I was postulating a theory that many of those 'occasional backup' immersions are plugged into a ring main somewhere and don't have a dedicated feed. I might be wrong, of course. (It would be interesting to see what any plumbers who read this think).
Distance of immersion switch from copper tank
- Thread starter Possom
- Start date
You may be right (although I think all the 'back-up' immersions I've ever seen have been hard wired) but the chances of that brief and very rare occurrence resulting in any problems of any sort.
Furthermore, as is sometimes reported here, there are apparently a good few immersions that have been fed from plugs/sockets for many years without problems.
Plugging an immersion into a ring is really not much 'worse' than plugging in an oven or heater, the main issue being whether a so-called 13A plug/socket can tolerate a long-term 13A load without suffering thermal damage. It certain;y 'should' be able to cope with that, but seeming doesn't always!
Presumably plugging one into an extension lead is much more dangerous. When I was a student I had one of those two-bar electric heaters (presumably 2KW) which I had plugged into a socket via an extension (along with various other things). I often left it on all night in winter. The plug did get hot...I would never do that now!
That depends entirely on the 'rating' of the extension lead (which essentially depends upon the size of the cable). If ut's rated for 13A, then, apart from the 'trip hazard' if it's lying on the floor, plugging anything into it is no different from plugging it into a socket.
I've seen some amazing 'electrical setups' in student accommodation in my time
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