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Modern Eco-Storage Heaters are Not Fit for Purpose. Discuss.

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Case 1. Heater provided with no operating instructions in box.


Case 2. Heater could not be programmed. Reason: it was factory set in "Eco-mode" where programming was not possible.


Case 3. Too complicated with layers of programming needed. The A4 sized instructions are many pages long covering many settings and day options.


Case 4. A recent heater seen has a very small window screen where the writing is about 1mm tall and is very difficult to read when programming it.


Case 5. They are too complicated and not easy to use. Over engineered and liable to failure due to complicated P.C.B.s inside. Perhaps that is the plan. If you can't easily use them they save energy as one of my customers found out after spending many hours over the phone speaking with the maker's tech. dept. The heater is now cold and has stopped working.


Z.
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    Did you know, did you know that some storage heaters do not work properly if they sense a draught of air coming under a door?

    I gather some have "open window detection" - I guess that's what you're referring to - after all there's little point in trying to heat the outdoors. It must be a pretty poor fitting door if the draught can be confused with an open window.

     
    There is a general problem of letting software people write software for controls, in that the result is typically just awful.

    I agree about the interfaces. Some years ago my parents started feeling the cold a bit at night and decided they wanted the heating on overnight as well as during the day - but at a lower level than daytime. My first thought was - easy - I'll just swap the room 'stat for one of the (then) new programmable thermostats. Second thought dismissed that idea pretty quickly - as even adjusting the temperature would have been beyond them. The final solution was just to add a 2nd old-fashioned rotary dial stat wired across the timeswitch and original thermostat - with a label of "NIGHT" - the original 'stat  got a "DAY" label. Together with the existing (analogue) timeswitch it did everything they needed and Dad had no problems making adjustments when needed.


    I guess one of the stumbing blocks in having a good interface on equipment is the cost of a decent sized, probably colour, display - a small even custom LCD display probably comes in a lot cheaper and probably easier to fit in. That's perhaps one advantage on using an app' on a 'phone as an interface - you get a decent screen for free (even if it does add a lot of other complexity). Alternatively (as above) some nice chunky physical knobs and switches can sometimes more than suffice.

     
    folk talking about MMI (Man Machine Interface) or ergonomics, or 'human factors' (unless you make equipment for aliens there are no other factors)

    Ah, no - your typical computer has lots of interfaces and most of then don't have a human on the other end at all - everything from RS-232 to disc interfaces to WiFi.


       - Andy.
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  • 0
    Did you know, did you know that some storage heaters do not work properly if they sense a draught of air coming under a door?

    I gather some have "open window detection" - I guess that's what you're referring to - after all there's little point in trying to heat the outdoors. It must be a pretty poor fitting door if the draught can be confused with an open window.

     
    There is a general problem of letting software people write software for controls, in that the result is typically just awful.

    I agree about the interfaces. Some years ago my parents started feeling the cold a bit at night and decided they wanted the heating on overnight as well as during the day - but at a lower level than daytime. My first thought was - easy - I'll just swap the room 'stat for one of the (then) new programmable thermostats. Second thought dismissed that idea pretty quickly - as even adjusting the temperature would have been beyond them. The final solution was just to add a 2nd old-fashioned rotary dial stat wired across the timeswitch and original thermostat - with a label of "NIGHT" - the original 'stat  got a "DAY" label. Together with the existing (analogue) timeswitch it did everything they needed and Dad had no problems making adjustments when needed.


    I guess one of the stumbing blocks in having a good interface on equipment is the cost of a decent sized, probably colour, display - a small even custom LCD display probably comes in a lot cheaper and probably easier to fit in. That's perhaps one advantage on using an app' on a 'phone as an interface - you get a decent screen for free (even if it does add a lot of other complexity). Alternatively (as above) some nice chunky physical knobs and switches can sometimes more than suffice.

     
    folk talking about MMI (Man Machine Interface) or ergonomics, or 'human factors' (unless you make equipment for aliens there are no other factors)

    Ah, no - your typical computer has lots of interfaces and most of then don't have a human on the other end at all - everything from RS-232 to disc interfaces to WiFi.


       - Andy.
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