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Steep learning curve here, but let's try to help. Come back with questions once you've got your head round this lot
Economy 7 is an electricity supply which charges ALL the electricity you use "off peak", that is for a period of about 8 hours overnight at a much lower rate than normal day time charges
For example, you'll find daytime electricity use costs around 13p per unit (the cost to run a 1000 watt electric heater for one hour) while economy 7 tariff will allow the same heater to run overnight at about 6p per hour
If you have an economy 7 tariff ALL the stuff in your home can run overnight at this lower price. The dishwasher, the washing machine and, importantly, the storage heaters and, if you have an immersion heater for your hot water tank operated from a time clock, a tank full of hot water for the morning
You'll find the time when this lower charge is available to you by looking at the clock you show, which will indicate when the supply changes from expensive (usually around midnight) to cheap and back again (usually around 7-8am)
A storage heater is basically a cabinet full of thermal bricks heated by a couple of grills, just like you have in an oven grill.
It has two controls. The first, usually marked input 1 - 6, decides how much heat these grills are going to put into the bricks overnight. The second, marked output 1 - 6 controls a vent at the top of the bricks. When this is shut, at output 1, the heat within the bricks radiates as slowly as possible through the casing while you are out at work. When you come home at night, you can turn this control up to 6 and the vent will open and allow air to circulate through the case allowing hot air to heat the room
Storage heaters are good for maintaining a background heat in your home and, if you use the weather forecast to decide how much heat to input, depending on how cold it is going to be, they are useful. They are very economical like this, much more so than trying to heat by full price electric heating
Perhaps you can say what other heating system is available in your new home. While it's true that daytime tariff for economy 7 may be 1p more than standard rate tariffs it is also the case that in many cases economy 7 is worthwhile and can save money
Some storage heaters also have a fan system installed so that, if you are out all day you can not only open the top vent when you come home, but also turn on the fan which blows air across the bricks and can warm the room quite quickly |
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