Immersion Heater Issue in Rented Property

Brox2010

Hello all,

I am currently living in a rented 1-bed flat that has an immersion heater that is a ThermaQ Evocyl Horizontal Direct with a 180L capacity. It is controlled by an Economy 7 panel and therefore set to come on between 00:00 and 07:00.

I have noticed that if I need hot water during these hours that it is actively heating, there is never an issue with supply. However, if I decide to take a shower at 9am, I will get 5-10 mins of hot water before it becomes only warm (despite setting the shower thermostat on max). Moreover, if I don't use any hot water throughout the day and take a shower in the evening, there will be no piping hot water whatsover, and I need to manually boost the boiler for 15 mins or to get anything other than warm water.

I have made my letting agent aware of this. They have sent a repairman who can't find any fault with the immersion heater, the conclusion being that this is just how this heater works. I am a bit sceptical of this considering that the heater has an 180L capacity and I'm a single occupant taking one daily shower (no dishwasher, occasional washing machine at 40 degrees).

Any thoughts as to whether this is indeed normal? Thanks!

Talldave

Definitely not right. Is there a thermostat control on the immersion element (sometimes under a cover)? Can you tell from the meter how much electricity it uses each night?

Brox2010

Element is protected with a screwed-on cover so not sure. Unfortunately all I have for the meter is a dial to sync the time and an LED indicating that the heater is actively heating or at rest.

Ectophile

How hot is the water from a hot tap in the morning? It should be around 60C, which is too hot to hold your hands in for any length of time.


If it's not that hot, then the thermostat is probably set too low, so you have a tank of warm water.


The thermostat is probably underneath the screwed on cover.

Brox2010

Ectophile wrote: »

How hot is the water from a hot tap in the morning? It should be around 60C, which is too hot to hold your hands in for any length of time.
.

Yep, it's definitely providing at least 60 C in the morning.

matelodave

TBH a horizontal tank isn't ideal when used with an immersion heater because most of the heat rises so a lot will depend on the orientation of the tank to maximise the heating area.

Looking at the spec and layout of the tank and connections, the tank is really suited to being heated with a boiler and the immersion is just really a back-up.

If the tank has been installed with the immersion positioned at the side or towards the top then you'll be lucky to heat a quarter to half the tank capacity.

Probably the best you can do is increase the thermostat setting so the water gets hotter although you'll have to careful that you dont scald yourself. The thermostat will be located under the plastic cap on the heater (turn the mains off before removing the cover). The stat will have a slotted head to adjust it - usually clockwise to increase the temperature.

Gerry1

The website suggests that their indirect cylinders with capacity of 150L and above come with two immersion heaters installed as standard. Are they both operational and set to sufficiently high temperatures?


But considering how much more expensive electricity is compared to gas, even if it's E7, why do you want to use the immersion heater at all?

Act004

I used to live with economy 7 in a flat I had, there are 3 possibilities that I can think of why you are having this problem, the thermostat is set too low, the tank insulation is poor and heat is being radiated away or the tank is too small for your requirements. Might sound crazy but I used to leave the boost heater on round the clock and I didn’t notice a significant increase in my bills, if you leave the heater on all of the time the tank will just be constantly topping up the temperature and the element is only online for a short duration to raise the temperature. When running on the economy 7 heater the tank is cold and the heater is on for a far longer duration hence burning through a lot of electricity might be worth a try for a month or two to see how your bills compare.

Fire_Fox

Gerry1 wrote: »

But considering how much more expensive electricity is compared to gas, even if it's E7, why do you want to use the immersion heater at all?

Modern apartment buildings rarely have gas supply (cost and/ or safety).

Won't be in new build houses in a few years(climate change).

coffeehound

It would help to see a photo of the installation. If the hot water draw off isn’t positioned at the top, that would limit the volume of hot available.

Also what is the flowrate of the shower?