Economy 7 old immersion timer water tank

Katio

Hi
My daughter has just moved into flat fitted with Ecomony 7. She has twin style immersion tank with a fuse box switch and the bottom tank cable goes into old smiths timer. Can’t see any separate cables or switches to top boost tank. Should she therefore use timer to just set night time hours? Previous owner had no ‘timer pins’ in so it was on all the time. However would this not also cause top tank to heat too and keep topping up all day? More modern timers have ‘ boost function’. She doesn’t. Left off on timer overnight and she says tank cold. Had electric shower anyway and Elunr modern storage heaters so no need for lots hot water. One bed ground floor flat. Thanks. 

Alnat1

If she can manage by boiling a kettle for doing dishes etc. when she needs hot water then she might not need to heat the tank at all, that will definitely be the cheapest way.

EssexHebridean

Worth checking whether the thermal cutout has triggered - if it has then it doesn't matter what she does with the controls - it still won't heat! She'll be looking for a (usually, at least) round plastic cover - she should turn off the power at the fuse to the immersion, then remove that plastic cover and the cutout is below it (that is also often where the adjustment for temperature of water can be found too) - if it is sticking up or flush with the plastic housing then it probably needs something like the tip of a ballpoint pen to push it back down again - but she would be best to google for clearer instructions. If it does turn out to be this then I'd strongly suggest she will need to make sure that she heats it on daytime electric while she is at home the first time for safety's sake to make sure that the thermostat is OK - if the cutout triggers again then it will need investigation. 

While she might decide that the immersion isn't vital, it's certainly a lot less faff to be able to just turn a tap for face washing/washing up etc than having to boil a kettle each time - it's down to the individual though and how tight the budget is really. From our perspective the amount for heating the tank overnight is worth paying for the convenience, for others it may not be. And of course if she has a bath and wants to use it, she'll definitely need the tank! 

FreeBear

Alnat1 said:

If she can manage by boiling a kettle for doing dishes etc. when she needs hot water then she might not need to heat the tank at all, that will definitely be the cheapest way.

Even although I have gas to heat a tank of water, I'll boil the kettle for washing up & stuff. The HW tank only gets heated up on bath night, the rest of the time, electric shower.

If this flat is now owned by daughter (rather than rented), I'd consider a more modern time switch.

Katio

Thanks will look into better time switch as no idea if this old timer also heats top tank part when on as that will cost her more I  think. Tank is very old copper one and very little lagging around it. Might need plumber to check I guess. She will boil kettle for now. Bill seems very high so far but new storage heaters were on wrong settings we believe. Another story! 

EssexHebridean

If it helps to post details of the storage heaters here then people might be able to help with advice on those. 

Lagging jackets can be got for a relatively small expenditure from places like Screwfix. Advice is often to add a new one over the top of the old one already in place. 

Mstty

Alnat1 said:

If she can manage by boiling a kettle for doing dishes etc. when she needs hot water then she might not need to heat the tank at all, that will definitely be the cheapest way.

This is by far the best advice on this thread👍

With an electric shower there is little need for any hot water and if needed as already said boil the kettle it's cheaper by a country Mike.

Section62

Katio said:

Previous owner had no ‘timer pins’ in so it was on all the time. However would this not also cause top tank to heat too and keep topping up all day? More modern timers have ‘ boost function’. She doesn’t. Left off on timer overnight and she says tank cold.

The timer pins are the four metal things in the oval area below the word 'Smiths'. They are in this 'storage' position.  They can be moved out into the inner or outer rings to set on/off times.

The manual override is in the top right corner - the 'peg' in the slot can be moved up (to switch off) or down (to switch on), but won't automatically switch off until the timer gets to next set 'off' time (if any).  If only two pins are used to set an on-off period, then one tip if you do a manual override is to insert one of the spare pins into an 'off' setting say in 1 hour's time... that way if you forget to switch the manual override off the timer will do it automatically.  There's no harm in putting spare pins in various 'off' positions (in the daytime) and leaving them there.

TBH so long as the timer works then I wouldn't bother replacing it.  They are simple and reliable, and the absence of a 'boost' function shouldn't really be an issue - if a daytime boost is regularly needed then a different HW strategy should be considered.

Gerry1

The problem with a motorised timer is that an unnoticed power cut will mean that it will thereafter keep switching at the wrong times.  That can work out very expensive if the tank heats up using peak E7 rates.