hallway. I start by having the one in the hall on low, then switch it up a little when it gets a bit colder. During the colder months I have the bigger one switched on and when it gets very cold I put the hallway one on again. You have to have the doors of your rooms open, but it works ok like this for me.
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