How can I check whether this boiler is on?

[anon1233]

It's an electric boiler with two switches. The red switch turns it on manually but uses expensive day rate electricity. The bottom switch is supposed to let it come on overnight but I'm not sure how to tell if it on or not? There's no text saying on or off and no red light when switched on like with the red switch. Anyone got a clue? I have storage heaters that have suddenly stopped working because of this and I have no hot water so not sure if someone has flipped the switch or if there's a bigger problem. Need the heating urgently so don't have time to experiment...

https://ibb.co/L1q6q6H
https://ibb.co/GW0GW3k
https://ibb.co/NWd9Pzq

 

[terryplumb]

That's an unvented cylinder ,not a boiler.
Both switches have ON and OFF printed on them.
Your storage heaters that are not working ,are not related to those switches, they are for heating your cylinders domestic hot water.
Show us pics of your consumer unit/s or fuseboard .
If you are not getting hot water from the heating element that is on the higher tariff then there is a fault on the supply to the heating element ,or it is failed ,or the overheat stat has intervened.

 

[CBW]

One of the neon red switches appears upside down, so currently off instead of on?

 

[terryplumb]

One of the neon red switches appears upside down, so currently off instead of on?

They are both upside down !! Odd. One is on and one is off.

 

[anon1233]

That's an unvented cylinder ,not a boiler.
Both switches have ON and OFF printed on them.
Your storage heaters that are not working ,are not related to those switches, they are for heating your cylinders domestic hot water.
Show us pics of your consumer unit/s or fuseboard .
If you are not getting hot water from the heating element that is on the higher tariff then there is a fault on the supply to the heating element ,or it is failed ,or the overheat stat has intervened.

Sorry not sure what you mean? If you look at the third URL you can see the bottom switch doesn't have ON OFF printed on it, only the top red switch does. The second URL shows the top switch in its ON position. Here's a picture of the fusebox
https://ibb.co/7j6CmXr
@terryplumb
Water heater doesn't appear to be tripped. I am getting hot water but only on the higher tarriff when I manually switch on the red one. Before it would automatically heat at like 4am with night time rates but doesn't seem to be doing it anymore. From what I've read online these cylinders usually have two heating elements so could it be the bottom one has failed hence why no hot water/storage heating.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Need pics of your meter, consumer units etc- sounds as if you have the older style E7 or E10 setup (where a timeswitch energises certain circuits during offpeak hours). Many fault scenarios, depends what you've got. One possible scenario (given all the offpeak devices seem to be not working)- has your electricity supplier gone bust recently and your supply been taken on by a supplier of last resort? Who may not offer an E7 tarriff, or more likely uses tarriff times across the whole supply...

 

[terryplumb]

Sorry not sure what you mean? If you look at the third URL you can see the bottom switch doesn't have ON OFF printed on it, only the top red switch does. The second URL shows the top switch in its ON position. Here's a picture of the fusebox
https://ibb.co/7j6CmXr
@terryplumb
Water heater doesn't appear to be tripped. I am getting hot water but only on the higher tarriff when I manually switch on the red one. Before it would automatically heat at like 4am with night time rates but doesn't seem to be doing it anymore. From what I've read online these cylinders usually have two heating elements so could it be the bottom one has failed hence why no hot water/storage heating.

Take a closer look at your own 3rd pic of switch ,and better still go look at the switch itself. It is clearly marked on and off ,and is in the OFF position in your pic.
Thanks for the pic of fusebox ( consumer unit) unfortunately it doesn't appear to show ALL of the circuit breakers. Is there a second fusebox ( Consumer.unit) ??

 

[anon1233]

Take a closer look at your own 3rd pic of switch ,and better still go look at the switch itself. It is clearly marked on and off ,and is in the OFF position in your pic.
Thanks for the pic of fusebox ( consumer unit) unfortunately it doesn't appear to show ALL of the circuit breakers. Is there a second fusebox ( Consumer.unit) ??

Think you may be looking at the wrong switch @terryplumb. The top one in the 3rd url is marked ON OFF but that is only the manual one I use to top up during the day. If you look at the bottom of the picture, that is the one I'm not sure about as it has no ON OFF marking, just a little red light on the white switch which doesn't light up so no way to know! On your second point though, yes I didn't even realise. Checked it and I see this.

https://ibb.co/LQ3cjHX

The RCD has tripped so guess that was why. I'll flip it back up and hopefully that fixes it (as long as my switch is in the correct position lol).

Edit: seem to have a problem. I've flipped it and it doesn't trip again but I tried testing it with the test button and it doesn't trip like its supposed to. Tried the test on the rcds on the other fuseboard and they tripped so not sure if this is a cause for concern. Should I call an electrician?

 

[terryplumb]

Ah gotcha,your 2nd and 3rd pics are of the same switch ,and the lower switch is for the bottom immersion element.
Your other consumer unit is for the off peak tariff ,which supplies your storage heaters ,and lower immersion. It's RCD has tripped for a reason ,and may not trip when using the test button ,if you try whilst it's power is not energised. ( outside the times it is supplied by your energy supplier).
If it trips again you will need an electrician. If it doesn't trip ,you may find one heater ,or immersion doesn't work as it's faulty and caused the initial trip.

 

[magicmushroom666]

You may find that it trips again when the meter changes over to the cheap rate, that whole thing probably isn't energised until the meter switches over. If it trips again, you could try switching off the breakers and then putting them on one at a time to get closer to the fault, needs to be during the cheap rate time though.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Need the heating urgently

As you need the heating urgently, keep the 'water heater' MCB turned off, if the RCD still trips after the E7 switch over, the issue may be with the heating; if it doesn't, the water heater may be the problem!