Everyone asks what time do storage heaters start charging because you can’t tell? This article will help answer those questions.
Storage heaters start charging and producing heat on the off peak time or time of use period. This varies with different power companies but generally is between 11 pm and 7 am.
Tips To Help You Know What Time Do Storage Heaters Start Charging
Some storage heaters have indicator lights or dots on the display boards to let you know when they are in charge mode. You will also notice the heater will go through a gradual warm up cycle as it tries to take the charge efficiently.
Some thermal storage heaters will tell you right on the display when there are charging. You can refer to your owners manual on how to change the charge times but we recommend not playing with those settings.
Charge times in Canada change from province to province depending on the power company. Here we have weekdays regular rate from 7 am to 11 pm then off peak from 11 pm to 7 am. The off peak time is usually almost half the price of the regular rate.
On weekends the power company supplies you with the same off peak rate from Friday night at 11 pm until Monday at 7 am. During this period is a good time to get anything done that you need power for.
Is The Time Effected For The Storage Heaters To Start Charging If There Is A Power Outage
All Storage Heaters have a capacitors and batteries to back up the time clock. In the event of an extended power outage the heater will pick right up where it left off.
Most of the storage heaters come programmed right out of the box. They can withstand months of no power without any issues to the programming or time clock.
However it is always a good idea when you turn your heaters on in the fall to check the clock to make sure the time is correct.
Is The Power Rate Just For Charging My Heaters ?
Did you know that not only is your heating system on the cheaper rate but your whole home is? The power company installs what is called a time of use meter. This meter is programmed and pre loaded with the time and date so it knows what to charge you and when.
Every electrical device or appliance is the on that rate. The off peak times are great for doing laundry etc. You can also Get fancy and install a timer on your electric hot water tank to get the benefits of that as well.
Your two largest power consumers in any home is your heat and domestic hot water. The timer inside the storage heater is programmed to come on the same time as the off peak starts. This is how it knows to take a charge.
Tips To Help You Operate Your Thermostat
Although all storage heater thermostats are a little different in operation most use the same principles. There normal state is to display the temperature of the room. Like in the picture above A stands for automatic mode then followed by the room temperature.
The arrow buttons with plus and minus are to control the desired room temperature. The clock button is to display the current time and the mode button is to change modes.
In this model it is currently in automatic mode. By selecting the mode button you can change it to ac mode or storage only mode. The is also an E mode which means it just works like a regular heater.
Do Storage Heaters Charge For The Full Charge Period?
Storage heaters will always try to reach the set point of the thermostat. If the room is 65 degrees and you have it set for 72 degrees it will start charging at 11 pm. If the outside temperature is colder than normal. The heater will charge longer in anticipation of that.
If the outside temperature is warmer than the heater may come on primarily to take a charge then shut off. It may then come back on later in the night to refresh the charge for morning.
Believe it or not with technology advancing storage heaters are now becoming available with wifi add on thermostats that have a weather app.
This weather app can predict and tell the heater what is need to do on the next charge cycle. The product is still in testing by will soon be released to the public.
How Do I Change The Charge Period?
We do not recommend changing the charging period. You would have to go into the internal time settings to do that. Some handymen like to play with their new toys however this will end up costing you more money.
If you get the timing off then the heater will charge during the peak time which would increase your power bill. This will result in a service call to the company or installer. If you feel that the charge cycle is too long than ask the installer to cut the time back a bit.
Is There More Than One Charge Period Per Day
There is more than one charging period per day. Weekdays its 11 pm to 7 am main charge. Then 12 pm to 4 pm shoulder charge. Weekends could be set up the same or left wide open to charge all weekend.
What is a shoulder charge you may ask? Well its basically a grace period that your power company allows you at regular rate instead of peak rate. This is in case of a large temperature drop or a power outage the night before so that the heater may recover its charge.
More on storage heaters here.
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