economy 7

[henny0406]

How does my night storage heater know when its time to start storing? I have economy 7, and my immersion has a timer switch, so it only comes on during the economy 7 period. I can't find any such timer on my storage heater. Are there separate circuits for E7 and 'normal' leccy?

[dannydingbat]

You probably have a white electricity meter which provides electricy off peak at cheaper rates.

[stanleyman]

The night storage radiators are on a separate circuit that is switch on at the times set by the electricity supplier, you have no control over this. The meter will also switch over to night rate for normal circuits allowing you to use say a washing machine at night much cheaper. The immersion heater can also do this through a timer for flexibility or be on a night storage circuit combined with a separate immersion heater on day rate for top up.

[buildersmate]

On the old systems there was a timer on the White meter. Now the signal to switch over either comes up the cable itself or is a radio signal. Either way you can't determine when the cheap rate comes on/off, other than you will get the cheap electricity available between the time window specified by the supplier.

[henny0406]

So if I want to move the heater, is it ok to wire it into the 'normal' circuitry for the house? Will it still know when to switch on?

[brachiopod]

You could wire it into the 'normal' house circuitry, but you will always be paying 'normal' rates. You would also need to fit either a manual switch, or a timer, otherwise it would always be 'on'. And it wouldn't matter which time of day or night you set it to come on - you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the cheaper off-peak electricity that your Economy7 circuit provides.

[stanleyman]

If you move it it will still need its own supply as these things can take more power than a normal outlet can supply and there is a risk of overloading the ring main.