I turned the storage heater on full for my studio flat a couple of days ago and I woke up this morning to 25°C in the shade. I’m now working out how much extra it will cost me but even if it uses the maximum storage capacity of 17KW a night that’s only 6KW more than I estimated. So if I keep it on full for December & January that will only cost me an extra 40p a day. That comes to £12 a month which will add only £24 for the year. My DD is currently £26 a month so I will only have to increase it to £28 to pay for summer time in the winter months! 
It turns out that it only uses 13KW a night on full which is only £8 extra for the year! The reason is clear – when the cheaper tariff of Economy 7 switches in at 00:30 the storage heater is still warm which means that it doesn’t need the full 17KW to recharge itself by 07:30 when the more expensive tariff switches in. This may mean that as the weather gets warmer the storage heater will lose less heat during the day and therefore need less to recharge – a self adjusting heating system no less! However, I will have to turn it down at some stage otherwise the temperature during the day will be too high for comfort!
I can walk about naked at this temperature if I feel like it and I don’t need any socks because I’ve got underfloor heating from the flat downstairs which keeps the floor warm like I’m walking on hot sand in the sun! All I need now is a palm tree and a dusky maiden to serve my every need!
According to the heat loss calculator on this website my studio flat should be losing 1.5KW per hour but it only requires .55KW to replace the heat loss and maintain a reasonable temperature! Perhaps it’s because I don’t have as much ventilation as they assume in their calculator. If I subtract the 40% allowed for ventilation I get .9KW which is nearer but not near enough. Perhaps the flat downstairs is contributing more heat than the calculator is assuming!
www.bestheating.com/btu-calculator
Temperatures during the day
(Middle of the room opposite the storage heater – 2°C lower at the living end of the room.)
Wednesday 13 (13KW used last night)
08:30 25°C – Summer time!
17:30 24°C – Still Summer time!
20:30 22°C – Going out salsa dancing for the evening so who cares!
24:00 20°C – A good temperature for bedtime!
Thursday 14 (15KW used last night)
08:00 24°C – Must have been very cold last night!
10:00 25°C – The greenhouse effect with sunshine through south facing windows!
16:00 24°C – 22°C on the settee where I watch TV.
20:30 23°C
24:00 21°C
Friday 15 (14KW used last night)
08:00 24°C
11:30 26°C – 8°C outside but it’s a sunny day so there’s a greenhouse effect through the south facing windows!
17:00 24°C
Saturday 16 (15KW used last night)
05:30 22°C – When I got back from salsa dancing in London.
09:30 26°C – Very sunny! I had to get up even though I’d only had 4 hours sleep because I was sweltering in bed. I will fall asleep on the settee watching TV instead after breakfast. Shouldn’t really need it because I had some chips, a whole packet of peanuts and a whole bar of Dark Chocolate on the way home last night but I feel hungry – salsa dancing for 4.5 hours takes a lot of calories!
10:30 27°C – I can’t turn the storage heater down – it’s already on minimum output – so I may have to open a window! Lol
Monday 18
08:30 27°C Sunny!
11:00 28°C Even sunnier!
12:30 29°C Glad I have to go shopping – it’s a bit cooler out there!
13:45 26°C
18:30 26°C
20:30 25°C
23:30 24°C
