Econ 7 not connected to immersion heater; does it matter??

[Adaptor]

Our one bed flat is all electric. (We are yet to move in)

We have economy 7 storage heaters and a regular sized hw tank with immersion heater. A PIR detected that the imersion heater is on day rate electric only.

The flat has an electric shower (no bath) . So we will never have demand for a great deal of water for a bath; just hand washing and washing up hot water is required.

In that case, do we need to bother reconnecting economy seven to the hot water tank as we do not need to store a great deal through the day.

Would just an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening be sufficient for our limited hot water use. Or do you think that reconnecting to E7 will be worth the savings , bearing in mind cost of new electrics and new immersion heater?

 

[Whitespirit66]

Depends how long you will live there. If you will be there a few years, then yes, get it connected to E7.

Only needs a spark to run a cable from the E7 controller near the consumer unit to the airing cupboard, and fit an E7 timer (eg Horstmann) next to the hw cylinder.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/44419...mbing-_-Horstmann Economy 7 Quartz Timeswitch

Not big bucks to connect, but electricity is an expensive way of heating anything, and will only get more expensive.

 

[Adaptor]

This may be a thick question, but can day rate and econ 7 be wired to the same immersion heater or are 2 immersions always required?

 

[Whitespirit66]

The E7 timer next to the cylinder will have 2 electricity supplies to it. One is E7 which is live during offpeak hours. You will use this for a couple of hours between midnight and 5 am approx.

The second electricity suply to the timer is connected to the normal standard rate supply. You turn this on during the day only if you need a boost, if you have used the whole tank of water.

If your cylinder has 2 holes for elements, you may need to have a second small element in the upper hole for use when boosting. If you only have one hole, then you just have the one element.

 

[ajrobb]

You could fit an immersion heater timer in the airing cupboard. You don't need to change to the switched supply to get cheap rate, just stick to the same hours. Timers allow you to override them during the day in case your Gran comes round and uses all your hot water washing up.

 

[Adaptor]

The electrician explained to me that on my meter, the whole supply will go cheap at offpeak time; hence the use of the timer. (even though I have two consumer units with one receiving off peak only to which storage heaters are wired)

I have learnt a bit more about economy 7 now!