Replacing an old Economy 7 heater with a modern one, will I save much on electric bills?

Dandytf

Qyburn said:

Dandytf said:

Excuse photo''s limited space....
1st is RCD -Notice Down Switch Green after Red

Some switches to right of rcd went down today.

OK on that non-offpeak board the first switch with Red toggle labelled "Main Switch" is just a switch to cut power to all circuits served by that board. After that you have ..

RCD (Black toggle and Green label)
Then it looks like four MCBs for circuits protected by that RCD. If that RCD is off then those four circuits should be off as well.

Then another RCD followed by MCBs for its circuits.

A single fault could trip one MCB, one RCD, or or both. If more than one MCB trips you have something more serious than just a faulty appliance.

Is it fair to use Main Switch -Red you mention to switch everything off.
Also switch off 1st mcb items, then try one a time and restore Power and 1st RCD.
or is it possible to leave mains on before trying one mc a time and RCD.

Slightly confused as everything is working this morning.

thanks

Qyburn

I would leave it just now if everything is working. But to answer your question to check circuit by circuit you are OK to leave the main switch on while switching MCBs all off then back on one at a time.

But really it depends what if anything trips. In our old house a filament bulb blowing would often trip the lighting MCB but not RCD. But often an appliance will trip just the RCD, shutting off half the house and needing a bit of detective work to find which circuit and then which appliance.

I had a brief thought, I think the off peak Neutral may be common with the normal supply. I wonder if a Neutral to Earth contact, for example during installation work, could have tripped the house RCD. It is counter intuitive but touching N to E on a circuit that's switched off can cause a trip.

Gerry1

It's a good idea to power down and unplug sensitive electronic items such as computers, TVs etc before throwing any circuit breaker switches, especially the master one.  If there's an inductive load and you disconnect the whole mains supply there will be nothing upstream to dampen any voltage spikes.

It's a bit like disconnecting a car battery with the engine running, that's a big NoNo because you might find voltage spikes from the alternator could damage the radio and other sensitive items.

Dandytf

I'm now tempted to leave as is, with limited cupboard view due to wooden Frame water tanks it's very difficult to check.
Though I'll switch power off 1st and disconnect plugs.
Maybe tomorrow as I'm enjoying 21c 'Advance Extra charge hours.
Maybe those fuses tripped after I tried DQ Boost when there hadn't been any overnight storage, like a mini surge or spike.

thanks user's at least I have Electrician for bedroom panel heater late summer, and working DQ which is going to be very useful later this year.

Qyburn

Dandytf said:

Maybe those fuses tripped after I tried DQ Boost when there hadn't been any overnight storage, like a mini surge or spike.

You could be onto something there. "Boost" presumably come from the normal board with MCBs, not the off peak. What is the total boost power across all heaters? And what are the ratings of the MCBs for the circuits that tbey connect to?

Gerry1

IIRC the Boost element isn't much more than 1kW so it shouldn't cause any problems.  If it did, you'd really have fun using the kettle, washing machine or tumble dryer !

Dandytf

Thankfully website has correct daily cost, does this extortionate  App error occur often.


Here's affordable version.

Dandytf

Qyburn said:

Dandytf said:

Maybe those fuses tripped after I tried DQ Boost when there hadn't been any overnight storage, like a mini surge or spike.

You could be onto something there. "Boost" presumably come from the normal board with MCBs, not the off peak. What is the total boost power across all heaters? And what are the ratings of the MCBs for the circuits that tbey connect to?

Ive no idea other than I have ancient board in need of replacement, does that mean final heating/hot  water Eaton Fuses will go 
when new board is fitted.
No idea of current ratings, no change in RCD.

Qyburn

Dandytf said:

I have ancient board in need of replacement, does that mean final heating/hot  water Eaton Fuses will go when new board is fitted.

.

If you replace the off peak fuseboard the new board will require RCD, so will either be MCBs with separate RCD, or (better) have an RCBO for each circuit.

Dandytf

Finally 100% RCD switched on after I switched everything off and disconnected plugs.
No more Electricians until late summer early winter time.

thanks