Fused Spur Timeswitch - Pulsacoil

My parents just picked up the keys to their flat. It has a PulsaCoil A-Class system installed (no economy 7) and a separate fused spur timeswitch installed. My understanding of PulsaCoil is different to this one as my previous experience is that the water is heated at night on economy 7 and you just turn on the taps and you get hot water throughout the day.

However, this new system works differently. You've got to program the outputs before you get hot water. So if it hasn't been programmed you have to press the "change" button on the timeswitch. As my parents use hot water throughout the day, is it safe and wise to leave the change button on so that hot water is on demand. Does it mean that the immersion elements are constanting heating the water (i guess their are thermostats built-in). I just find that this modern system more user unfriendly as hot water isn't on demand - what is the reasoning for this? Thanks.

The timeswitch is this one:

http://www.supremeplumb.com/cgi-bin/house/DMdatabase.cgi?action=/Shop/Access_Control-Accessory-Other/Time_Clock.txt&item=00001

Comments

  • Le_Kirk
    Le_Kirk Posts: 22,081
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    As indicated during the YouTube video and via the other two links provided by Moss5, the PulsaCoil is designed to take advantage of cheap off-peak electricity and therefore, if the PulsaCoil has not been wired up via an Economy 7 meter, the time switch should be set to come on at the same time as your cheap tariff (typically midnight to 07.00 BUT check with your parent's electricity supplier) and then, as the time switch you have shown and using the manual provided by Moss5 set it to come on at various times throughout the day coinciding with when the hot water is used up. If you leave it on all day and night, yes it will be heating all the time but the immersions are provided with thermostats.
  • katy123
    katy123 Posts: 365
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    Thanks for the reply. I've had a look at the elect metre and it seems like a single phase metre (no eco 7). Also, the fused spured timeswitch if I understood it correctly has nothing to do with heating the water, it's to release the hot water (i.e. the output light needs to be lit up). The output light is either lit up when I override it by pressing the 'change' button or when it reaches a certain time as set under the program. It's not the same as setting a timer to heat the water in the cylinder....
  • Le_Kirk
    Le_Kirk Posts: 22,081
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    I cannot see anything in the manual as supplied by Moss5 that indicates there is a solenoid valve that only releases water when the change button is pressed. Did the previous occupants leave any instructions? One of the other links provided by Moss5 was to the service/spares provider. Might be worth giving them a call.
  • katy123
    katy123 Posts: 365
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    Thinking about it more, I think it's been wired up incorrectly. It's on a single phase metre and it seems like the pump inside only runs the stored hot water around the plate when the timer is turned on., i.e. to run the pump.
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,633
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    katy123 wrote: »
    It's on a single phase metre

    One thing to establish, you say it's on a single-phase meter -- that is normal for domestic meters whether or not they are Economy 7 etc. What an Economy 7 meter would say is something like "dual-rate" and for a digital one, there would be a button you press to view the two different rate units used, plus the sum total. Does theirs have this facility?
  • katy123
    katy123 Posts: 365
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    There's no button and I've checked with the supplier, it's single phase
  • Le_Kirk
    Le_Kirk Posts: 22,081
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    As stated in a previous post all meters are (unless you live in a factory) single phase. This does not refer to whether or not the meter is single RATE or has Hi-Rate and Lo-Rate (economy 7) and therefore two rate. Single phase is an electrical standard whereby electricity is delivered at 230/240 volts via a pair of cables [Live (or Phase) and Neutral] or is delivered at 380/440 volts via 3 cables [3-Phase].
    Have a read of the manual and you will see that the pump only runs when the system is heating up. Once it has reached the set point the pump turns off. It might be worthwhile getting the Gledhill people to give you a quote for checking it over.
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