Economy 7 water heater

MaryD4007

Hi I'm hoping you guys can advise. I just moved I to my new rental flat on Friday. It has a economy 7 meter and the water is an immersion heater. With two switches one at the bottom and one further up. I turned on the bottom switch and left it on all night Friday and the water was not heated at all. The estate agent advised me to put on both switches and it did and the booster heated which is not great as if I left it on it would end up being expensive. Now ive just tried it again today turning it on in the day only the bottom switch and the water heater starts to make noise but also the water is warming. That's a little confusing and concerning as isn't the bottom switch suppose to only heat up at night hence economy 7. I can't keep it on as its gonna cost me a fortune and I have no clue what is going on. The electrician is coming on Wednesday but it's very annoying and confusing how this is supposed to work. There isn't even a manual. 

Gerry1

You've sussed it correctly.

Make sure you take meter readings (preferably with photos) and register with the existing supplier,.

Just make sure the dozy lettings agent hasn't made Spark or similar the supplier in order to monetise you, then do a comparison starting with Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?'.

Look at the meter to see when it changes to night rate, and don't forget that it may go back to day rate after two hours for two hours.

MaryD4007

Thanks for your advice. Apologies for my ignorance but I have never come across this type of meter before can you explain the picture below? Annoyingly the meter is blank showing nothing was like that when we arrived I have not been able to provide a reading to supplier yet, the agents are to provide me with a reading however they are taking ages to send it 

Gerry1

NEVER let an estate or lettings agent or anyone else take a meter reading, except an official meter reader.  Demand access and read it yourself tomorrow, otherwise you are likely end up paying for the previous occupant's use or the period when it was empty (which the lettings agent may have to pay for), which could be why they want to read the meter themselves.

Have you registered with the supplier?  That's urgent, otherwise you will be on an expensive deemed tariff.  Even worse, you estate agent may try to get you to sign up with an expensive supplier so that they get a bung at your expense.  You MUST understand and look after all the utilities yourself.  The estate agent is not your friend.

The photo is that of your E7 timeswitch, not the meter.  It comes on at 12:30am and goes off at 7:30am.  When the photo was taken it thought it was about 6:20pm, but it's likely to show GMT throughout the year.

MaryD4007

Thank you I appreciate the help. I can't actually take a meter reading as the meter is blank. There are also no bottons to press, again the landlord has been told about this and is sending electrician on Wednesday, who hopefully can fix this. It's annoying that the meter is in this condition for sure however I have told the supplier about this 

Gerry1

Assuming your electricity is not included as part of the rent and that you will be paying the bills directly, you need to confirm who your DNO is, then go to their website.  There should be a facility where you can enter your address and find out who your existing supplier is.  Register with them tonight and send them a meter reading tomorrow !

Don't have anything to do with the agent except getting access to your meter.

Gerry1

There won't be anything the landlord's electrician can do, the meter is sealed and must not be tampered with.  You need to contact your electricity supplier, so do it tonight !

• Who is the supplier and what are the tariff rates?

leonj

This is nothing to do with an electrician, you need to contact the supplier and tell them you have just moved in and the meter is faulty, blank screen otherwise they are going to fleece you

Gerry1

Your cowboy lettings agent has done a terrible job.  They gave dreadful advice about leaving both immersion heater switches on (perhaps they knew that it was faulty?) and they should have noticed that the meter wasn't working.  Again, perhaps they knew and didn't want to pay for the usage since the last tenant moved out?  Don't let them rip you off ! Cancel their electrician's visit and don't let them waste your time.

Robin9

Your first photo is not a meter but a timeswitch having two on's and two off's but used so that there is a single on/off  - on at 0030 and off at 0700 This should control the bottom switch of your immersion heater.

As Gerry1 has said ring your supplier about the faulty meter. If you can't read  it neither could the previous tenant -  disaster awaits.