economy 7 not heating hot water

[wheneverican]

We have economy 7 to heat water tank plus night storage heaters. The heaters are fine an dnice an dhot. The water however is not heating up - if we turn on the emmersion in the day for 30 mins we get hot water but it is not heating up as it should over night.
Any ideas?

Thanks
Simon

 

[simond]

Typically you will have an off peak immersion (spelling!) and a peak rate immersion.

The off peak will only come on when the storage heater supply is on. Because this heater gets the most use it will be the first to get scaled up and then overheat and blow itself to bits.

So in all probability you need a new immersion element, but there are combined and singular types and since you have given only the most basic info, my answer is going to be vague at this stage.

 

[wheneverican]

I suspect you are right - we have very hard water and the tank is about 15 years old ++

Is this a DIY job, how to i tell what element is buy, or should i just call a plumber in?

My DIY skills extend to moving and fitting new radiators, installing power showers etc but not done anything on a tank before

 

[wheneverican]

this may be a stupid question but anyway - if i wanted to check that power is getting to the element (i have a DVM) - bearing in mind its economy 7 then i am guessing i will have to do it in the early hours of the morning? - is there a way around this?

 

[Nige F]

there is and it involves an electric clock ..and it`s totally NON-Part P compliant