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Immersion heater help!
Hi
I am a bit concerned we are not using our immersion heater efficiently/or that something is not wired correctly, but need to get some basic questions answered first before I enlist the help of an electrician:
We are on economy 7 and the immersion heater has two heating elements (overnight and boost).
The bottom element feels warm in the morning and I can hear the heater on at night. We have enough hot water so this seems to be working fine, and I have no desire to use the boost function.
However the upper element always feels warm, even during the middle of the day. I cannot hear any noise from the heater. Is it possible that it's not coming on, but feels warm due to the hot water in the tank? Maybe the lower element feels cool during the day because of cold water entering the tank at the bottom?
My concern is that I'm wasting electricity by the boost being on all the time, but I can't hear that immersion heater noise, so looking for another explanation as to why the heating element would feel warm.
Confusingly the switch to the upper element is always on (discovered today that this also provides electricity to our loft and tv aerial- previous owner seemed to enjoy dabbling in electrics). So I cant just switch it off!
There is a timer between the main switch and boost element, but this seems to be broken, display shows nothing and I have tried to reset. However if I press the 'on/auto/off' button a light comes on on the timer and the heater begins to make that ticking/heating up sound. I am hoping the 'broken' timer is still stopping the boost from coming on?
Sorry zero wiring/electrical knowledge, hope that made sense!
Thanks!
I am a bit concerned we are not using our immersion heater efficiently/or that something is not wired correctly, but need to get some basic questions answered first before I enlist the help of an electrician:
We are on economy 7 and the immersion heater has two heating elements (overnight and boost).
The bottom element feels warm in the morning and I can hear the heater on at night. We have enough hot water so this seems to be working fine, and I have no desire to use the boost function.
However the upper element always feels warm, even during the middle of the day. I cannot hear any noise from the heater. Is it possible that it's not coming on, but feels warm due to the hot water in the tank? Maybe the lower element feels cool during the day because of cold water entering the tank at the bottom?
My concern is that I'm wasting electricity by the boost being on all the time, but I can't hear that immersion heater noise, so looking for another explanation as to why the heating element would feel warm.
Confusingly the switch to the upper element is always on (discovered today that this also provides electricity to our loft and tv aerial- previous owner seemed to enjoy dabbling in electrics). So I cant just switch it off!
There is a timer between the main switch and boost element, but this seems to be broken, display shows nothing and I have tried to reset. However if I press the 'on/auto/off' button a light comes on on the timer and the heater begins to make that ticking/heating up sound. I am hoping the 'broken' timer is still stopping the boost from coming on?
Sorry zero wiring/electrical knowledge, hope that made sense!
Thanks!
0
Comments
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The top of the tank will always be warm - the hot water from the bottom element rises to the top.
Time to get an electrician in to split off the loft wiring and replace that timer.Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill1 -
Switch off the lower heater and let the tank get cold. Turn on the timer during the day and see whether the top half of the tank gets warm. If so that's OK, just don't use the boost unless you've been away or taken a dozen showers. Make sure the lower heater is on an E7 circuit switched by the meter.1
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