Storage Heaters.

[Scooby]

Another 'just in case it's of interest' thread!

Last week I collected a couple of Dimplex XLS12N storage heaters that I won on eBay for 0.01p (I gave the guy a fiver...) At less than 2' wide, they are, I believe, the smallest regular storage heaters you can get - still b****y heavy tho', and only just liftable - and that's not recommended

Each heater contains two heating elements of around 800W rating. I've installed them temporarily for use over the winter months; one still has both elements and the other has had one removed. Being now rated at about 1.6kW and 800W max respectively, they can be run from standard sockets as opposed to requiring their own dedicated circuits and FSUs. A couple of mechanical plug-in timers (another fiver off eBay...) and my solar-powered heating system is ready to go! (Ok, for 'heating' read 'luke-warming')

I have the timers set to come on between 11am and 1pm each day when the PV's output should be at max. That only leaves sunshine needed then. What I then do is to manually turn on the heater's 'input' control on the top if it looks as though it'll be relatively bright that day; if full sunshine is anticipated, I'll turn on the 1.6kW heater, if hazy, then only the 800W jobbie. If overcast, I'll freeze.

Crude, but only cost a tenner. Come summer time, they'll get relegated to the garage until the following winter.

I have to say I found it pretty hilarious when I first tried them out. It was very sunny and warm outside - and in. Before long the 1.6kW heater was beginning to throb with heat, giving off that strange metallic 'something is getting very hot indeed' smell. Even with the heater vents closed off to retain the heat, it was still giving out a fair bit to the room, and it was getting to the point I had to go outside to cool off... It was as tho' the PV panels were soaking up the sun's heat and depositing it directly inside the house! And to see the leccy meter standing still while this was happening was amusing too

Come evening, they were still pretty hot but lost their remaining stored heat quite quickly when the vent was opened. I don't see how these storage heaters can work when charged overnight - they must surely have lost the majority of their stored heat by the following mid-evening?

Obviously, given their size, they will only be providing supplementary, 'background' heating, and my gas-fired CH will be coming on pretty soon, I reckon. However, there's little doubt that they'll take more than the edge of the coldness as winter approaches; I expect them to come into their own on these bright, crisp, sunny-but-freezing days that are not too far away.

Anyways, every little helps... (sorry )