Immersion heater advice needed please

shopbot

I have a Backer 311C Immersion Heater. I am on an Economy 7 tariff. There are two electrical switches attached to it. One switch has stopped working. This is the one that heats overnight when the electricity is cheaper. The switch that still works is the booster/top up switch.

I have been switching the top up switch on before I go to bed and then off again on the morning to heat the water. I intend to get this fixed but was hoping to get some forum advice about it.

I was wondering:
Any possible causes for the switch failure.
Is this likely to be an expensive job to fix.
Is the way I am heating the water now making my electrical bill rocket? i.e Will any electricity supplied overnight be Economy 7 or does it depend on which switch it comes from?

Thanks
SB

unclebulgaria

shopbot wrote: »

I have a Backer 311C Immersion Heater. I am on an Economy 7 tariff. There are two electrical switches attached to it. One switch has stopped working. This is the one that heats overnight when the electricity is cheaper. The switch that still works is the booster/top up switch.

I have been switching the top up switch on before I go to bed and then off again on the morning to heat the water. I intend to get this fixed but was hoping to get some forum advice about it.

I was wondering:
Any possible causes for the switch failure.
Is this likely to be an expensive job to fix.
Is the way I am heating the water now making my electrical bill rocket? i.e Will any electricity supplied overnight be Economy 7 or does it depend on which switch it comes from?

Thanks
SB

It may not be the switch thats stopped working, it could be the emersion element has packed up or the thermostat. If you get in a decent plumber/heating guy he should be able to test them both. As far as I'm aware the elements don't use anymore electricity unless you turn them on during the day. If its the element thats faulty then the cylinder will need draining down past the lowest emersion.

shopbot

An update and some further questions!

The electrician has tried several things including a new thermostat which hasn't solved the problem. He thinks that the cause is the tank furring up.

He's advised me to speak to a plumber.

Before I do I'd hope to get some advice on next steps and likely costs please. What's the usual remedy for this - is it replacing the tank? If so what's the likely cost (South of England).

Thanks
SB

macman

Surely the basic thing for him to do is conduct a continuity test on the existing element?

shopbot

I think that was one of the first things he did.

keystone

If its the switch that has stopped working how could that possibly be attributed to the tank furring up? Although it could be the element corroding if you are in a hard water area.

If he's tried several things that kinda indicates repair by guesswork and replacement until the item causing the problem is finally replaced.

Cheers

southcoastrgi

however if he fitted a new stat & left it connected to the same switch of course it won't work unless he was there at midnight when the ecom 7 switched on.

OP as for the cost of running the "boost" immersion at night it depends if you have a seperate fuse box & econ 7 meter, which the sparkie should have been able to tell you.

shopbot

I probably should have left it a day before posting as I had hot water this morning from the Economy 7 switch. When I spoke to the Electrician he wasn't sure that what he'd done would fix it so I thought I'd try and get some ideas before calling a plumber.

One observation about it was that I only needed to use hot water for the bath this a.m - it was the right temp. When I use the boost switch I have to mix in cold water.

Is there a standard (or recommended temp) for immersion heaters to heat to?

In reply to southcoastcorgi my fuse box is seperate from the electric meter.

southcoastrgi wrote: »

OP as for the cost of running the "boost" immersion at night it depends if you have a seperate fuse box & econ 7 meter, which the sparkie should have been able to tell you.

Thanks to everyone for their advice!

macman

The immersion will heat to the temp set on the thermostat.

southcoastrgi

as above which should be set to 60 degrees

Louby-Lou_2

Just had my econ 7 tank replaced with 2 elements was £650 tank size was 1200. I'm in cornwall area. Hope this helps