A storage heater is wall-mounted and looks a bit like a radiator. It works by drawing electricity at night, and storing it as heat in a ‘bank’ of clay or ceramic bricks to use the next day.
Storage heaters work best if the household is on an Economy 7 tariff. This is an arrangement with an energy supplier allowing you to access electricity at night at a cheaper rate than during the day — typically a third of the price.
The hours of cheap electricity are normally 12 midnight until 07.00 in winter, and 01.00 to 08.00 in summer.
Night storage heater controls can be a bit confusing. Depending on your needs and circumstances your ideal settings might be different from the standard settings. Or they may change from day-to-day.
Watch our storage heater video guide.
Input and output controls
Every storage heater has a set of simple controls. The input setting allows you to regulate the amount of heat stored at night — even though night-rate electricity is cheap, there’s no point paying for more than you need. If it’s not particularly cold, or you’ll be out of the house for most of the day so won't need as much heat, set the input lower.
The controls have an output setting that allows you to control how much the storage heater gives off — allowing you to release it gradually, saving some for the evening.
Set the timer
Some storage heaters have a timer that gives you even more control over the output. So you can programme your heater to come on at a time that suits you, for example when you get up in the morning. Others include a control regulating the amount of charge the heater draws at night.
Some storage heaters have a ‘boost’ setting. This uses ‘peak-rate’ electricity directly from the mains, so should only be used if the stored heat has run out.
Home heating advice
For information on home heating, including how to set the programmer on your electric panel heater, visit our home heating and environment advice page.
A storage heater is wall-mounted and looks a bit like a radiator. It works by drawing electricity at night, and storing it as heat in a ‘bank’ of clay or ceramic bricks to use the next day.
Storage heaters work best if the household is on an Economy 7 tariff. This is an arrangement with an energy supplier allowing you to access electricity at night at a cheaper rate than during the day — typically a third of the price.
The hours of cheap electricity are normally 12 midnight until 07.00 in winter, and 01.00 to 08.00 in summer.
Night storage heater controls can be a bit confusing. Depending on your needs and circumstances your ideal settings might be different from the standard settings. Or they may change from day-to-day.
Watch our storage heater video guide.
Input and output controls
Every storage heater has a set of simple controls. The input setting allows you to regulate the amount of heat stored at night — even though night-rate electricity is cheap, there’s no point paying for more than you need. If it’s not particularly cold, or you’ll be out of the house for most of the day so won't need as much heat, set the input lower.
The controls have an output setting that allows you to control how much the storage heater gives off — allowing you to release it gradually, saving some for the evening.
Set the timer
Some storage heaters have a timer that gives you even more control over the output. So you can programme your heater to come on at a time that suits you, for example when you get up in the morning. Others include a control regulating the amount of charge the heater draws at night.
Some storage heaters have a ‘boost’ setting. This uses ‘peak-rate’ electricity directly from the mains, so should only be used if the stored heat has run out.
Home heating advice
For information on home heating, including how to set the programmer on your electric panel heater, visit our home heating and environment advice page.