Smart meter installation gone a bit wrong

Bluey87

Yes it certainly seems it has begun to save us money already. 

The immersion is still switched off at the wall in the cellar so I’ll keep it that way for now. 

It’s a shame I can’t control the immersion, it definitely seems to come on when ever it feels like it. I was concerned I’d turned off the thermostat for the cylinder but I can’t see that being a setting that mere mortals can just flick a switch because surely it might cause a lot of issues with the rest of the system itself. 

QrizB

Bluey87 said:

The immersion is still switched off at the wall in the cellar so I’ll keep it that way for now. 

It’s a shame I can’t control the immersion, it definitely seems to come on when ever it feels like it.

In very general terms, there are three ways for an immersion to be controlled:

1. On/off with a switched fused spur. In this case, when "on" the immersion heater will respond to its built-in thermostat, heating the HW tank whenever it's colder than the 'stat setting.
2. With a dedicated timeswitch, where the immersion heater is switched per the settings on the timeswitch. Timeswitches come in various versions but typically are 24h (same settings every day) or 5/2-day (different settings for weekdays and weekends). The immersion heater 'stat will still turn off the heater if not reqired.
   
3. With a smart switch, similar to a timeswitch but controlled via an app on your phone, via a ZigBee hub or via some sort of Alexa / Siri / Home Automation integration. The immersion heater 'stat will still turn off the heater if not reqired.

It sounds as thought you've got option 1.

Bluey87

Yes I’ve got option 1 for sure. 

I may look into option 3. As previously mentioned my electrician even though we gave him specific guidelines seemed to go off on his own and do what he wanted, which has cost us hundreds of pounds unnecessarily over the course of a couple of years since the tank was commissioned. 

Scot_39

Your likely never - at anything like current pricing gas vs electric - ever normally going to really want immersion style electric heating your tank.

Id leave it off - purely for use as an emergency standby facility - in case you ever lose the gas for few days (callout response / parts etc).

Hot water on tap can make a heating free "freezing" home a lot more bearable.

As long as you have a switch - i'd say ideally in the vicinity of the tank - to isolate it - maybe clearly labelled - for future.

Mines is literally 0.5m from the tank - as the short free air run cable leaves the switched spur on the wall into the immersion / thermostat - so pretty obvious - no labelling required.  

But I could just throw off at the labelled CU MCB / switch - or in my case even it's double pole incoming from meter isolator switch - if has it's own as used to be split from NSH.

(Not sure where your cellar switch vs CU vs tank location)

Bluey87

I set up my phone in the next cellar room and gave the cable a little movement so I could see that it was going into the isolator as I got a little concerned I had switched something off that shouldn’t be. 

So far today my electric costs have been much lower which is good, I’m really pleased with the energy meter and the Hugo app. 

I’m now tussling with the UFH in one of the bathrooms, I don’t think it works as the floor gets as warm as a burp on a cold day. Leaving it on for an hour to see if it gets warm. 

EssexHebridean

i struggle to feel that our UFH in thr bathroom really does anything, but when it is on the room is definitely warmer and although I wouldn’t say the floor feels “warm” I also wouldn’t say it feels cold underfoot, if you know what I mean? Best bet would be to use a separate thermometer in the room so you can see if there is a temperature change. 

jennifernil

Bluey87 said:

Yes it certainly seems it has begun to save us money already. 

The immersion is still switched off at the wall in the cellar so I’ll keep it that way for now. 

It’s a shame I can’t control the immersion, it definitely seems to come on when ever it feels like it. I was concerned I’d turned off the thermostat for the cylinder but I can’t see that being a setting that mere mortals can just flick a switch because surely it might cause a lot of issues with the rest of the system itself. 

I would think that option 1 is the way most systems where the central heating is powered by gas, oil, or other alternative, are set up.  Certainly ours is like that.  There is no real need to spend money on anything more sophisticated as the electric immersion is only intended as a back up should the gas fail or the boiler dies.   So your electrician has just wired it in the normal way.

Will 2 x 30 minutes of heating the water by gas be sufficient if you like long hot showers?   We have a tado control system for our heating and HW and can set it to be on all the time if we wish,  but we have it timed to be on before and when showering, plus a mid day boost of 30 minutes for dishwashing.

FreeBear

Scot_39 said:

Your likely never - at anything like current pricing gas vs electric - ever normally going to really want immersion style electric heating your tank.

Id leave it off - purely for use as an emergency standby facility - in case you ever lose the gas for few days (callout response / parts etc).

Don't recall the last time I ever used the immersion heater with the old DHW tank - Went as far as removing the fuse 10-15 years ago... Have an electric shower should the current boiler ever go faulty, and hot water in the kitchen comes from a kettle.

Qyburn

Bluey87 said:

Yes I’ve got option 1 for sure. 

One other thing you can do is turn down the thermostat on the immersion heater. Set it lower than the cylinder stat or whatever controls the gas water heating.