Hello katiecarol
Regarding your storage heater, the room temperature control is a thermostat that lets more heat out of the heater as your room cools down, or less as it heats up. It just operates a flap inside the heater allowing more or less air to pass through according to the ambient temperature. The other control adjusts the amount of 'charge' the heater gets when the cheap rate electricity switches on. The higher the number, the hotter the bricks inside will get, and the running cost will go up. If its set too low, then the heater will get cold before the next charge. If its set too high, then your room might get hotter than you need and you'll be wasting money. Try both controls at number three to start with and see how you get on.
Just a safety point about storage radiators: NEVER cover them or dry things on them. If you do, apart from being a fire risk, there is a thermal fuse inside that will blow and permanently disconnect the heater from the mains, making it useless until repaired.
Peter