storage heater not charging enough?

[activebloke]

I have a Creda storage heater in a rented house that has a boost fan and boost fan heater incorporated into it. I don't know the model no. off hand but it's about 4 years old.

The latest tenant is complaining that it doesn't heat the room enough. I know that it has done in the past, and the room can be sweltering.

I've been to see the heater during the day and the casing feels hot to touch, as you would expect. The tenant claims that it is running out of heat about 5pm each day.

I'm just wondering if it is possible that one of the elements has failed. Would this be the first place to look?

 

[Andy™]

check that the heater input dial isnt turned down

make sure heater doesnt have heat release cover 'open' all day wasting heat

check elements

 

[Evans Electric]

Bet he's running the fan all day and draining it of heat !

Deke

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Bet he's running the fan all day and draining it of heat !Deke

I think your evaluation is most probably 99.9% hitting the nail on the head there Sandra!

Cold morning sticks it all on full whack to maximise heat output...

end of the day all them thermals have gawn and run awf!!

problem is its dam near impossible to prove without living big brother style with the tenant to watch what they are doing!!

You could meter out the elements to check they are intact..?

Or put a clamp meter on to see how much power is being drawn when charging?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

oh by the way..

welcome to the forum Activebloke!Guiness DrinkGuiness DrinkGuiness Drink

 

[Apache]

Our storage heaters are cooling by we get home ~half six. Even on late boost, or no boost

 

[Andy™]

problem is its dam near impossible to prove without living big brother style with the tenant to watch what they are doing!!

maybe disconnect fan or put a small timer inside heater

 

[activebloke]

Thanks for the replies and the warm welcome. My initial reaction was the usual 'storage heater ignorance' on the part of the tenant, butI did live there a while myself and I couldn't deplete it fully - the room is 14ft by 12 ft and the heater is 1200mm long, so on reflection I'm suspecting something adrift.

I presume the elements will give a low resistance reading, 30 ohms?

 

[NozSpark]

I think that the elements are around 800w each

 

[Andy™]

shouldnt an 800W element be around 65 ohms

 

[NozSpark]

Just edited my reply!! Doh

 

[Andy™]

Just edited my reply!! Doh

you were half way there - you got the amps per element, you just needed to get ohms instead

 

[NozSpark]

I realised that as soon as I posted it!!

..........then I edited it