Both Storage Heaters in Flat Not Working

[ryanb23]

Hi,

Both of the Storage Heaters in our flat do not heat up overnight. We have got 2x Dimplex CXT heaters, which have a convection heater built in. The inputs have been set to max for the last 3 nights and there is no heat when I wake up in the morning.

Reading other posts on the forum, yesterday I removed the front and tried to push the white button in order to try and reset the thermo cut-out; this didn't click as most posts said it would if this was the problem, and woke up this morning with freezing cold heaters again. Both the switches are on at the wall, with the circuit breakers flipped up as they should be. The convection heater works fine when switched on but this isn't an economical option!!

The only other thing I could see was a couple of switches near the convection heater - with one switched off and the other on. Does anyone know what these do? However I am assuming that these only impact the convection heater itself?

Wondered if there was any of quick fixes I could try before calling out an electrician.

I've tried to attach pictures however it's not letting me attach any.

Cheers for any advice.

 

[ryanb23]

Hi,

Both of the Storage Heaters in our flat do not heat up overnight. We have got 2x Dimplex CXT heaters, which have a convection heater built in. The inputs have been set to max for the last 3 nights and there is no heat when I wake up in the morning.

Reading other posts on the forum, yesterday I removed the front and tried to push the white button in order to try and reset the thermo cut-out; this didn't click as most posts said it would if this was the problem, and woke up this morning with freezing cold heaters again. Both the switches are on at the wall, with the circuit breakers flipped up as they should be. The convection heater works fine when switched on but this isn't an economical option!!

The only other thing I could see was a couple of switches near the convection heater - with one switched off and the other on. Does anyone know what these do? However I am assuming that these only impact the convection heater itself?

Wondered if there was any of quick fixes I could try before calling out an electrician.

I've tried to attach pictures however it's not letting me attach any.

Cheers for any advice.

Links to images are here;

https://ibb.co/R2pPSyC

https://ibb.co/BTJ6qG8

https://ibb.co/f2jczH2

https://ibb.co/mc2kDh0

 

[Murdoch]

If neither are working and they both stopped working at the same time then that would suggest checking the incoming supply is working.

Storage heaters are in economy 7 so should only be live after midnight making checking this tricky.

Have you had a meter change or a supplier change recently?

 

[ryanb23]

Hi Murdoch,

We changed supplier in the Spring, however haven't had the heaters on since then so wouldn't have known if this impacted the supply.

We have an immersion heater for the water which also utilises the economy 7 doesn't it? So I would assume there is a supply as we have no problems with the hot water?

Thanks.

 

[Murdoch]

How many fuses are there on the off peak fuseboard?

can you post a picture showing the switches near the storage heaters?

 

[ryanb23]

The below is what I believe to be the off peak fuseboard (assume 3 breakers for the 2x heaters and the immersion heater)

https://ibb.co/98gh9YT

Will upload a picture when home, however one of the switches is a fused spur with the other without a fuse. Annoyingly both don't have neon indicators. 

 

[ryanb23]

Here are the switches....

 

[Sharpend]

I would contact your energy supplier and confirm that they are supplying you an economy rate over night, I suspect not. 

 

[kerching]

And if they have got it wrong ( which it sounds like  ) I would also ask how they intend to compensate you for all the ON peak electric you have unknowingly been using to heat the hot water!.....it's worth a try

 

[Murdoch]

Op - the easiest way to check if the E7 is working for the immersion, take a reading from the meter for peak and off peak today and another tomorrow .., if the off peak doesn’t change you have the answer 

 

[ryanb23]

Thanks - having a look around the water heater I saw that both the off-peak and booster switch was turned on which I assume explains why we have hot water all the time (and possibly why the off peak meter has gone up over the past few months as the booster has been on between 12 - 7?). I turned the booster off yesterday evening, so once we've used the hot water in the tank we'll find out if it's heating overnight. I'll look at the meters tonight / tomorrow and see if there is any difference now the booster is off

 

[ProDave]

What do your electricity bills say for peak and off peak usage over the summer?

Are you SURE there are two different rates being billed on your bills?  Are you submitting two different meter readings? if so are BOTH counting up from one reading to the next?

 

[ryanb23]

Update - woke up this morning to no hot water after turning off the boost switch to the immersion and isolating the off-peak power. Checked the meters and the off-peak had only increased by 1kW overnight - looks as if i'll be phoning our supplier to make sure they are providing us off peak power. Are there any potential issues with the off-peak fuse board which I could check my end?

 

[ProDave]

What I do when having trouble diagnosing off peak supply issues, is I temporarily connect a neon light to one of the off peak circuits, then instruct the customer to get up in the middle of the night and have a look to see if the neon is lit up or not.

That removes any ambiguity whether the off peak supply is coming on or not.

 

[Murdoch]

^^ I've fitted isolators for immersions / storage heaters in the past with neon's so the customer can check if the off peak is working.

Me thinks the constant changing of suppliers and / or smart meters are to "blame" for these issues.......

 

[Evans Electric]

Its almost certainly a metering problem  as said above .    

You could buy a  non- contact  tester , hold it on the  heater flexes , see if it lights up .   BUT I think you have the answer  with the metering .

Are there any potential issues with the off-peak fuse board which I could check my end?

No  as long as it's all switched on     the meter should give it an off peak supply  for 7 hours  at  00.00 hrs  GMT  .

 

[ryanb23]

Thanks for the help - I ordered a non-contact tester on Friday to confirm the suspicion of a meter issue so will test it first thing tomorrow morning.