Electric heating systems are very different from a "wet" (using water in radiators) gas central heating system. The majority of homes heated by electricity have a combination of storage heaters and panel heaters with an electric immersion heater for the hot water. Some more modern apartments with high levels of insulation may just have panel heaters instead of storage radiators.

PROPERTIES WITH ECONOMY 7

Storage Heaters

These operate by storing heat during 'off-peak' periods when the electricity is cheaper, usually overnight. You can only get cheap night-time electricity if you are on an off-peak tariff such as Economy 7, Economy 10 or Warmwise. This heat is then released into the room the following day and evening. There are two controls (input/charge and output/boost) on the majority of storage heaters which have to be adjusted in anticipation of the following day's weather.

Modern, slim-line storage heaters often have a charge control (or an automatic charge control) which adjusts the amount of heat stored overnight. An automatic charge control does this by measuring the temperature in the room (or more rarely, outside the house) and if it is milder, stores less heat (saving money in the process). If the storage heater has a manual charge control, you will have to make this adjustment yourself. As the weather gets colder, the input control must be set higher as the outside temperatures drop.

It is important that heaters are not covered or used for drying clothes.

'Output' or 'Boost' control

The output control tells the heater how much heat to give out during the day. If this is at the maximum setting (usually 6 or 9) you will find that the stored heat is distributed fairly quickly. It is important to set the controls to reflect the temperature outside and the times that you are in the property, e.g. if you are going out or to bed then turn the output down to the minimum setting.

Although storage heaters can be large and bulky in size because they use off-peak electricity they are much cheaper to run than panel heaters or bar fires. A well controlled storage heater should give you ten hours of useful heat a day. As the weather gets warmer and you find you no longer need the storage heaters on, then simply turn them off at the wall.

Be sure not to put clothing or ornaments on top of the heaters as they can become very hot and lead to a fire risk.

Electric Immersion

Most electric storage heating systems use an electric immersion to heat hot water. This may be using 'peak' or more commonly 'off-peak' electricity (usually between 11.30pm and 8.30am). If your system uses off peak to heat water then this will be controlled automatically by a timer and the whole tank will be heated for about 5 hours overnight (main tank immersion 3). The water temperature can be boosted during the day, at peak rate, by overriding the timer (top up immersion 4). If using peak electricity only, switch the immersion on for the period required to heat the water. It is expensive to keep the immersion on for long periods during 'peak' times. The diagram on the right represents a typical tank, not all tanks are the same.

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Panel Heaters

These are usually stylish slimline wall mounted units with adjustable thermostats. Some may have a built-in 24 hour timers.

It is important that heaters are not covered or used for drying clothes.

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