Night Storage Heaters
A night storage heater takes in electricity over night to heat up bricks held inside the case. Most of the heat comes out through the body of the heater, some will come out through a flap on top of the heater.

The heat will come out during the day, the heaters are not sufficiently insulated to keep the heat in for longer. 

The aim is to get just enough heat in to the heater at night to last through the day, without needing to open windows to cool the room or put on additional heating to warm it.

 The heater will give off heat when it is charging overnight.

The power rating refers to the how much electricity will go in per hour. A 3.4kW Night Storage Heater can cost:

• 3.4kW x 7 hours = 23.8kWh
  
• On EDF E7 tariff = 23.8kWh  x £0.0522 = £1.24 per day  
  

Using a Manual Night Storage Heater
Input control
This controls how much electricity goes into the heater and therefore:

•  how much it will cost to run
  
•  how much heat there will be to come out the next day
  

A thermostat inside the heater will turn off the incoming electricity when it reaches the required temperature

Setting the input control
Set the control to the middle position
The next day:

• If you don’t get enough heat increase the input control
  
• If you get too much heat decrease the input control
  

To keep the right temperature and minimise running costs check the forecast every night and:

• increase the input as the weather gets colder
  
• decrease the input as the weather gets warmer
  

You don’t want to be opening windows to reduce room temperature the next day.

Output control
This simply opens and closes a flap on the top of the unit which, when open, lets more heat out.

Make sure that you turn this right down to close the flap when you go out and overnight to retain heat for when you need it.

Using an Automatic Night Storage Heater
Input control
As with a Manual NSH, this controls how much electricity goes into the heater and therefore:

• how much it will cost to run
  
• how much heat there will be to come out the next day
  

A thermostat inside the heater will turn off the incoming electricity when it reaches the required temperature.
The input control is thermostatic so you will not need to change it when the weather changes.

Setting the input control
Move the control until you hear the click.
The next day:

• If you don’t get enough heat increase the input control
  
• If you get too much heat decrease the input control
  

You do not need to check the forecast every night as the unit should change the amount of energy going in to get the right amount. However, when the weather gets particularly cold it may be necessary to turn the input down if you cannot afford to fully charge the unit. 

Output control
Using a thermostat, this opens or closes a flap on top of the unit to let more or less heat out to maintain a constant room temperature. However, it does not account for how much heat is in the heater and so may empty it too quickly. 

Make sure that you turn this right down to close the flap when you go out and overnight to retain heat for when you need it.