Economy 7 water heater problems, help please!

EachPenny

rosamy52 wrote: »

Ah yes I see what you mean, sorry not having the cleverest morning or day even.

Don't worry, we all have them.

Based on the pictures you've posted it appears you don't have any kind of timer controlling the immersion heater. If that were the case then you ought to be having the opposite problem of having the water too hot and your electricity bills being through the roof.

Which leads me to suspect there is a timer system somewhere that you haven't yet found. If it is well hidden then it might explain why the electrician hasn't found (and checked) it either.

Was the cable grip on the heater with the grey thermostat lose like that when the electrician left it? If so it might be an indicator of another problem... human rather than electrical.

coffeehound

If the E7 switching is controlled by radio switch in the meter, there doesnt need to be another timer. OP has previously stated that other E7 items are coming on as expected so the metering side of things seems to be okay.

rosamy52

Do you mean the cable going out and down to the left? If so that's the wiring that goes to the switch on the wall. Or do you mean the loose screw at the bottom left? Which I only noticed looking closer, seen better here. I'm not sure what that is or where it's supposed to go.

There's no timer anywhere that I can find. I think it must be tied in to the meter downstairs.

rosamy52

Other E7 items? I only have Economy 7 water heater and storage heaters, I haven't used the storage heaters yet.

EachPenny

rosamy52 wrote: »

Do you mean the cable going out and down to the left? If so that's the wiring that goes to the switch on the wall. Or do you mean the loose screw at the bottom left? Which I only noticed looking closer, seen better here. I'm not sure what that is or where it's supposed to go.

Yes, the loose screw (there ought to be two) should be holding the bit of black plastic in the right position to clamp the cable in the correct location. That stops the cable being damaged, and also prevents the cable being pulled out of the connections on the thermostat.

I would not welcome an electrician who left things like that back into my home.

rosamy52 wrote: »

There's no timer anywhere that I can find. I think it must be tied in to the meter downstairs.

It is possible the "fusebox" marked "DB2" is one which is only energised during E7 hours.

At first glance I thought all the circuits were labeled with room names as if they were for storage heaters, but looking closer it appears the one in position number 6 (which looks like "Bathroom") has got "Imm" written above it - can you confirm what the writing actually says please?

Did the electrician check to see if any of the storage heaters were working?

coffeehound

rosamy52 wrote: »

Other E7 items? I only have Economy 7 water heater and storage heaters, I haven't used the storage heaters yet.

You previously wrote about the towel rail coming on overnight on E7

Cornucopia

It would definitely normally be the case that DB1 is Standard Rate and DB2 is Economy 7 rate. I think EachPenny's interpretation is correct, and DB2-Position 6 is "Imm Heater".

I also see that both the thermostat dials (the red and the green in photos 1 & 2) are both turned to one extreme, which is marked with 2 dots. I've not seen that before. I think I'd try turning them to see if an audible click is heard. Alternatively, just put them half-way.

rosamy52

Ah that makes sense. As you might be able to tell I have no confidence at all in this electrician so I'm not incredibly surprised something has been left loose. I guess it's possible it was loose before though and I just didn't notice.

rosamy52

Hi,

Yes the 6 is labelled Imm for immersion heater I assume.

coffeehound

Cornucopia wrote: »

I also see that both the thermostat dials (the red and the green in photos 1 & 2) are both turned to one extreme, which is marked with 2 dots. I've not seen that before.

A similar looking t-stat came up with a previous poster’s question and the maximum turned out to be 65 degrees in that case. So it is probably a sensible setting.