New Dimplex XLE Series Heater - Problem

[Rainbow34]

Hi We have installed a new Dimplex XLE Series Heater XLE070

I have set the temperature to 20c and set to 'Out all day' I have adjusted the times to on at 9am off at 11am and on at 7pm off at 11pm.

The problem we have is..... In the morning It comes on at 9am HOT  and it switches off at 11am but the heater is cool by 11:30am! There are bricks inside the heater, are these suppose to heat up and stay hot all day? At the moment when the heater goes off at 11am it leaves no heat.

Also it seems the evening it doesn't seem to heat up at 7pm, maybe the room isn't cold enough but i find that hard to believe, the heater temp is set to 20c

and its from 7pm to 11pm and slightly warm air comes out the bottom of the heater at times during the evening and then by the time I go to bed at 11pm the heater is cold, there doesn't seem to be any heat stored in the bricks.

Any ideas please.

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[ProDave]

This is a storage heater with fancy controls and a fan. I assume you have connected both the off peak supply (to charge the core overnight) and the peak rate supply (to operate the fan and controls)?

If your usage is such that you have depleted all the stored heat by the evening, there is an option to boost the heat output with peak rate electricity. Such is the nature of storage heaters that they can run out of heat by the end of the day.

 

[Sharpend]

Did you read the instructions? 

https://www.dimplex.co.uk/sites/default/files/assets//Quantum_Series_G_Operating_Instructions_Issue_1.pdf

rated charge period is 7 hrs 

how long do you have it in for?

 

[Rainbow34]

It seems to turn on by the temperature in the room, at the moment if I change the temp to 16c it switches off but if I change it to 17c it switches back on, but no heat coming out at the moment.

 

[ProDave]

It seems to turn on by the temperature in the room, at the moment if I change the temp to 16c it switches off but if I change it to 17c it switches back on, but no heat coming out at the moment.

Which sounds like the core has not been heated up to temperature overnight by the off peak supply.

Even with the unit set to a low temperature, or an "off" period, you should feel some warmth, you can never stop a storage heater leaking some of it's heat.  If it is stone cold, my money is on the core not getting heated overnight.

 

[Sharpend]

Ok so did you purchase this heater on the understanding that it gives you instantaneous heat or did you want a storage heater? Do you have economy rate on electric ie dual rates? 

The idea of the heater that you’ve purchased is that it will heat the bricks over a long time period (7hrs) usually overnight it will then release that heat at the set times you choose - as Dave says there will be a nominal leakage at all times. 

Is this your understanding?

 

[Rainbow34]

Thank you Dave, we haven't set it to come on at night because its very loud the fan sound,

The timer can be set too:

User Timer (factory default) 11 hours heating per day in four periods

Out all day - 6.5 hours heating per day in two periods

Holiday - Set the temperature and date of return from holidays.

We have set it too, 'User timer' and have changed the times to 'On at 9am off at 11am' and 'On 7pm and off at 11pm'

I have been told to leave the temperature set to 21c

With the times I have set above, it doesn't switch on at night, there are no sounds from the heater at night and when the heater switchers off at 11am, its cold within 30 mins and it doesn't seem to switch on again at 7pm. Everyones telling me its not giving any heat at 7pm because the rooms too warm.

Thanks everyone for there help.

 

[Sharpend]

These are the maximum amount of heat/time that the heater can dissipate the heat. However the bricks have to be heated first in order to achieve this. 

The timer is a user device the bricks are the heating device. Are you heating the bricks overnight? 

 

[ProDave]

Just to try and make it even clearer, those timer settings operate the fan and blow air out from the heated core to the room.

In addition to that there should be an off peak supply that comes on over night to heat the core at the cheap electricity rate. That bit will be silent.  If that is not connected or not working then you won't get any heat out of the unit.

Who fitted it, and are you SURE it has both supplies connected? there will be 2 cables from separate supplies into the heater.

 

[Rainbow34]

Thank you everyone.

When I wake up at 8:30 am the heater is cold to touch and it switches on at 9am and quickly lots of heat comes out and the heater becomes hot to touch!

It seems for the rest of the day I can't get any heat out of the heater I will check the things you have suggested.

I woke up at 5am very cold this morning, I quickly changed one of the setting and got the heater to come on at 530am to 9am and wow it was very very hot!

 

[Sharpend]

What I think is happening here is that the room is clearly much colder than the set temperature on the heater (21) therefore when it switches on at the first time setting it is using all its energy to raise the room temperature to 21, which is subsequently removing all heat from the bricks (storage).

have you any other form of heating in the house? 

 

[ProDave]

At 8:30 you say the heater is "cold" Do you mean absolutely stone cold?  I would expect it to be at least a little bit warm, you cannot stop any heat leaking out of a storage heater, so if the core has heated up, you should feel some warmth.  If it really is stone cold, I still suspect the core is not up to temperature.

 

[Rainbow34]

Hi yes when the heater first switches on at 9am it’s cold but By about 9:20am it is quite warm. But as the day goes on I can’t get heat from it. 

My biggest worry at the moment is. When I get this heater up and running, will it ever be warm at night? Will it be cold at night while it’s charging or will there be some heat at night?

I don’t think I could sleep with the fan on. 

 

[Sharpend]

The other thing too consider here is the times that you are getting the cheaper rate, it seems that there are differing times for off peak so it may be worth speaking to your supplier to see if they have different off peak times? 

When you check the heater in the morning are you just touching it? It may be worth having a feel around it as it may have a warm spot as it will leak heat but it may not be noticeable with the design?? 

 

[Ardet R]

If your economy seven power is only switched on during cheap rate you should have both wall switches (if there are switches and not just fuses) on all the time. If the Economy seven power is not only on during cheap rate times then the off peak supply should be on a timer to come on only during cheap rate times.

It sounds as if the off peak power supply is not working correctly or perhaps at all and so not heating the bricks.

There could be a loose connection that is failing under load or the off peak supply may be not connected correctly or perhaps timed incorrectly.

The operation you used to get it hot on the one occasion was probably non cheap rate boost heat from the 24hr supply.

 

[Doc Hudson]

Who fitted it, and are you SURE it has both supplies connected? there will be 2 cables from separate supplies into the heater.

I'd still be very interested to hear the answer to Dave's earlier question. From what I have read, (may have missed a bit but), Sounds like a DIY install with no overnight off-peak working.

Doc H.

 

[Evans Electric]

I too would like to hear the answer to Dave's  question  .

Can you confirm that you have an (E7)     Economy 7  tariff  on your meter ?   This means  your meter changes to  Economy 7   ( Cheap Rate)  electric  between  00.00 hrs  and 0700  hrs  .   You heater needs to be charging up  , (like a battery)  during this time ...otherwise it will never get hot.   

The fan won't be working at this time .

There  should be two  supplies  with two separate  flexes  going into the heater .    ( As Dave says)  

One is the E7  supply  which is only live  between 00.00 hrs & 0700 hrs .

The other will be a 24 hr  normal supply  that works the fan .

Once it's charged up overnight  the bricks remain hot  all day  and you generally use the fan  in the evening  to warm the room up .   This also cools the bricks quicker . 

So  Rainbow ..... ARE THERE TWO FLEXES FEEDING THE HEATER ?  

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

The problem we have is..... In the morning It comes on at 9am HOT  and it switches off at 11am but the heater is cool by 11:30am! 

there doesn't seem to be any heat stored in the bricks.

Any ideas please.

Thank you very much for your help.

Summarising a couple of points from your opening question.....

And highlighting eleven words...

If you have no heat in the bricks...

Then it is NOT connected to a source of power overnight to heat up the bricks..

Sounds like you are just using the daytime boost/top-up options to generate a bit of heat...

Have you verified there is live power on the overnight charge connections???

:C

If you haven't done that...

twiddling buttons and changing thermostat or timer settings will not make much difference.

opcorn