Radio controlled heaters
 

Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

thanks

Radio controlled heaters
 

tishtash wrote:
Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

I assume you are referring to economy 7 heaters.
You do know that the 'instant' heat will be more expensive, perhaps by a
factor of 3?

Radio controlled heaters
 

"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
tishtash wrote:
Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at
a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and
they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio
controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

I assume you are referring to economy 7 heaters.
You do know that the 'instant' heat will be more expensive, perhaps by a
factor of 3?


I'm not entirely sure what they are called to be honest. Would you be kind
enough to explain the the difference in factors ?

Basically it gets quite cold and I have bought some other heaters to help
warm the room up as the radio controlled hearters don't heat so great but if
I can get them to come on at command it would be of help I think

Thanks

Radio controlled heaters
 

On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:31:21 -0000, "tishtash" wrote:

Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

thanks

There is no radio control. They are just boxes of bricks heated by an
element run on a timeclock, set to use very cheap night time
electricity. These is no alternative except a proper heating system
with a boiler, although more efficient and smaller storage radiators
might be of use.

Radio controlled heaters
 

"EricP" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:31:21 -0000, "tishtash" wrote:

Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at
a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and
they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

thanks

There is no radio control. They are just boxes of bricks heated by an
element run on a timeclock, set to use very cheap night time
electricity. These is no alternative except a proper heating system
with a boiler, although more efficient and smaller storage radiators
might be of use.

My landlords said they are radio controlled and come on at 11pm to 6am,
perhaps he was wrong.

Is it possible to get at the timeclock to make them come on when I flick the
socket to turn it on ?

Radio controlled heaters
 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Tishtash wrote:



I'm not entirely sure what they are called to be honest. Would you be
kind enough to explain the the difference in factors ?

What you have got is storage heaters - which use off-peak electricity to
heat up during the night, and then give their heat out (if you're lucky!)
during the day. They are not very controllable, and you have to anticipate
what the weather is going to do. Even so, they will probably have lost all
their heat before it's time for another overnight recharge.

Off-peak electricity costs a lot less than normal rate (daytime)
electricity - so the supplier will only let you use the cheap stuff at night
when there's less demand. To put heat into these heaters during the day,
you'd need additional wiring connected to the peak supply - and it would
cost you much more per unit.

Best to throw the lot away and get a proper gas-fired heating system which
will be cheaper to run, *and* give you heat all day.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

Radio controlled heaters
 

Tishtash wrote:

"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
tishtash wrote:
Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at
a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and
they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio
controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

I assume you are referring to economy 7 heaters.
You do know that the 'instant' heat will be more expensive, perhaps by a
factor of 3?


I'm not entirely sure what they are called to be honest. Would you be kind
enough to explain the the difference in factors ?

Basically it gets quite cold and I have bought some other heaters to help
warm the room up as the radio controlled hearters don't heat so great but if
I can get them to come on at command it would be of help I think

Ok - _if_ you are on ecomomy 7 electricity - your bill from your current
supplier will show this, or the meter cupboard will have two readouts.

At night (1AM-8AM?) you pay around a third of the price for electricity
during the day - this is more or less competitive with gas, in some
parts of the country it can actually be cheaper.

The heaters - when operating properly - they may not be - heat up an
internal load of firebricks or something to well over boiling during
this time, and then slowly release it - usually on a timer, over the
day.
There may be a timeswitch on the heater itself, which controls when the
damper - which seals the bricks from the room air - turns off.

The damper needs to be in the position to let the air circulate freely,
or nothing much will happen - and very little heat wil get out.

Radio controlled heaters
 

On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 18:08:56 -0000, "Tishtash" wrote:

There is no radio control. They are just boxes of bricks heated by an
element run on a timeclock, set to use very cheap night time
electricity. These is no alternative except a proper heating system
with a boiler, although more efficient and smaller storage radiators
might be of use.

My landlords said they are radio controlled and come on at 11pm to 6am,
perhaps he was wrong.

Is it possible to get at the timeclock to make them come on when I flick the
socket to turn it on ?

No, the time is set by the electricity supplier and should be
untamperable. I once had these in a house and the time clock was 12
hours wrong, so they worked well. (Must tell them about that some day)

Radio controlled heaters
 

EricP wrote:
On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:31:21 -0000, "tishtash" wrote:

Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn
on at a certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through
the day and they are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio
controlled part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

thanks

There is no radio control. They are just boxes of bricks heated by an
element run on a timeclock, set to use very cheap night time
electricity.

Not entirely true.

My parents when they lived up in Aberdeenshire had radio controlled
switching of the storage heaters. The switching was controlled by the power
company to give them more flexibility in controlling demand (and
consequently offer cheaper electricity).

As a system it seemed to work reasonably well and it included the option to
boost the output of some heaters on reduced rated elctrcity (although not as
cheap as the storage heater rate).

Tim

Radio controlled heaters
 

Tishtash wrote:
"EricP" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:31:21 -0000, "tishtash" wrote:

Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at
a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and
they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

thanks

There is no radio control. They are just boxes of bricks heated by an
element run on a timeclock, set to use very cheap night time
electricity. These is no alternative except a proper heating system
with a boiler, although more efficient and smaller storage radiators
might be of use.

My landlords said they are radio controlled and come on at 11pm to 6am,
perhaps he was wrong.

He is

Is it possible to get at the timeclock to make them come on when I flick the
socket to turn it on ?

Nope.

If its rented accomodation you are screwed basically.

Buy some cheap electric convector radiators and use those instead and as
well.

Leave the property as soon as possible and tell the landlord why.

Radio controlled heaters
 

"Tishtash" wrote in message
...

"EricP" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:31:21 -0000, "tishtash" wrote:

Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at
a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and
they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio
controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

thanks

There is no radio control. They are just boxes of bricks heated by an
element run on a timeclock, set to use very cheap night time
electricity. These is no alternative except a proper heating system
with a boiler, although more efficient and smaller storage radiators
might be of use.

My landlords said they are radio controlled and come on at 11pm to 6am,
perhaps he was wrong.

Is it possible to get at the timeclock to make them come on when I flick
the socket to turn it on ?

As has been explained, they contain heat ceramic blocks that are heated
overnight. The principle is that the heat absorbed overnight is enough to
warm the room during the day, and there is a cost benefit because you are on
two price rates, one for daytime and a cheaper for night time. In my
experience (admittedly very limited) they usually have a slider control that
allows more air through the bricks and allows some control of how and when
the heat is released.

See if there is a slider and use it.

Radio controlled heaters
 

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
EricP wrote:
On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:31:21 -0000, "tishtash" wrote:

Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn
on at a certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through
the day and they are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio
controlled part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

thanks

There is no radio control. They are just boxes of bricks heated by an
element run on a timeclock, set to use very cheap night time
electricity.

Not entirely true.

My parents when they lived up in Aberdeenshire had radio controlled
switching of the storage heaters. The switching was controlled by the
power company to give them more flexibility in controlling demand (and
consequently offer cheaper electricity).

As a system it seemed to work reasonably well and it included the option
to boost the output of some heaters on reduced rated elctrcity (although
not as cheap as the storage heater rate).

Tim



The tariff is switched on by a signal that is (I believe) transmitted on
Long Wave. This is better than any type of time clock as there are no
individual units that can go wrong - it also allows for British Summer Time
changes. Night tariff is about 30% of day rate cost.


I agree with what has been said - but some have an input thermostat - to
govern the intake of heat - as well as some sort of output control - some
even have a fan to blow the heat out. My daughter's place had a heater with
4 elements that had failed over a period of time - hence "It wasn't much
good before it packed up altogether" A set of elements of EBay has improved
things considerably.

Try Googling for the instructions.

Radio controlled heaters
 

Tim Downie wrote:

Not entirely true.

My parents when they lived up in Aberdeenshire had radio controlled
switching of the storage heaters. The switching was controlled by the power
company to give them more flexibility in controlling demand (and
consequently offer cheaper electricity).

As a system it seemed to work reasonably well and it included the option to
boost the output of some heaters on reduced rated elctrcity (although not as
cheap as the storage heater rate).

Absolutely - transmitted, I believe, on the Radio 4 long wave signal.

--
Rod

Radio controlled heaters
 

"John" wrote in message
...

I agree with what has been said - but some have an input thermostat - to
govern the intake of heat - as well as some sort of output control - some
even have a fan to blow the heat out. My daughter's place had a heater
with 4 elements that had failed over a period of time - hence "It wasn't
much good before it packed up altogether" A set of elements of EBay has
improved things considerably.

Try Googling for the instructions.


Friend's storage heater, a Unidare (?), needed both a new element and new
insulating material. Couldn't find any source in the Milton Keynes area
even though we tried a range of trade heating and electrical factors.
Eventually we found a supplier in Norwich (
http://www.brownandpayne.co.uk/ ) who were most helpful, and supplied the
parts we needed.

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Radio controlled heaters
 

On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:08:56 +0000, Tishtash wrote:

"EricP" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 17:31:21 -0000, "tishtash" wrote:

Hi,

I have these very old fashioned radio controlled heaters which turn on at
a
certain time and store heat and diepsnse it slowly through the day and
they
are absolutely rubbish!

What I was wondering is there perhaps a way to bypass the radio controlled
part to turn them on whenever I want to ?

thanks

There is no radio control. They are just boxes of bricks heated by an
element run on a timeclock, set to use very cheap night time
electricity. These is no alternative except a proper heating system
with a boiler, although more efficient and smaller storage radiators
might be of use.

My landlords said they are radio controlled and come on at 11pm to 6am,
perhaps he was wrong.

Is it possible to get at the timeclock to make them come on when I flick the
socket to turn it on ?

One of the big problems with storage heaters is that they don't provide
heat in the evenings when it's needed.

In fact for some people with the right sort of lifestyle (out at work most
days, not at home some evenings) instantaneous heaters might actually have
a lower total running cost.

It usually not too difficult rewire the storage heater circuits to the
permanent supply and change the storage heaters to convectors. The work is
however notifiable (Part Prescot) and not in the lower or intermediate diy
jobs.

However your landlord needs to be integrated into this process. Installing
GCH (if available) would be the best idea but is incompatible with people
living in the flat.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards