Heatwise

tsmiggy

Hi
My daughter as just moved into a all electric house.She as strorage heaters,and her tarrif is classed as Heatwise,but she is always running out of hot water in the late afternoon and Early evening when she needs the hot water to bath the kids,and this is despite very little use during the day.I have noticed a immersion heater in the airing cupboard,which switches on at 8 in the evening and goes off at 6 in the morning.

There does not seem to any control over this or any method to overide the settings.I am at total loss as to how this thing works,any help woulld be appriciated,by someone with some knowledge of this system.The only other thing i have noticed is that there is a boost button in the meter cupboard,which also contains three different meters.Wow how to make things complicated.

cheers

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi tsmiggy

Thought it might help if I gave you a brief overview of our Heatwise meters.


Heatwise is an off peak tariff designed for all electric properties with storage heaters. They give 10 hours of storage and water heating per day at a cheaper rate. This is split into three blocks at the following times.


3 hours in the afternoon between 1pm and 4.30pm.


2 hours in the evening between 5.30pm and 10 pm.


5 hours at night between 12am and 7am.


The Heatwise unit sits alongside the standard meter, which will be either single rate of Economy 7.


Your daughter's water and heating will be wired into the Heatwise part of the meter. Only electric storage heaters and the water heating can be connected to Heatwise. All other usage (lights, TV, washing machine etc) will go through the standard meter.


It is possible to have additional water heating outside of the Heatwise times. Another hour of hot water is available by pressing the orange boost button on the front of the meter.

Heatwise is only available in the East Midlands region. It is switched on using radio waves sent out via masts spread across the region. The actual switching times can sometimes vary depending on certain technical criteria which, I must admit, I'm no expert on. However, they will always be within the above time frames.


We guarantee to provide 10 hours storage/water heating during the above times. Heatwise will automatically switch your daughter's storage heaters on during these times and off again when they finish. The storage heaters then release heat gradually during the day.


The meter has two red neon indicators directly above and below the display screen which tell you when electricity is being used. At the beginning and end of each Heatwise period you may hear a click from the meter.


I'm afraid it is not possible to change the switching times as doing so would mean changing the times across the whole region.


Hope this helps explain your daughter's metering set up a little, smudger. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.


Malc

tsmiggy

Thanks that does begin to explain it.I have since spoken to her and the 2 hour evening section,came on at 8 pm and went off at 10pm.The thing i cannot understand is the fact she appears to have no hot water at say 5pm.But looking at your figures,she would of expected the water to heat up between 1pm and 4.30pm for 3 hours.

I have asked her to check that the immersion does indeed,come on between these hours,to cover the afternoon slot.

cheers.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi tsmiggy

Just a thought, but you say your daughter has only recently moved in.

So that the immersion heater can be connected to the water heating part of a Heatwise meter, the relevant circuit needs to have its own dedicated consumer unit.

Not all customers want their water heating on Heatwise. It may be the previous occupier didn't arrange for a dedicated consumer unit to be fitted.

I'm no technical bod, tsmiggy, but might be worth having a look.

Malc

tsmiggy

Cheers
I will see what she says about the immersion switching on this afternoon,between the hours of 1pm and 4.30 pm,and then maybe that will throw a little more light on the issue.Unfortunately she rents the house,and the landlady is not the most helpful person in the world.

If it turned out that it was the fact that the water was not on heatwise,then would it need some other form of control to control the water ie a timer somewhere.?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

I'm no expert tsmiggy, but if your daughter's water heating is not wired into Heatwise, then I would expect there to be an independent timer/controller to regulate her set up. Possibly somewhere near her immersion heater.

The Landlady should know but if she is not being helpful it may ultimately benefit your daughter to have an independent electrician check out the entire set up.

This is a last resort, though. In the meantime, do what you are doing and monitor when the water is heating up.

If you let me know the outcome I will do my best to help further.

Malc

tsmiggy

The immersion came on at 2.15 pm and stayed on until 4.45 pm.A little bit under the 3 hours,but i do not know exactly what that means.It as now confirmed that it is indeed connected via heatwise.I think it will be a case of adapting to what she as,and i am sure that will be easier now we know how it works.

Thankyou for your help.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Morning tsmiggy

Glad you have been able to confirm the water immersion is connected through Heatwise. This should make it easier for your daughter to plan her water heating so as to take advantage of the off peak rates on this tariff.

Don't forget the boost button I mentioned earlier if she needs a quick top up. Although also worth remembering, if she uses the boost during the hours outside the 10 hour Heatwise periods, she will be charged normal day rates for this usage. These are higher than the Heatwise off peak rates.

Hope your daughter is now able to use her metering set up to good effect. Just give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

Katie-Kat-Kins

I'm on heatwise, our immersion is not connected to heatwise at all and hasn't been since built.

It is connected into the main circuit with everything else and has just an on off switch, we have since fitted a timer to it so we can heat our water on E7.

There is no such thing it seems as a standard way of connecting up all electric properties and their meters!

You will need to speak to the landlord and or work out how everything is wired up.

She should check that her immersion is well insulated, mine will keep a full tank hot enough for a bath all day.

She should check whether she has one or two elements too, it could be that only one is working and that could be why she is experiencing problems!