ChrisB

I'm trying to figure this out...

No gas boiler in my new (well, to me it is) house. Hence all the hot water comes via the immersion.

It's damn big tank in the airing cupboard, probably 5'6 or so. It looks to have two heating elements feeding it - one towards the top, one towards the bottom. Looking at the circuit breakers, there are two circuits marked out as being for the immersion - you wouldn't have two feeds for one heater would you?

Now then, is it better to:

a) Leave the immersion on all the time? I'm thinking once the water is upto temperature, the heaters just tick over to keep the water hot. Or do they not?

b) Turn the heaters on and off as required? Screwfix do a digital timer for £17.25 and get a sparky to fit it. This means I can wake up to hot water in the morning.

Chris.

Mark Miwurdz

I lived in a flat years ago with crappy old insulation wrapped round the tank and we used to leave the electric on the whole time. Over the course of a year it was much cheaper to do this. However, I think the latest generation of tanks with the foam insulation on hold heat much better so you'd probably be better off on a timer to make use of the economy tariffs. You're not stuck on overnight deals now either - depending on your lifestyle, I think you can get half-an-hour cheap rate in the evening so you can shower/bath before you go out.

Cheers
Kav

ChrisB

Cheers for the reply Kav.

I should add the tank looks fairly new and has all the lagging 'molded on' - it's not a seperate jacket. I switched both heaters on this morning when I went downstairs for some breakfast. Twenty minutes later, I could hear what sounded like the water in the tank boiling.

Mark Miwurdz

I'd give it a go both ways - try running for a quarter with the power on the whole time then try for a quarter with it on a timer.

Cheers
Kav

SD

Chris - Sounds much like my place. You don't have night storage heaters do you? In which case you may find that one of the circuits only comes on at night (if you're on economy 7 electricity plan) and the other is for a 'top-up' as required during the day. I leave the night one switched on all the time as the power to it is switched on via radio transmission from the electricity provider, and the other circuit has a timer on it with a permanent switch over-ride should I so require.... Very useful but to be honest I never need it as it usually stores up enough heat during the day.

Cheers,

Simon.

ChrisB

I do indeed have storage heaters, so use Economy 7.

My elec is on a pay-as-you-go smart card reader at the moment. Could be the bloke I've bought the house from didn't pay his bill in time or it's always been like that. British Gas have said they'll change it to a normal meter FOC if move my supply to them.

I'll flip some switches at random and see what happens...

Thanks for the info Simon - very handy.

SD

NP.

Have a look around for a box on the wall with a red light on it and wire going in and out of it. Mine is in the outside shed on the front of the house - This is the radio receiver that switches the economy 7 on and off at night. Have you also got lights on the switches to the immersion heater? That's the way you can tell which one is the economy 7 driven one - It won't come on during the day.

Any more probs and drop me a mail to the addy in the PM I'm sending you.

Simon.

Edit to say - "Oh, I can't find how to PM!" Just send it to my profile e-mail address.

[Edited by SD - 6/16/2003 11:20:59 AM]

ChrisB

I've got a front wall box with the eleccy meter in it - need to attack the bush that stops you opening it properly to get a proper look

I don't think either switch for the immersions has lights on. Will look again tonight

David_Wallis

you would have two supplys due to the current they could consume if both on at the same time... I assume you know why there are two... fitting the switch is pretty straightforward to do yourself..

Do they have built in thermostats?

David

ChrisB

Assume I know nothing

Thermostat on them? Not a clue!

David_Wallis

turn power off.. unscrew little metal lid and see if there is any place you can adjust the temperature of the water..

One will be a small heater one will be a big one.. one might be labeled bath.. (will heat whole tank) other will heat less water..
David

[Edited by David_Wallis - 6/16/2003 12:31:18 PM]

DMC12

My parents house has twin immersion heaters as you describe. They have a main on-off switch, and then next to it another switch labelled small/large.

The Small setting operates the top heater which is left on all the time. This is set to a lower temperature and only warms part of the cylinder to give enough hot water for washing, a quick shower, etc.

The Large setting operates the other heater and gives loads of hot water for when they have guests, want a bath etc.

It sounds like yours might work in a similar way. Leave one on all the time and use the other when you need extra hot water.

Cheers

Steve.

ChrisB

Nice one guys I'll have a look tonight.