Confused By How Much Storage Heaters Are Using

[buffymad]

I've had problems with Npower since I moved and when I eventually got my bill, it was pretty big! They had to change it many times to get it correct but it was finally sorted.

This has all made me much more aware of how to use the heaters properly. I have 3. All are on around 2.5 input (where it "clicks") and turn the output right down through the night and when I'm at work to conserve heat for later. All that is working fine.

My reading for heat from November to December was 301. From December to January its 1172. I'm now very confused and worried.

It's the input that charges me money and I haven't touched the dials so how come it's so much more? Any ideas? I may have switched the 3rd heater on somewhere between the last couple of months but can't see why that would add so much on.

Can anyone help please? I'm starting to get stressed trying to work it all out!!

[BRIGHT SPARK]

The 301 seems quite low..however Nov/Dec was mild. I would say the 1172 is about right. 3kW x about 5 hrs per night = 15...... x 2 heaters = 30Kw hrs per day.....x 31 days =930 kW hrs....plus a bit for the third heater...1172

[factor-fiction]

Presumably there's some sort of thermostat involved, so in colder weather more energy is used. Is that how it works?

[buffymad]

Well I think it's one of the ones that's meant to work out the temperature outside and sort itself out from that. I just thought that as I hadn't altered the input setting that nothing should have changed??

Any idea why it was so low the first month (I'd just turned them back on then)?

[factor-fiction]

I think it's simply because they had to work harder in December/Jan than in November to cope with the colder temperatures

[Maydup]

I don't know that storage heaters can respond to the outside temperature, although I could be wrong.

If I were you I'd leave the settings as they are and read the meter regularly to see what happens on a day to day basis. Keep some records during January and try to understand that way. To me the first month seems lowish but the next month is very high.

[buffymad]

That's what I thought, take a reading each week perhaps and see what's what. I've turned them all down by half a mark (if that makes sense) so see if that makes any difference. To be honest they were all on 2.5 (out of a high of 6) and there was plenty of heat for the evening.

Previously I was probably putting the input up to 6 and not thinking about it (hence very high bill). Just thought by reducing the input by quite a lot, it might have made more of a difference to what's actually used.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Does the heat reading include any water heating?

[buffymad]

No, have a gas boiler for the water, totally separate.