Immersion heater/timer

CasualMFW

Hello,
My hot water is only used for washing up and the occasional bath and is heated via a hive system. I turned the immersion off as soon as I moved in, the previous owners had it set to "on" alongside heating water for 12 hours per day via hive 🤷‍♀️
I am with octopus and have a go tariff meaning I pay a reduced rate of 7p fkr 4 hours overnight.

If possible (I know very little about heating and boiler systems) I would like to install a timer/plug to use the immersion heater over the 4 hour period as I feel it will be cheaper.

Has anyone done this before or can offer any suggestions on how this can be done?
 
Thanks 😊 

Bendy_House

Although the previous arrangement was nuts, it wasn't as 'bad' as it might first appear. Once the boiler or the immersion heater gets the hot tank up to temp, the heating turns off. So, even tho' it was 'on' for most of the time, it actually wasn't. But still nuts Yes, an electronic timer 'should' be straight-forward to fit. And that sounds like a good rate to take advantage of.

What sort of meter do you have? How will 'Pus know that you used this leccy overnight? That's the first thing to find out - if necessary, ask them. Or post a pic of your meter and see if anyone on here understands it.

And then there's the controlling/timing of the immersion. For this, it would help to see what switches you currently have in the 'airing' cupboard that supply it.

Kiran

You can get a T-smart immersion heater, it's a direct replacement for an existing one. It can be controlled and viewed via an app etc so you can setup time schedules when you are on your cheap rate. Less than £100 last time I looked, take a look at the YouTube videos for full functionality 

Jonboy_1984

For a non-smart/app simple control anything on this page https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Timers_Index/Timers_Wired/index.html should work, but as mentioned pictures of the current setup would help. 

(The fully mechanical ones will stop in the event of a power cut, and so need checking periodically to check they still line up with your cheap rate).

Section62

Kiran said:

You can get a T-smart immersion heater, it's a direct replacement for an existing one. It can be controlled and viewed via an app etc so you can setup time schedules when you are on your cheap rate. Less than £100 last time I looked, take a look at the YouTube videos for full functionality 

Replacing a working standard immersion heater with a 'smart' one is nuts IMV.  It converts an electrical job into an electrical/plumbing job, increasing the cost of installation and future replacement.

Replacing the existing thermostat with a 'smart' one is slightly less nuts, and that is all you'll get for £100 around £120, to which you need to add the cost of installation.

For most people who have a cheap off-peak rate like the OP there is simply no need to make it any more complicated than having a simple timer which switches the immersion heater on/off within the cheap rate period.  A standard thermostat will take care of only using as much electricity as required to heat the hot water cylinder to the required temperature.

Bendy_House

Thought the same, S62, but just checked out YouTube, and impressed to find that the T-Smart can seemingly be retrofitted to existing IHs - ie you just swap the thermostat part. If so, that looks like a cracking device.

At 2:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=521Vuoa2p2g

Bendy_House

Anti-frost and anti-Legion features too! Lawd, I wish I had a hot tank :-(

Section62

Bendy_House said:

Thought the same, S62, but just checked out YouTube, and impressed to find that the T-Smart can seemingly be retrofitted to existing IHs - ie you just swap the thermostat part. If so, that looks like a cracking device.

That's what I was saying - around £120 gets you a replacement thermostat only.

It still appears to be technology for the sake of technology though.  It isn't like you can use the 'smart' functions to tell the heating you'll be early/late home from work and to adjust the 'on' time accordingly.  With an immersion heater you need to heat the water when the electricity is cheap... and until variable TOU tariffs are more common/cheaper there's limited point to having anything other than a simple timeclock to make use of the fixed hours of cheap-rate electricity.

Though if you love gadgets rather than money saving....  it could be the ideal way of spending the equivalent of the cost of 1700 kWh of off-peak electricity.

Bendy_House

Smart 'stat part on its own seemingly available for around £80.

Easy installation - one existing cable connection. Super-easy to program and alter timings via your phone, and the added benefit of other features if away from home - anti-Legion, etc.

Compared with a manual timer which needs pins pushing to select timings, doesn't have Summer-Time comp, doesn't have any auto features, requires a visit to the airing cupboard and a good pair of glasses to alter, needs securing to the wall - what a pain - two sets of wiring connections at a min, and looks ugly. For probably the same price.

ComicGeek

I bought a Timeguard timeswitch for our immersion a few months ago for £30 (looks like it's £42 on Amazon now). Don't really care what it looks like as it's in the airing cupboard - auto BST, and I only needed to set it once and then left ever since. Easy to install, took about 15 mins. I just turn off the switch when I don't want it running or am away, quicker than opening an app on a phone.

I heat our cylinder using our cheaper GO 7.5 p/kWh elec tarrif, rather than 10-11 p/kWh gas - however I bought it when I thought that gas was going to be 15 p/kWh plus next year, and may not have bothered with the current gas price cap as I've calculated it only saves me about £80 a year.

Bendy_House

Hah! Did you factor in the cost of a pattress box?