What you need to know: your storage heaters and solar panels | Tenant news

Energy regulator Ofgem confirmed in May that the price cap, which sets the maximum price that households pay for gas and electricity, will fall from 7% from 1 July to 30 September 2024, compared to the previous four months.

However, while fuel costs have slowly come down in 2024, they’re still well above pre pandemic prices and are about £400 higher on average than they were three years ago.

At Habinteg, we’re striving to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, as part of our commitment to sustainability, helping you benefit from lower fuel bills as well as help the planet.

If your home has solar panels and Dimplex storage heaters, you should learn how to use them correctly to heat your home more efficiently.

Solar panels

Around 1,030 of your homes are installed with solar panels which means that those tenants can benefit from reduced electricity bills. 

Solar panels take energy from sunlight to produce electricity. Though they work during cloudy weather, they perform best when its sunny.

If your home has solar panels, we have a guide on our website explaining how they work and how much electricity they can generate during the day.

The guide explains how you can get the most of your solar panels to save yourself money. Tips include:

• Keeping track of your energy usage using a smart meter, which will show you how much energy you’re using from the national grid.
• Switch off any devices that are safe to do so that are on standby (not including freezers and fridges).
• So long as your smart meter stays at zero your home will be solely powered by your solar panels.

Habinteg solar panels do not come with batteries, so they cannot store the energy they create during the day for use at night or during power outages. This means that once the sun goes down, your home will revert to using energy from the grid.

Dimplex storage heaters

Dimplex electric storage heaters store heat generated at cheaper off-peak times and release it during the day.

To use them efficiently, it’s essential to set the time and date on the heater first.

This will allow the heater to charge during the night to make the most of off-peak electricity. The times will automatically update for daylight saving time and British Summer Time.

Dimplex has a set of 18 videos which show you how to operate every function of the Dimplex Quantum storage heaters.

The key videos are on our website:

• Getting started
• Setting the room temperature
• Setting time and date
• Selecting ‘Home all day’, ‘Out all day’ and ‘Holiday mode’ settings
• How to boost your heater.

If you would like help with your storage heater controls, please speak to our Customer Services Team on 0300 365 3100 or email them on customerservices@habinteg.org.uk and they can arrange an electrician from one of our contractors to make an appointment for you.