A storage heater is an electrical appliance which stores heat at a time when base load electricity is available at a low price, usually during the night, and releases it during the day. In Physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is Energy transferred from one body or system to another due to a difference in Temperature Baseload (also base load, or baseload demand) is the minimum amount of power that a utility or distribution company must make available to its customers or the amount Heat is usually stored in clay bricks or other ceramic material because of its low cost and high specific heat capacity. Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained Minerals which show plasticity through a variable range of Water content, and A brick is a block of Ceramic material used in Masonry construction laid using mortar. The word ceramic is derived from the Greek word κεραμικός ( keramikos) Specific heat capacity, also known simply as specific heat, is the measure of the heat energy required to increase the Temperature of a unit quantity In Australia, electric storage heaters are often referred to as 'heat banks'.

Storage heaters are usually used in conjunction with a two-tariff electricity meter which records separately the electricity used during the off-peak period so that it can be billed at a lower rate. In order to derive any benefit from a storage heater, the house must be on a special electricity tariff. In the United Kingdom, the Economy 7 tariff is appropriate. Economy 7 is the name of a tariff provided by United Kingdom Electricity suppliers that uses Base load generation to provide cheap night-time electricity

Storage heaters usually have two controls - a charge control (often called "input"), which controls the amount of heat stored, and the draught control (often called "output"), which controls the rate at which heat is released. These controls may be set by the user, or in some models are automatic and allow you to set the target room temperature using a thermostat.

Many units also contain a conventional electric heater which can be used to give a boost in heat output during the day. If this feature is relied upon too much, a lot of peak time electricity will be used and the storage heater will prove expensive to run.

Storage heaters have several drawbacks:

• If insufficient heat has been stored, for example if there is an unexpected period of cold weather, then any extra heat needed will have to be produced using full-price electricity.
• If too much heat has been stored, then sooner or later the heat will be released into the room whether it is needed or not.
• Storage heaters are very heavy and somewhat bulky, due to the material used to store heat.
• Unless the heater is of the modern well-insulated type, heat is leaked out whenever the bricks are hot, meaning that having a room warm in the evening requires it to be warm all day (albeit probably at a lower setting), wasting energy (unless the room is in use all day as well). However, the consequences of this energy loss are often more than compensated for by the heater's use of an off-peak base load that is effectively "spare energy" and is cheap.

Storage heaters have declined in popularity due to these drawbacks and the low cost of gas-fired central heating. This page is about the physical properties of gas as a state of matter For the Grand Central Records albums see Central Heating (Grand Central album and Central Heating 2. However, many new properties in the UK are built with storage heaters, and their inspection/maintenance costs are less than gas.

Using storage heaters

Storage heaters can be very cost-effective if used properly. However, understanding the heater's mode of operation and using the heater effectively throughout the year takes more thought and planning than a central heating system.

Power switches

Off peak and peak power supplies to storage heater

Newer installations will provide two separate power circuits, one for on-peak and one for off-peak electricity, and two power switches on the wall next to each storage heater. These should be switched off during the summer when the operator does not require heat. During other months the off-peak switch can be left on at all times, with the on-peak switch being used when insufficient energy has been stored during off-peak times. The amount of heat that is stored can be altered using the controls on the storage heater unit.

Basic controls

Input and Output switches on a basic storage heater

Basic storage heaters have an input switch and output switch (also called heat boost on some models).

The position of the input switch should be changed to reflect how cold the night and following day is predicted to be. The input switch is normally thermostatic, controlling the maximum temperature that the bricks are allowed to heat to overnight. A thermostat is a device for regulating the Temperature of a System so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint The exact setting needed will depend on the desired room temperature, the number of hours in the day that this needs to be maintained, and the room's rate of heat loss under a given set of circumstances. Some experimenting may be needed to find the relationship between forecast outside temperature and best input setting for a particular room. Most storage heater users follow simpler guidelines; for example, in the middle of winter, it is often appropriate to turn the input switch to its maximum setting. There is no need to touch the input switch on a daily basis if you are expecting the same sort of weather for weeks at a time. There is no need to touch the input switch during the day, as storage heaters only use electricity overnight when it is cheaper.

The output switch does require attention throughout the day. Before going to bed, the operator should switch the output to its minimum setting. This keeps as much heat in the bricks as possible. Enough will leak out into the room to make it warm in the morning. Only in exceptionally cold circumstances will the operator require output overnight. The operator may wish to slowly increase the output switch during the day to try and maintain the temperature in the house. Increasing the output will allow the heat to convect out of the heater. If the house is empty during the day because the operator is at work, the output should be left at a minimum all day and then switched up when returning from work in order to let more heat escape into the house.

Thermostatic controls

Thermostatic controls on a more advanced storage heater

A thermostatic storage heater will automatically regulate the temperature in a room throughout the day. However, the operator may wish to switch the thermostatic switch to the minimum setting overnight to stop the room being kept at an unnecessarily high temperature overnight. If the room is empty during the day, it is better to keep the thermostat at the mimimum setting and then increase the setting when the room is occupied in the evening. Some thermostatic heaters also make use of on-peak electricity when there is not enough stored heat to maintain the requested temperature; the user may wish to be aware o

Environmental aspects

In common with other forms of direct electric heating, storage heaters are not normally considered environmentally friendly because most electricity is generated remotely using fossil fuels, with up to two-thirds of energy in the fuel lost at the power station and in transmission losses. Electric heating is any process in which electrical energy is converted to heat Environmental friendly, eco-friendly, and nature friendly are synonyms used to refer to Goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are fossil source Fuels that is Hydrocarbons found within the top layer of the Earth’s crust. A power station (also referred to as generating station, power plant or powerhouse) is an industrial facility for the generation of Electric power transmission, a process in the delivery of Electricity to consumers is the bulk transfer of electrical power ^[1] In Sweden the use of direct electric heating has been restricted since the 1980s for this reason, and there are plans to phase it out entirely - see Oil phase-out in Sweden - while Denmark has banned the installation of electric space heating in new buildings for similar reasons. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. In 2005 the Government of Sweden announced their intention to make Sweden the first country to break its dependence on Petroleum, Natural gas The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe ^[1] Many progressive countries are developing their electricity generating system, principally, to incorporate 'greener', more sustainable and renewable energy sources. Renewable energy is Energy generated from Natural resources mdashsuch as Sunlight, Wind, Rain, tides and geothermal

In some countries, the current design of the electrical generating system may result in a surplus of electricity from base load power stations during off-peak periods, and storage heaters may then be able to make use of this surplus to increase the net efficiency of the system, as a whole. Baseload (also base load, or baseload demand) is the minimum amount of power that a utility or distribution company must make available to its customers or the amount However, future changes in supply and demand - for example as a result of energy conservation measures or a more responsive generating system - many then reverse this situation, with storage heaters preventing a reduction in the national base load. Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used Other future technologies, however, incorporate electricity-supply-sensitive electronics to sense when there is a change in supply and demand. Thereby, they ensure that these loads only use off-peak electricity. Further advances in supply technology could provide for a more bespoke 'supply and demand' tarif system to make these sensing technologies a more viable financial prospect.

Compared to other forms of electric heating, storage heater are cheaper to run^[2]and they even impose lower peak loads. The highest peak loads come from instantaneous electric heating, such as instantaneous water heaters, which create heavy loads for short durations, although instantaneous water heaters may use less electricity overall. Water heating is a thermodynamic process using an energy source to heat Water above its initial Temperature. High-efficiency ground source heat pumps are able to use up to 66% less electricity than storage heaters in heating by recovering heat from the ground and are, generally, regarded as preferable even though they use electricity throughout the day. A geothermal heat pump system is a heating and/or an Air conditioning system that uses the Earth's ability to store heat in the ground and water Thermal ^[1] These are not to be confused with air conditioning (A/C) heat pumps which are considered , by this time, to be an environmental liability in some, (in particular hotter climate), countries. ^[3]

Where alternatives to electricity exist, hot-water central heating systems can use water heated in or close to the building using high-efficiency condensing boilers, biofuels, heat pumps or district heating. For the Grand Central Records albums see Central Heating (Grand Central album and Central Heating 2. A condensing boiler is a water heating device designed to recover Energy normally discharged to the Atmosphere through the flue A heat pump is a machine or device that moves Heat from one location (the 'source' to another location (the 'sink' or 'heat sink' using work. District heating (less commonly called teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements Ideally wet underfloor heating should be used. Underfloor heating is a form of Central heating which utilizes Heat conduction and Radiant heat for indoor climate control, rather than forced This can be relatively easily converted in the future to use developing technologies such as solar panels, so also providing future-proofing. Solar hot water is water heated by the use of Solar energy. Solar heating systems are generally composed of solar Thermal collectors a Fluid The phrase future proofing describes the elusive process of trying to anticipate future developments so that action can be taken to minimize possible negative consequences and to In the case of new buildings, low-energy buildings such as those built to the Passive House standard can eliminate the need for conventional space heating systems. Generically a low-energy house is any type of house that uses less energy than a regular house The term passive house ( Passivhaus in German) refers to the rigorous voluntary Passivhaus standard for energy use in buildings Space heating is the Heating of a space usually enclosed such as a house or room

See also

• Central heating

References