Switch timer

inigma

Hello,
I am looking at buying a switch timer for my leccy boiler.  We live in a 2 bed flat and our leccy bill is over £300 a month, the majority of this is coming from our boiler that is switched on 24/7 (This is due to having a little one, we tried switching it off over night but then forgetting to switch it on again and not having hot water for little ones and ourselves)  As a work around i thought about getting a timer switch that you place over the boiler switch that will switch it on at set times through out the day.

Am I imagining this product, is it a thing? 

BellaBlondykeTheThird

Before the usual, electric boilers are the most expensive blah blah blah responses.

Yes you can get such a timer installed but check there isn't something already in situ perhaps post some pics of the unit and do you have a master thermostat on the house?

You could also setup an oil radiator with a thermostat in the little ones room and turn the heating off overnight for the rest of the flat.

Edit it's not clear if OP has storage heaters/panel heaters or an electric boiler wet system (pictures please OP)

Graham2

inigma said:
...

Am I imagining this product, is it a thing? 

Yes, any electric retailer will have such a thing. Many time switches also have 7 day schedules so you can have different times on different days of the week (e.g. for work/home days). Remember that immersion heaters are high current (typically 3 Kw or about 13 and a bit amps) so the time switch needs to have substantial switching capacity, at least 20 or 30 amps to provide a good safety margin to avoid over heating or wearing out prematurely.

FreeBear

BellaBlondykeTheThird said: Yes you can get such a timer installed but check there isn't something already in situ perhaps post some pics of the unit and do you have a master thermostat on the house?

Rather than fitting just a timer, I would suggest a programmable thermostat - This will allow you to set different temperatures throughout the day, and will help to save some energy.

But.... Having an electric boiler, I'm guessing that this is a rental property ?

If so, any changes should be done with the written consent of the landlord, and the work carried out by a qualified electrician.

Robin9

......................, the majority of this is coming from our boiler that is switched on 24/7  .........................

How have you calculated this ?  What do you mean by boiler -  just the hot water for washing etc -  often called an immersion heaater.


What form does your electric heating take ?  storage rads, panels, underfloor, wet system with a giant boiler ?

victor2

You can get smart switches controlled by an app. As well as a schedule, you can have a timer to just run the appliance for, say, 1 hour from when you switch it on. Just make sure that you get one that can handle the power the heater requires. 
Just Google "smart switch for water heater".

inigma

Right, I am by no means technical, it is a 2 bed flat that i own.

The boiler is about 4 foot high and has another football shaped boiler on top of it.  There are 2 switches on the wall, one is the main boiler that keeps things warm then one is a boost, we have the main boiler switch on not the boost switch.

As mentioned I am by no means technical or DIY orientated (If was to attempt to install something I would appear in a Michael Burke 999 style tv show).  I am just trying to work out my options so when I do get someone out then I know what I am asking for.

elsien

I think it would probably help if you posted some pictures.

Also answer the questions about what heating you’ve got in the flat, any thermostats and whether it’s a Combi boiler or an immersion heater?

victor2

A photograph or two could get you better suggestions.

inigma

For reference our average KWH usage was 33 KWH a day in December, I am buying timer plugs for the living room but these plug in to the wall and I can not do this with the boiler.

(not to criticise my wife and daughter but my bachelor days my energy usage was about £16 a month in 2015)

BellaBlondykeTheThird

inigma said:

For reference our average KWH usage was 33 KWH a day in December, I am buying timer plugs for the living room but these plug in to the wall and I can not do this with the boiler.

(not to criticise my wife and daughter but my bachelor days my energy usage was about £16 a month in 2015)

Was that in the same property with the same heating?

33 kWh for December is not that bad for 24/7 electric boiler so say 1000kwh a month.

Might I also ask which supplier you are with as with Octopus tracker that would have been £160 for December.

Even on the new tracker formula £200 instead of £300.