immersion heater query!

Emily88

Hi,

there are 2 of us living in a 1 bed flat, and we have just recieved a bill for around £162 for a period of 2.5 months. this seems excessive to me, so i called edf for advice. the lady said it could be that the immersion heater is on constantly, however the label on the front says 'it is important that you do not switch it off'. its a Pulsacoil A Class, and i have a feeling it is designed for use with an economy tariff (which i have been told by edf is not available in this area).

i am tempted to switch it off to see if it makes a difference, but the message on the label is putting me off! any advice?

we don't use electricity excessively (turn things off when not in use etc).

EDIT: we use electricity only, no gas supply.

thanks!

newbie1980

def need economy 7 or 10
these should work overnight for the main store than a boost in the day if needed
tell them u defneed economy 7 or 10

Emily88

they have said the only way i could get economy tarrifs is if i were to install storage heaters, which i cant really afford. just want to know what will happen if i turn it turn when not needed! thanks anyway

cajef

Looking up that type up of water heater here

http://www.gledhill.net/pdfmanuals/User%20Instructions/PulsaCoilAClass%20User%20.pdf

It does say:-

THIS APPLIANCE SHOULD BE
LEFT PERMANENTLY CONNECTED
TO THE OFF-PEAK ELECTRICAL
SUPPLY AND NOT SWITCHED ON
AND OFF WHEN HOT WATER IS
NEEDED. PULSACOIL A-CLASS
MODELS ALSO HAVE AN ONPEAK
BOOST WHICH CAN BE
SWITCHED ON AS REQUIRED TO
PROVIDE A BOOST TO THE TOP
PART OF THE STORE ON DAYS
WHEN A LARGE AMOUNT OF HOT
WATER IS REQUIRED.

Farway

It is designed to be on economy night tariffs, as you do not have this then your surmise is correct, as it works on different principles to bog standard immersion heaters

More here

http://www.wrightbuildingservices.co.uk/pulsacoil

and here

http://www.miketheboilerman.com/pulsacoil.htm

Depending on how you use hot water [are you both out all day for instance?], then switching off will do no harm as it is basically two immersion heaters fitted in an internal tank

Obviously the warning is to prevent you running out of hat water, but switching off cannot damage it, otherwise come a power cut everyone's would need repairing

However, it may take a while to reheat the water

You can only suck it & see TBH

Emily88

yes cajef, that is the message i was referring to in my first post. however i was wondering what would happen if i DID turn it off, as i don't want to be paying that much for my bills. it seems ridiculous to have it on constantly when we really only use it for 2x 5 min showers per day.
also, i do not have access to an economy tarriff, which is what this type of heater is designed for

Emily88

thanks farway thats a great help! i will try it for a day and see if it makes a difference just didnt want to break it!

cajef

Emily88 wrote: »

also, i do not have access to an economy tarriff, which is what this type of heater is designed for

It looks like whoever installed it should have checked before fitting it that there was an economy tariff available.

If it was me I would try switching it off during the day after all it cannot be any different than being switched off when an economy tariff switches over at the end of it's period.

Emily88

cajef wrote: »

It looks like whoever installed it should have checked before fitting it that there was an economy tariff available.

If it was me I would try switching it off during the day after all it cannot be any different than being switched off when an economy tariff switches over at the end of it's period.

yeah its a fairly new build and the developers seemed to have botched it a bit, probably saved them money, i dont know. anyway, thanks for everyones help, really appreciate it!

cajef

EDF do seem to be contradicting themselves, firstly saying an economy tariff is not available in your area then saying the only way you could get it is by fitting storage heaters.

It may be worth making more enquiries as I would think you should be able to have any tariff you want, after all you could decide to have storage heaters fitted at a later date how would they know what you have fitted?

Emily88

they want to see installation certificates. but it occurred to me that if they knew what i now know (that the immersion heater is designed for economy) they might let me have it. i'm going to phone and check tomorrow. for now i've turned of the heater, and i'm going to check the amount of units used up in 24 hours compared to what it has been with it turned on