Immersion heater question

[oscarblue]

Hi,
my daughter and her two year old son live in a 2 bed council owned house, and since she has been there, about a year, I have noticed that the hot water seems very hot, there is no gas to the property so all heating is electric. There is a very large hot water tank, haven't measured it but its about 5' x 2' and it has two emersion heaters, one at the base of the tank and another near the top. One of the two is a booster, (I assume the one at the top of the tank??) and the other is on a white meter to take advantage of cheaper rate electricity at night.

My question really is, would it be possible, and to her advantage, to swop the wiring so that the immersion on the cheap rate is the one at the top of the tank? as she has no need of vast amounts of hot water this tank can supply.

Also am I right in thinking that on a large tank like this the water would get much hotter than the thermostat setting on the immersion heater, if the heater is at the bottom of the tank?

 

[EFLImpudence]

My question really is, would it be possible, and to her advantage, to swop the wiring so that the immersion on the cheap rate is the one at the top of the tank? as she has no need of vast amounts of hot water this tank can supply.

You could wire both supplies to the top element through a suitable timer.

Also am I right in thinking that on a large tank like this the water would get much hotter than the thermostat setting on the immersion heater, if the heater is at the bottom of the tank?

It may be slightly hotter at the top but not much.

 

[oscarblue]

You could wire both supplies to the top element through a suitable timer.

Thanks for your reply, that's a good idea, would I need a special timer for this setup?

I think I also need to check the thermostat settings, as the water at the moment is scalding hot.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Thanks for your reply, that's a good idea, would I need a special timer for this setup?

Well, the appropriate one.
This is one.

I think I also need to check the thermostat settings, as the water at the moment is scalding hot.

Should be around 60° but if it is too hot, turn down a bit.

 

[oscarblue]

Thanks for your reply, that's a good idea, would I need a special timer for this setup?

Well, the appropriate one.
This is one.

I think I also need to check the thermostat settings, as the water at the moment is scalding hot.

Should be around 60° but if it is too hot, turn down a bit.

Ok, thanks a lot for your help

 

[JohnD]

sometimes thermostats fail closed. You say the water is too hot. Start by turning off the upper immersion heater, as this is (should be) the more costly one running on full-price electricity.

Turn off the power supply to the lower immersion heater, if necessary switching off the MCB or removing the fuse, and test for safe. Under the round cap will be a thermostat with a small round adjuster, it should have an arrow pointing to numbers. If you turn it up and down it should click on and off. Observe what temperature it is currently set to, turn it down noticably. In the morning, after it has heated up the cylinder with the timer, most of the cylinder should be less hot. There may still be some left-over hotter water from today that will have risen to the top of the cylinder. If it is still scalding hot, the thermostat has probably failed. Disconnect and remove it (with power off) and buy a new one of similar style and length.

Post a photo of the thermostat so we can see what sort it is.