Economy 7

espresso

Magenta01 wrote: »

Yup, I've checked this. The kitchen one is currently at BST and running perfectly. They don't sync though as the E7 doesn't switch on when the meter changes over.

:doh:

So what time is it set to switch on and what time is it set to switch off the water heater?

Magenta01

espresso wrote: »

:doh:

So what time is it set to switch on and what time is it set to switch off the water heater?

It's not! It's not one of those ones that you can change the time it switches on, this has always been automatic, when the E7 meter kicked in, which is and was midnight. Last night it came on at 3.30am despite the meter showing that E7 night rates had started at 12am. I'm not sure quite how to make this any clearer, sorry.

Magenta01

Hi again, to make it clearer, I've uploaded a photo of the water heater http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/Magenta01/Watercontrol.jpg. However, it is not only the waterheater which is not turning on at the time E7 kicks in, also E7 heaters.

SwanJon

Not a proper solution, but have you tried changing the time on the water heater so that it thinks it is 3am when it is actually 12am? Would mean it was used at the right time.
Used to have one of these, but found that we needed to use the boost far too often.

Magenta01

SwanJon wrote: »

Not a proper solution, but have you tried changing the time on the water heater so that it thinks it is 3am when it is actually 12am? Would mean it was used at the right time.
Used to have one of these, but found that we needed to use the boost far too often.

Yeah, I thought about that... problem is, it's also the heaters which aren't coming on and I'm sure they aren't connected to the kitchen water heater. It's more how to solve the problem as if I call NPower now, it might cause as much confusion as I have done on this thread

espresso

Magenta01 wrote: »

Hi again, to make it clearer, I've uploaded a photo of the water heater http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/Magenta01/Watercontrol.jpg. However, it is not only the waterheater which is not turning on at the time E7 kicks in, also E7 heaters.

What time does the Off Peak light come on, 12:00AM or 03:30AM?

Magenta01

espresso wrote: »

What time does the Off Peak light come on, 12:00AM or 03:30AM?

It comes on at 3.30am.

espresso

Magenta01 wrote: »

It comes on at 3.30am.

The Horstman Economy 7 Quartz timeswitch has adjustable cams for ON (Orange) & OFF (Blue) times, which can be set between 11:30PM and 09:00AM, so you should easily be able to see what the ON & OFF times are actually set to.

The Off Peak lamp simply shows when power is switched to the immersion heater.

Therefore if the Teleswitch is switching at 12:00AM and your timeswitch is switching at 03:30AM, you are most likely only actually getting half of your economy 7 hours at the cheaper rate. e.g Economy 7 = 12:00 - 07:00 - Timeswitch 03:30 - 07:00 = 3.5 hours, hence your higher bills than previous. More detailed info on your timeswitch here.

Magenta01

Thanks for all your help, Espresso. I'm afraid, although it makes perfect sense what you've written above that it still leaves me where I was. From the attached page you linked, it looks like I would have to take apart the timeswitch to alter the times for offpeak, however, I have lived here 4 years now and never changed them and the problem only commenced this year. Also the heaters in the livingroom and bedroom which are also connected to the E7 system are not coming on at midnight as they should and these are not affected by the Horstman timer as far as I know. They have also not been altered in the last 4 years in any way.

All your help is very much appreciated, however, as I say, it leaves me no nearer to the cause, since this is a recent problem with no alterations to the water or heater system other than switching over to NPower.

espresso

OK, but you still have not said what this Horstman timeswitch is actually set to for On & OFF times and this should help with resolving this issue. As stated in the instructions, it needs to be synchronised so that the heater is actually used during your teleswitch economy 7 period.

If your teleswitch is switching at 12:00AM and you switch on any heavy load appliance, you should see your night rate meter increment to prove that your teleswitch is in fact switching at that time. If you call out your supplier and the fault is not with their teleswitch, you may be charged.