Please Help Me - hot water problem with economy 7

[mzdifek]

I just moved in a new flat which uses economy 7 a few months ago. After I tried to reset some circuits of the control panel to understand how the system works, I lost hot water in the kitchen and in the sink and bath in the bathroom, although I still can get hot water from the shower. (The control panel says it's from electra tech).
Along with this, I only turn on one storage heater in the bedroom during night, but I found the consumed amount of electricity during night is similar to one during daytime. I was wondering if this is normal. I'm sure I am under the economy 7 tariff.
I don't know what to do now as it gets colder. Please help me with this problem.
Thanks.

 

[Tipper]

Probably best to repost this question on the Electrics UK part of the forum

 

[stem]

I just moved in a new flat which uses economy 7 a few months ago. After I tried to reset some circuits of the control panel to understand how the system works, I lost hot water in the kitchen and in the sink and bath in the bathroom, although I still can get hot water from the shower. (The control panel says it's from electra tech) .

Is the shower the instantaneous type? If so it will have a separate supply and not part of the Electra tech control. Assuming this is the case and the hot water for the sinks & bath are fed from a cylinder heated by an immersion, this should be turned on by the controls to heat the water during the off peak supply. My guess is that you have set the timing wrong and it is not switching on.

Along with this, I only turn on one storage heater in the bedroom during night, but I found the consumed amount of electricity during night is similar to one during daytime. I was wondering if this is normal. I'm sure I am under the economy 7 tariff.

Are you sure it's a storage heater? if so, it shouldn't be able to switch it on it during the day. Storage heaters charge up with heat during the night and release it during the day. (Bedrooms are often equipped with panel heaters which are different) Heaters will use the same amount of energy whenever connected to the supply, the only difference is that you are charged less for it during the 7 off peak hours.

Look at your meter(s) either you will have two meters one for normal rate and one for off peak, or a single meter with two displays one marked as "normal" and one marked as "low"

 

[mzdifek]

Thank you for your reply.
I think you are right; the shower is not part of the Electra tech control, as it always works properly.

I tried to turn on the switches of the immersion heaters (both top and bottom) all day long, but still no hot water from the sinks and bath. I didn't know I have to set up a timer for hot water. But the problem is that I don't know how, neither my landlord nor even plumber do, and the existing instruction is useless.
//media.diynot.com/130000_129202_16090_73941726_thumb.jpg
//media.diynot.com/130000_129202_16091_97113953_thumb.jpg

The first image is the immersion heater and the second one is the control panel.


I am almost sure all the heaters are part of Economy 7, which my plumber confirmed and the control panel shows. As I heard many people are unhappy with Economy 7 due to outrageous bills, I always make sure to turn on one heater in the bedroom only over night. I was wondering if the heaters still consume electricity when they are off, which has resulted in the consumption of 300kw only for night for the past 2 months.

Many thanks!

 

[stem]

I don't know how to operate the Electra tech controls. The Electra tech will turn on the power to the immersion heaters times controlled by it. I believe they are quite old now and are obsolete, so when the control panel fails it will need to be replaced.

Do any of your neighbours have an Electra tech system and know how to operate it?

If your landlord doesn't know how to operate it, can't provide operating instructions, or if it is faulty, he should replace it with something else anyway. That is his responsibility really.

Electric heating can be expensive compared to other fuels, and is better suited to modern well insulated properties, However off peak electricity usually costs less than a third of the normal rate and so if used by items that use power only at night such as storage heaters and immersion heaters shouldn't be too bad. There are some additional savings with electric heating, that should be taken into consideration, for example it doesn't need regular servicing, it is cheaper to install and if you don't have a gas supply there's a saving on the cost of a metered gas supply. (although the first two are only savings for your landlord)

The heaters won't use electricity if they're not switched on, like a car doesn't use fuel when the engines switched off.