|
Storage Heaters, often called night storage heaters are a form of electric heating that uses off peak, cheap electricity to heat bricks. These bricks then hold the heat and slowly release it over the course of the next day. A Storage Heater gives out heat in a couple of ways, the first being radiation of the heat from the bricks through the front panel of the storage heater. The second way is through convection via air circulating through the heat store (where the brick are) and being warmed before it rises out of the heater and into the room. Some storage heaters have a built in convector heater that supplements the heat from the bricks should extra heat be required. Other Night storage heaters have fans that can be used to blow out the warm air from the bricks more quickly should an increase in the heat be required. This does, however, discharge the heat from the bricks more quickly.
It is worth noting that you can only get cheap off peak electricity if you are on an off peak electricity tariff such as economy7. These tariffs sometimes require the installation of an additional electric meter or a two tariff electricity meter. This will record the off peak and on peak electricity use separately so that the off peak use can be billed at a lower price. The main drawbacks to storage heaters is that if not enough heat had been stored over night then more expensive heat will be required to reach the desired temperature. Alternatively if too much heat has been stored over night then that heat must be released so you could find you room warmer than you would like. This means that to use a storage heater in an energy efficient manner takes planning so that just the right amount of heat is stored.
Panel Heaters are a more immediate form of heating to have in your home. They can be used a supplementary heating, supporting other forms of heating, and the ease of installation and highly controllable output makes them ideal for this purpose. They can equally be used as a principle form of heating. They work simply, by the heating of an electrical element that is inside the casing of the panel heater. This heats up the panels of the heater and the heat radiates out of it in a similar way to a conventional radiator. This can be expensive but the heat is more controllable and immediate. Panel heaters often have thermostatic controls so that exact temperatures and time can be set. A Panel Heater usually runs silently and is very easy to install and maintain. Though panel heaters may sound like the perfect heating solution being clean, efficient, controllable, easy to manage it is the expensive cost of running panel heaters that is the problem. A considered use of the timer however can make a panel heater an effective means of heating a room.
|
