PulsaCoil2000 water and Storage Heaters

TheGardener

One of the kids had just moved out to start a new job  - found a flat and moved in a month ago. Heating is storage heaters and there is a PulsaCoil2000 system for heating water. The whole system was installed in 2004. We don't have any record of previous electricity usage and although we have found a manual online - we're really not sure how to make the best use of the water system without it costing more in electricity than the rent. 
Does anyone have/is familiar with one of these systems? 
A smart meter is being fitted in a couple of weeks but as the meters are in the basement of a converted building it's nigh on impossible to track the electricity usage in the meantime. 

tacpot12

I'm not familiar with them, but I've also found the manual and had a read. 

You need to find out how the On-Peak and Off-Peak immersion heaters are controlled, e.g. with manual boost switches or time clocks. Also check to see that boost switches have a timer on them, so that the boost is only active for a limited time. The manual lists how much hot water they will get if they turn on the On-peak heater for long enough.

They should be fairly efficient if used with a tarrif that has on and off-peaks, and the clocks are set correctly to match when the off-peak electricity is available. 

How to use the system best will depend on their water needs. If they have a family, and need a lot of hot water, heating the entire tank with off-peak electricity will be best. If they don't need much hot water, and the on-peak heater doesn't already have a programmable timer, it may be better to add such timer to the boost (on-peak heater) so they can run just the on-peak heater at off-peak times. (The heater doesn't know whether it is on or off peak - it's just a dumb immersion heater. The electricity doesn't know whether it is on or off peak. Only the clocks know what is peak and off peak, and they only know this if they are set correctly by the tenant.    

TheGardener

Thank you  - Well, it seems Scottish Power has not given them an on/off peak tariff. They were told that the previous tenant's bills had used less than 30% of off peak rate so it was better for them to be on a SVT. Of course, we don't know how the previous tenant used the boiler or heating. 
A smart meter being fitted on the 12th will help. 
No children - young working couple out most of the day so a shower each + washing up after dinner.

Apodemus

They've got a tough dilemma there!  New to property, so no past experience of likely usage, a system designed for off-peak but running on SVT, coming into winter and rising electricity prices - it's like an alignment of the planets!  In normal times, I would have thought that they were best to leave the tariff as-is while they learn about the system and their needs, but with winter approaching and rising costs, I would think they might be better getting back onto an off-peak tariff, while they learn.

TheGardener

Yes, I tend to agree. I spoke to a really helpful chap at SP and he said they should ring the 'change of tenant team' and they would explain it all but of course they didn't, they did it all online. The advice of parents who have been running households for over 35 years can't compete with the speed of an online application...I'm relieved they're getting a smart meter and will be able to see the impact. When they leave home there are some things they have to learn the hard way I guess...but this might be too big a lesson to deal with so early on. I'll have another chat with them.