E-on direct debit huge increase.

MWT

Silverlining28 said:

MWT said:

Silverlining28 said:

Gone up by 4 now with everything switched off and being out at work. Only thing that has been on is fridge.

Is that consistent with when those photos were actually taken?

First pic taken 9 October 2021 16:22
Second pic taken 10 October 2021 17:05

All looks good then.

You need to get back onto Economy 7 and complain that you were moved off it without your approval.

A recalculation of your correct billing on that basis would significantly reduce, but probably not eliminate any debt you've built up, and then a move to around £60/month DD should keep you positive after clearing any remaining debt.

Obviously going to be a bit of a change when your fix runs out though...

MWT

Silverlining28 said:

Sea_Shell said:

How do you control when it comes on/goes off?   Timer?  Thermostat?   

Aye looks like its run by a thermostat.

If there is no timer it may just be wired to to the E7 circuit so it comes on during the cheap rate period each day.

Sea_Shell

MWT said:

Silverlining28 said:

Sea_Shell said:

How do you control when it comes on/goes off?   Timer?  Thermostat?   

Aye looks like its run by a thermostat.

If there is no timer it may just be wired to to the E7 circuit so it comes on during the cheap rate period each day.

Interesting.

Surely it would have a "boost" button or override, in case you need more during "day" hours.

Can it not be turned off when you go away on holiday etc?

Seems very expensive (and uneconomical) to have it coming on automatically every day, if you're not there to use any hot water?


It's like keep re-boiling the kettle, when you don't want a cup of tea!

tim_p

Silverlining28 said:

Sea_Shell said:

How do you control when it comes on/goes off?   Timer?  Thermostat?   

Aye looks like its run by a thermostat.

Not if you mean 5 it isn’t. That’s where a thermostat for a indirect heated water tank would go (so gas boiler, for example, heats water which flows through pipes connected to an internal coil at 2)
there will, or should be a thermostat within the immersion at 4 but that only sets the tank water temp and isn’t something that will usually get adjusted. We’re thinking it needs a timer somewhere otherwise it could be on 24/7 which can add up or, it’s controlled by an E7 time switch (so on between 0030 and 0730 ish)

MWT

Sea_Shell said:

MWT said:

Silverlining28 said:

Sea_Shell said:

How do you control when it comes on/goes off?   Timer?  Thermostat?   

Aye looks like its run by a thermostat.

If there is no timer it may just be wired to to the E7 circuit so it comes on during the cheap rate period each day.

Interesting.

Surely it would have a "boost" button or override, in case you need more during "day" hours.

Can it not be turned off when you go away on holiday etc?

Seems very expensive (and uneconomical) to have it coming on automatically every day, if you're not there to use any hot water?


It's like keep re-boiling the kettle, when you don't want a cup of tea!

I don’t disagree, but if there really isn’t a timer then it would logically depend on the E7 circuit to switch on.
Heat losses will be very low with that tank so it isn’t going to waste much keeping it up to temperature if there has been little use. 

QrizB

Thank you very much for the photo of your got water cylinder.

Where does that white cable go? To a switch, perhaps one with a red light, or to something else?

And is there another one just like it, lower down on the cylinder?

Silverlining28

QrizB said:

Thank you very much for the photo of your got water cylinder.

Where does that white cable go? To a switch, perhaps one with a red light, or to something else?

And is there another one just like it, lower down on the cylinder?

Seems to connect to two switches at the back. Also there is this thing on the top.

QrizB

The white thing on top is the expansion vessel. It takes up the change in volume when your water is heated.

The two switches are for the two immersion heaters in your tank. The one you can see is the upper immersion heater, for use when you only want a partial tank of water. The one you can't see in the lower one which heats the whole tank.

It looks to me as though they are both switched on at the moment. You could try switching off the lower heater and see whether you can get through the day on half a tank of water. If so, this might save you a bit of electricity. (Be careful, though; it might make your daytime rate consumption increase and you don't really want that to happen, assuming you can convince E.ON to put you back onto E7.)

Bexie1989

Turn both those switches off! That's your problem right there. Usually if an immersion heater has two switches like this, one is connected to the economy 7 rate, and it will come on automatically when the night rate kicks in (still expensive as it just stays on allllllll night until it stops again), and usually the other switch is a "Boost" switch, in case you need more hot water during the day - it will be on, constantly, all day, no matter which electric rate you're on.

I also have an immersion heater with two switches and this is exactly how it's set up. I never, ever turn it on, because it costs so much money! (On my old rate, which was 14.5p per unit, it cost 55p an hour!). They're basically giant kettles that heat up the water in the tank constantly, all the time. We have no need for it really - our shower is electric and heats it's own water, we've got a wee countertop dishwasher (and before we got that we just boiled the kettle once to get some hot water to wash up), and washing machines are cold fill only. Having it on would just mean we have some very expensive hot water for washing our hands, and I'm not bothered about that! Hands get a bit chilly in the winter, but it's not worth 55p+ an hour!

If you don't actually have much use for the actual hot water supply, just turn both switches off. You wont miss it and you'll save a huge amount of money.

SPOWER

This all seems very complicated for myself.  So basically, we have all this heating etc powered by electricity and yet the advice is not to use it because it too expensive.  Too complicated - I just got a new gas boiler installed and was starting to regret it, when you read here about heat pumps yadda yadda.  Glad I got it now and I don't need to be a Philadelphia lawyer to work it all out.