Electric boiler constantly on

cowsnhope

I have an electric boiler/ hot water tank which has no controls other than an on/off wall socket. The boiler seems to be an eco friendly brand and is only a year or two old, I have no instructions for it. I have never turned the boiler off! I live alone and it only heats the hot water but as I use this in the morning I don't want to have to get up early just to turn it on. I am thinking of paying an electrician to put a timer on it but am wondering if it is actually designed to be permanently on. Does anyone have any knowledge on this - I'm trying to avoid either an unnecessary call out charge or a high electric bill :-) Thank you

JJ_Egan

Is the wall socket a plug ?
If so a simple plug in timer will do the job .

cowsnhope

Thank you but no the boiler is wired through the wall to a switch that is like the main one for an oven - just a fuse and a switch.

cowsnhope

P.s. the make is Joule if that means anything to anyone.

molerat

What electricity tariff are you on ? If E7 then it is probably wired into the E7 off peak only circuit so only heats during low cost hours. More information is needed about your home though. Joule manufacture everything from hot water cylinders to integrated heating systems.

cowsnhope

Thank you. I have checked my electric bill which says I am on a fixed all day rate (Scottish power ). I'm afraid I do not know what the heating system is- it has no model number or information on it - it's just a big cylinder - about four foot high with a smaller elongated football balanced on top. Also it only does the hot water not the heating.

HappyMJ

cowsnhope wrote: »

Thank you. I have checked my electric bill which says I am on a fixed all day rate (Scottish power ). I'm afraid I do not know what the heating system is- it has no model number or information on it - it's just a big cylinder - about four foot high with a smaller elongated football balanced on top. Also it only does the hot water not the heating.

Then it's fine to leave on 24 hours a day. The thermostat will turn the element off when the water has reached the set temperature and when you draw water off it will come on again and reheat the water.

Timing it to come on 2 hours before you use the hot water will just save literally just a few pennies per day.

The cylinder is insulated and the heat losses will be quite low.

So I'd just leave it on 24/7.

cowsnhope

That's brilliant thank you :-)

Cardew

cowsnhope wrote: »

I have an electric boiler/ hot water tank which has no controls other than an on/off wall socket. The boiler seems to be an eco friendly brand and is only a year or two old, I have no instructions for it. I have never turned the boiler off! I live alone and it only heats the hot water but as I use this in the morning I don't want to have to get up early just to turn it on. I am thinking of paying an electrician to put a timer on it but am wondering if it is actually designed to be permanently on. Does anyone have any knowledge on this - I'm trying to avoid either an unnecessary call out charge or a high electric bill :-) Thank you

What type of heating do you have?


Just to get the terminology correct, you seem to be talking about a 'Hot water tank' with an immersion heater which the switch operates - a 'boiler'(gas/oil/electric) is an appliance that heats the hot water tank. With a conventional central heating system the immersion heater would normally be switched off.


A year or two old Hot water tank will have excellent insulation and the heat losses are very low. Typically 1kWh(approx. 12p) every 24 hours for water at 65C. In practice less than 1kWh and that lost heat warms the fabric of the house anyway.

cowsnhope

Thank you - there doesn't seem to be a separate boiler - just this large tank full of hot water with an electric socket so I guess it is an immersion heater.