Q & A of the Day - Off-peak storage heaters having extra on-peak heaters

Question: I recently attended a breakdown of off-peak heating to the public areas of a large block of pensioners flats. The off-peak heating was controlled via a 100A contactor operated by the local Electricity Board metering system. The contactor was feeding a TP&N 12-way distribution board fed by an incoming dedicated Electricity Board armoured cable via a metered 100A triple pole cut-out.

Prior to replacing the 100A contactor, the number of storage heaters and loadings were accessed for overload - this proved to be OK. It was also noted that each storage heater had supplementary daytime heating as there were two isolators for each heater. The daytime heating was supplied via a TP&N distribution board of the same supply as the public lighting & general amenities. Further investigation found that the daytime heating on individual heaters was supplied from different phases than the off-peak.

If the regulations ask for a triple-pole isolator for a bathroom fan that has a timed circuit over-run, then what is required in the circumstances above?

Answer: What is being used (the existing system) is what is still required for the heaters. On the off-peak supply, it can be a fused spur protection or a double pole isolator. The same would go for the peak supply.

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