Storage Heater HELP Please

[garethroden]

I have a Creda Sensair Storage heater in my lounge. It does not have an input dial but has a room temp dial, fan and boost dial. I am really unsure of how to work this or whether it is working at all.

By the side of the storage heater are two wall switches - one appears to enable the fan and boost facility to work, the other appears to do nothing. How do I ensure that this storage heater charges in the night? It does not appear to be charging overnight at all at the moment?

If I operate the fan without the boost facility only cold air appears to come out!

Does the fan need to be on during the day to release heat when it is charged?

How do I know ehther it is working at all?

Please help... I am sure someone can as I will proably look stupid if I call an electrician and it is something simple!

 

[Apache]

Do you have 1 fuse board or two? Are all the circuit breakers on?

Turn on the switched supply that doesn't activate a fan. Is there a neon indicator light?

The power will only come on to charge the heater between midnight and 7am (ish).

Turn the input dial up to it's highest setting.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[green-hornet]

Hello gareth, the system you have would appear to be economy 7, as Apache indicated above.

One of the major problems with off peak heating is the fact that power is only supplied to them at predetermined times usually from 10pm to 6am.

This would mean that any faults they may have, can go for months before any physical symptoms appear.

The only way to check them properly is to supply a live feed to them and see what is going on whilst they are supposed to be active.

Any reputable electrician in your area would be able to check the system out for you, and would take no more than a Hours labour charge.

It may only take him 5 minutes to find the fault, but, he has given you at least an hour of his time to satisfy you of what is wrong, and at the end of it you will at least know what you are up against.

 

[Apache]

Hello gareth, the system you have would appear to be economy 7, power is only supplied to them at predetermined times usually from 10pm to 6am.

7 hours GH - hence the name

I wish it came on at 10pm. On GMT it's midnight to 7am, and during BST it doesn't change so is 1am until 8am.

I stay up until the cheap rate is on to do the washer and dishwasher!

 

[green-hornet]

Thanks mate, so now I know where the 7 comes from.

I stay up until the cheap rate is on to do the washer and dishwasher!

I bet you do as well ROTFWL

 

[a1]

He is a "Yorkshire Man" GH.

I thought he was Scotish at first. ]

 

[green-hornet]

he is a "yorkshire man" gh.I thought he was scotish at first. ]

rotfwlrotfwl

 

[Apache]

rotfwlrotfwl

It's not funny! They charge us more for the day electricity than normal!

 

[garethroden]

The switch next to the heater that does not control the fan does not have a neon light, I checked the fuse in this (WOW) and it is fine!

There are two circuit boards in teh cupboard, one for all the mains and one for the storage heaters

There is no input device as I can see.. where would it be?

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[spinlondon]

You haven't indicated whether you have other Storage heaters in the property, and whether they work. I'm assuming that you have and that they do work.

As I understand it, this model has dual thermostatic control. These not only control the heat output, but also control the input charge.

It also appears to have a direct acting heat facility which provides fanned heat when required.

Of the two wall switches, one will control the economy 7 input charge (the one that appears to do nothing), the other controls the fan and direct heat. The two switches will be connected to separate boards. The switch controling the input charge will be controled from the Storage heater board, whilst the other to the House board.

It may well be something as simple as the fuse in the board having failed.

I do not know what type of protection devices you have?

Often the Board for the house will have MCBs, and the board for Storage heating will have cartridge fuses, or even re-wireables.

It could be that the input thermostat has failed, thereby not allowing an input charge.

However because of the lack of direct heat, it could be that the thermal safety overheat protection or the elements have failed.

The first step I would take would be to identify which fuse controls the storage heater at the board, and then check to see if it has failed. Replace the fuse if necessary (remember that nothing will work until the economy 7 kicks in), then contact Creda and obtain a user manual. At the same time as requesting the Manual, you could ask for clarification on how the direct heat facility works.

Does it just speed up the fan to push out more heat from the stored charge, or does it supply power to the elements replenishing the charge?

They may also be able to tell you of the likely fault.

You may also want to get the prices of replacement parts such as elements, so that if you do have to call in an electrician you will have some idea of the costs involved.

 

[Dane]

He is a "Yorkshire Man"

Got something for you......

:coat