dimplex quantum using peak electricity but not boost

lilac_dawn

Help please! I've just read my meter (yes, not a smart one...) to see that my daytime use has trebled this month. The finger of suspicion would point at one of the quantums I had installed recently. I can't see how they are drawing on the daytime rate though. The timers are set up for E7 (one is on E7 circuit, the other one not) and the day/time is fine. They are using E7 but one of them is also drawing from peak time somehow. 

On the newer one, the installer showed me how to go to heat source/boost/slect storage only to make sure that any boost wasn't using peak time. I can also select heat source/timer/storage only. Does anyone know what that does please?

On the older one, I don't have those options. The boost was selected for 1 hour. I have turned this off but I'd be surprised if it has used the boost at all as I leave the temp on it at a very low level. 

Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks

TheElectricCow

Have you checked your actual E7 times by watching the meter switch over, or is the Quantum just set to whatever the E7 time is supposed to be? 

Often the actual E7 times on the meter won’t exactly match what the supplier states they are, and on older meters especially clocks the clocks can drift over time causing the off-peak period to begin much later than it should (in some instances this may go as far as having the night rate kick in in the middle of the day!). If the Quantum has been manually programmed its specified charge times may not exactly match up with the E7 times causing some amount of charging on peak rates.

Gerry1

Do any Quantums have only a single supply?  If so they have to be wired differently internally otherwise they may charge up at peak day rate.  You should also arrange for one of the switched E7 circuit outlets to have a neon indicator so that you can check the exact switching times at a glance.  You'll need to programme the single circuit Quantum charge times to the exact E7 times because the installer probably wasn't present shortly before midnight to check.

Also beware of E7 split times in some regions where 0030-0230 is charged at peak day rate.

lilac_dawn

TheElectricCow said:

Have you checked your actual E7 times by watching the meter switch over, or is the Quantum just set to whatever the E7 time is supposed to be? 

Often the actual E7 times on the meter won’t exactly match what the supplier states they are, and on older meters especially clocks the clocks can drift over time causing the off-peak period to begin much later than it should (in some instances this may go as far as having the night rate kick in in the middle of the day!). If the Quantum has been manually programmed its specified charge times may not exactly match up with the E7 times causing some amount of charging on peak rates.

It's set at the correct times - it's set according to when the immersion and other older storage heater kicks in. I actually had to tell EDF the E7 times as they couldn't tell me - I should know, as I've lived with E7 for 20+ years!

lilac_dawn

Gerry1 said:

Do any Quantums have only a single supply?  If so they have to be wired differently internally otherwise they may charge up at peak day rate.  You should also arrange for one of the switched E7 circuit outlets to have a neon indicator so that you can check the exact switching times at a glance.  You'll need to programme the single circuit Quantum charge times to the exact E7 times because the installer probably wasn't present shortly before midnight to check.

Also beware of E7 split times in some regions where 0030-0230 is charged at peak day rate.

They both have neon lights to show when they are charging. They have been set up to account for the split time. In fact it's a pain as the first time has to be 00 to 00:30 and the last 22:30-00:00. 
I would think he has wired the single supply one correctly as he is very competent and could tell me about the extra menu to check on the boost usage.
Do you know what the heat source - timer select storage only would mean though? I can understand selecting the boost to only draw on the stored heat but am a bit confued about the timer and storage. 

Gerry1

lilac_dawn said:

Gerry1 said:

Do any Quantums have only a single supply?  If so they have to be wired differently internally otherwise they may charge up at peak day rate.  You should also arrange for one of the switched E7 circuit outlets to have a neon indicator so that you can check the exact switching times at a glance.  You'll need to programme the single circuit Quantum charge times to the exact E7 times because the installer probably wasn't present shortly before midnight to check.

Also beware of E7 split times in some regions where 0030-0230 is charged at peak day rate.

Do you know what the heat source - timer select storage only would mean though? I can understand selecting the boost to only draw on the stored heat but am a bit confued about the timer and storage. 

Best to refer to the installation and operating manuals.

https://www.dimplex.co.uk/support/guides

TheElectricCow

I’ve had a quick read of the installation manual (the standard user manual is unhelpfully lacking in detail regarding this function) for a Quantum and it definitely looks like you want your heat source/timer setting as storage only - it’s a little ambiguous still but dimplex simply state “With this setting it is possible to restrict the use of peak rate energy in the following modes: Boost, Timer, Setback”

With the timer properly configured it seems odd that it might override the charging times, but as you are in Timer mode this could possibly be the source of the issue.

lilac_dawn

The user manual is unhelpful as very basic. 

lilac_dawn

Gerry1 said:

lilac_dawn said:

Gerry1 said:

Do any Quantums have only a single supply?  If so they have to be wired differently internally otherwise they may charge up at peak day rate.  You should also arrange for one of the switched E7 circuit outlets to have a neon indicator so that you can check the exact switching times at a glance.  You'll need to programme the single circuit Quantum charge times to the exact E7 times because the installer probably wasn't present shortly before midnight to check.

Also beware of E7 split times in some regions where 0030-0230 is charged at peak day rate.

Do you know what the heat source - timer select storage only would mean though? I can understand selecting the boost to only draw on the stored heat but am a bit confued about the timer and storage. 

Best to refer to the installation and operating manuals.

https://www.dimplex.co.uk/support/guides

Thanks - I'll have another look tomorrow. Whatever they are doing, they are clearly not fully charging on peak - thankfully! - so I'm hoping the timer/storage only might have done the trick but will hav a better look tomorrow. 

Gerry1

IIRC there's a setting that limits the Boost kicking in automatically without your knowledge.  Great for keeping the room temperature rock steady but dire for the heating bills.

Consider changing it from the default (2 hours?) to zero.

You can always invoke a manual boost if there's a cold snap and the late afternoon or evening gets a bit chilly.

EssexHebridean

Unless they have changed things the default on the Quantums is that the boost isn’t automatically activated anyway.