E-on direct debit huge increase.

QrizB

Bexie1989 said:

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.

Sorry but that's just nonsense.

If it ran all day your water tank would be literally boiling. The immersion heater has a thermostat and once the tank is up to temperature, around 60C, it turns the power off.

MWT

QrizB said:

Bexie1989 said:

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.

Sorry but that's just nonsense.

If it ran all day your water tank would be literally boiling. The immersion heater has a thermostat and once the tank is up to temperature, around 60C, it turns the power off.

Agreed, the meter readings would suggest there is a full tank being heated overnight, but that it all.

Given those two switches though it is hard to believe that there isn't a control panel somewhere to allow a 'boost' selection...

Silverlining28

Bexie1989 said:

Turn both those switches off! That's your problem right there. 

Have switched them off, if I need hot water I'll switch it on but no point having it on all the time if not using it. 

Thanks

tim_p

Silverlining28 said:

Bexie1989 said:

Turn both those switches off! That's your problem right there. 

Have switched them off, if I need hot water I'll switch it on but no point having it on all the time if not using it. 

Thanks

If and when you do, try just switching the top one on for an hour or two and see if that’s enough. Maybe start taking daily meter readings at the same sort of time to get an idea of the effect you’re having, along with a daily consumption. 

Bexie1989

Still, even if it turns on and off, it costs an a lot of amount of money for very little use. I should mention, though, that another reason I don't use mine is because I believe it's on the blink - the one time I did put it on, I woke up to a very strange groaning, creaking noise, trace it to the cupboard with the heater and I could hear the water inside it boiling away, and the water coming out the taps was steaming. Mine, at the very least, either doesn't have a thermostat or it's faulty. There's also no insulation on it either, so it loses the heat more quickly. Landlord doesn't really want to know, so, it stays off.

Even if it did have a working thermostat and proper insulation, I'm still not turning it on just for the privilege of washing my hands in warm water. It's still completely daft heating a whole tank up just for that!

Also, Silverlining, I bought one of these: https://geotogether.com/product/minim/

I have a smart meter, but no IHD, so I bought my own. You don't need a smart meter for it to work - you can just clip it onto one of the cables going into your meter and it will transmit your exact usage to the display. If something starts using more energy, you'll see it right away. No guesswork as to when and why you're using loads of electric.

Bought it when I somehow managed to use £70! of electric in July and cut my usage down to £45 in August and £39 last month, just because I had more knowledge of what's actually costing the most. I've found it very useful.