Does our house just have an immersion heater

nabberuk_2

I've recently found out that our house is using a heatwise energy tariff that includes a special electricity meter to warm our water at certain parts of the day. This meter controls when this comes on and off.

What i'm trying to understand is if we need what looks like the immersion turned on or off next to our hot water tank. Just worried about the costs if it's left on etc.



The above i believe shows the immersion switch (on the right)





Only shows heating controls which is next to the boiler



This is the timer for what i presume is the heating, when the fused switched (lower right hand side) is on below the screen it is all scrambled. When it's left to run and setup on the battery it has no effect. I think this may be redundant.

Smiley_Dan

So are you asking whether all of your DHW is heated via the electrical immersion coil?

If so, in the absence of any other pipes going from the boiler into the tank, it looks like it. And also because the immersion coil is at the bottom of the tank, thus heating the entire tank.

In certain circumstances that can be advantageous (e.g. with solar PV panels) however in other cases, if you need the entire tank heated, it will probably be more expensive (depending on the fuel you are otherwise using in the boiler).

nabberuk_2

I'm trying to find out if i need that switch (immersion) turned on for the water to heat up. I have taken other photos if you need to see anything else?

oh and thanks for your reply

CashStrapped

Is your house all electric?

Do you have storage heater? Are you therefore on an Economy 7 tarrif?

nabberuk_2

We have Gas, We have a hot water tank as shown the photos. We have 2 tarrifs, heatwise and economy 7

CashStrapped

I assume your gas is for cooking only.

Your electric hot water tank should work as follows.

The bottom element (the larger of the two) is there to heat the whole tank. It should usually only switch on during your Economy 7 period to heat the majority of the tank on the cheapest rate possible. This should be timed for the early morning before the cheap rate ends, ready for morning showers, baths etc.

There should also be a top element which is the "boost" element. This can be used during the day for a quick top up. This is the smaller element and only heats a smaller amount of the tank. This is because it will use the much more expensive day rate.

The system should be automatically set up so that the bottom element can only switch on/activate when the Economy 7 cheap rate is active. Similarly the boost element should only be able to activate during the day. However systems can be set up differently and it may need you to manually ensure you use the tank at the correct time of the day (and in the correct way) to ensure you are using the electricity as cheaply as possible.

If you have a mix of controls, and you think some are redundant, prehaps it would be best to get an electrician to give it all a check over.