What is an Electric Thermal Storage Unit?

Winter weather can be bitterly cold, and receiving your heating bill can be just as chilling. The colder it is outside, the more steeply those energy bills can rise. But with an Electrical Thermal Storage Unit, old man winter can do his worst while your heating bills are at their best.

What is it?

An Electric Thermal Storage unit, ETS for short, is a home heating storage device that contains several ceramic bricks. An electric heating element runs between these ceramic bricks and “charges” (heats them up) to a point that they’ve stored enough heat to keep the area of your home where the ETS is located comfortable all day long.

A built in, thermostat-controlled, forced convection heater blows the heat stored in the bricks into the surrounding room. This keeps the temperature comfortable all day long.

Charges when Electricity is Cheap

The best thing about installing an ETS is you can take advantage of Nova Scotia Power’s Time of Day metering program.

Time of Day metering sets your home on a variable electricity cost schedule based on the time and day of the week.

Certain times of day you pay a premium peak rate, while other times you pay a far lower off-peak rate. Your electric thermal storage unit is set to charge during this off-peak time. This effectively allows you to create and store heat when electricity is cheaper and then utilize it during the time when electricity is more expensive.

This video from Dimplex, one of our suppliers, does a great job explaining how an ETS unit works, and outlines the benefits of using time of day metering.

Installing an ETS in your Home

We’ve installed ETS units in every type of home. Those with electric base boards, oil-fired furnaces and more. Most homes can benefit from installing an ETS and switching to time of day metering, but we’ve found they work best when installed as part of an overall home energy cost reduction plan. This can mean installing a heat pump along with an ETS unit and possibly some high efficiency electric baseboard convection heaters.

To learn more about electric thermal storage units, and whether they are a good fit for your home, we encourage you to contact us and arrange a free in-home assessment. After reviewing your current home heating and electrical system we can advise you on the best alternatives to cut your energy costs while maintaining a warm and comfortable home.