Horstman BX2000 Immersion Heater Controller - Help

[murphy1989]

Hi,

After a bit of advice as I have absolutely no experience with heating, electrics etc.

I have just moved into a new flat and it is fitted with a Horstman BX2000 control for the immersion heater. We have, since we moved in, had both the Normal Supply switch turned ON and the ECO Supply switch turned ON. So far, so great and we have hot water all the time (sometimes a bit too hot) and everyone is happy.

Anyway to cut a long story short, we recently put a meter reading in online and our usage was sky high. We have yet to have the heating on and it was showing that we use 44 kWh per day and our bill worked out around £100 per month. So after a bit of investigating I feared that that the immersion heater may have been on all day and so switched off the Normal Supply but left the ECO supply on for 1 day. I kept an eye on the meter and it now seems to be at a normal rate, increasing by around 7 a day rather going up by around 17-20.

However, get up this morning and the ECO supply has not kicked in over night and we had no hot water.
When I turn on the Normal Supply I hear the every start up.

So after the background, I have two questions:

Firstly, do I have to have to have both switched (Normal and Eco) switched on in order for the ECO supply to kick in?

If so, could there be an issue where by the Normal Supply is for some reason constantly on causing the bill increase?

Any help much appreciated.

 

[JohnD]

What colour is your cylinder?

It is possible that the thermostat on one of your immersion heaters has failed. This could cause overheating, excess cost, and cause the other one to trip off. Please post photos of your cylinder, pipework wiring around it and the immersion heater caps.

Do you have "economy 7" or similar offpeak electricity tariff?

A typical hot cylinder contains roughly 100 litres of hot water and takes roughly 100 minutes at 3kW to heat, which is about 5kWh.

Overheating is dangerous as well as costly.

If you have a cold tank above or in the loft, see if it is warm. Look for signs of overflow pipes releasing water.

 

[flameport]

When I turn on the Normal Supply I hear the every start up.

The heater should only operate when one of the oval grey Boost buttons is pressed.
If the heater is activated just by turning on the white 'normal supply' switch then the controller has failed or is wired incorrectly. Or both.

Normal operation for the BX2000 is to leave both white switches on all the time. Water is heated during off peak hours automatically (switched by the electricity meter or similar), and if extra water is required in the day, pressing one of the grey buttons will switch the heater on for one or two hours.
They can be wired for a one or two immersion heaters but the operation is the same.