Boiler died - does immersion work?

Albermarle

housebuyer143 said:

Albermarle said:

housebuyer143 said:

It appears to be working! I'm just going to leave it on permanently because it's not realistic to wait 3 hours for a tank of water to heat. Dread to see my electric bill. 
It's probably a new boiler job tbh as it's 24 years old. 

Normally though you are not heating the water from stone cold. If the tank is hot, then even if you have a couple of showers, it is likely to be still at least tepid, so will not take so long to heat up.
Although if you have an old copper hot water tank, with lagging around it, it will not keep the heat in very well compared to a modern hot water tank.
You may want to consider a combi boiler and do away with the hot water tank altogether, depending on how heavy your hot water usage is.

Thanks, we have a megaflow cylinder so it's really good, and only 18 months old. I really like the tank and in this case it's super useful to have a back up for hot water. We don't use that much hot water really, normally only heat it 20 mins in morning and 20 mins in evening and that is normally enough. 

Good point regarding the water, it's not likely to be cold because we don't normally run the water to cold when using it. Hard to know what's best, but it's probably cheaper to turn it on for a few hours morning and evening. 

OK we have the same system and have also had a couple of short periods with the boiler out of action. I found having the electric immersion for about 90 mins a day was enough ( two showers and a bath) so no need to leave it on for hours I do not think. 

twopenny

I've had an immersion in my last property and this.

If you've been through the Beast from the East with no boiler it's an absoloute treasure.

Half an hour a day usually keeps all that water topped up hot - but if you let it go cold then expect longer depending on where you live and time of year.

Granted I was advised the gas boiler for half an hour in the mornings but the same applies.

Top up the heat daily. Short bursts.

Remember if you use a bit then it fills up with cold dropping the heat. So little and often.

Find the thermostat if you can to check what you're heating to and adjust that accordingly

knightstyle

If the immersion is buzzing when on it could be a loose connection and will eventually need repairing or replacing.  Can you or someone you know check the connections are tight?  Obviously make sure it is isolated firdt.

housebuyer143

What do you know - today after literally having power failure on Sunday and not turning on at all - the boiler just came back on and is firing up again 🤣👍 
Still going to replace it because this is the second time this month it's gone haywire but at least I don't have to rush. 

Albermarle

housebuyer143 said:

What do you know - today after literally having power failure on Sunday and not turning on at all - the boiler just came back on and is firing up again 🤣👍 
Still going to replace it because this is the second time this month it's gone haywire but at least I don't have to rush. 

housebuyer143 said:

What do you know - today after literally having power failure on Sunday and not turning on at all - the boiler just came back on and is firing up again 🤣👍 
Still going to replace it because this is the second time this month it's gone haywire but at least I don't have to rush. 

If you give the make and model of the boiler, and the exact sequence of events, you may get some good pointers from some other posters.