Storage heater power

[snowburtoncu]

What triggers a storage heater to power up only during the economy 7 period, ie:what switches them on, is it in the meter or the fuseboard or the heater itself?

[dipee65]

It's a time switch that does the job. Many of the old motor driven type have been replaced with electronic switches that are operated by radio control. (Bit like those fancy clocks you can get that adjust time automatically) This gives the power companies the facility to adjust the on and off times for the heaters, so long as you get your eight hours or whatever.

[snowburtoncu]

Ahh, thanks, makes sense...does this mean my storage heaters are wired into a different part of my meter than my household consumer unit as my consumer unit has power 24/7, but my storage heaters only have power during economy 7?

[Carol Anne]

The radio signal is carried by BBC radio 3 apparently, it turns on your heaters and also switches the tariff on your meter. ie: during the economy seven period your whole household is charged at the lower rate, so it can be cheaper to run your tumble dryer very early in the morning. Good deal for insomniacs!!

[BillyNoMates]

It's Radio 4 actually ! Indeed, if used, the Radio timeswitch or Teleswitch switches the Economy 7 (or other cheap tariff) supply on and tells the meter to start recording at the cheaper rate.

This can also be done with other types of meter which have an in-built clock which switches a contactor or relay on for the cheap rate period.

Basically yes, your storage heaters will be wired in such a way that they only receive power for 7 hours at the cheap rate. It can be a different part of the meter or a seperate circuit fed from the same meter via a timeswitch as described above. All depends on what type of meter is fitted, when it was installed, how it was wired etc.

Hope that helps.