Hiya please help had my water heater on overnight and no hot water but it did work other night ....also not sure if my economy 7 is set right I have no idea what I'm talking about have taken a pic of the meter thing at 11 am please help never had storage heaters also and have no idea how and when to turn them on many thanks in advance .. can't upload pic either it's seems set to come on at 12 and off at 7 and the arrow was pointing at 15 as in 15.00 time I guess
Economy 7
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I take it that you actually have storage heaters then ?
In which case you will be on E7 tariff .
You meter changes at midnight to the E7 dial for , believe it or not , 7 hours. as its still warm weather your storage heaters are probably switched off at the wall by the heaters OR the heater fuseboard mayl be switched off . When you need them just switch them back on ...... leave them on all the time.... they will only receive power for those 7 hours , they consume no electricity during the day but the bricks inside store the heat and release it slowly during the day.
Your power is cheaper between 12 and 7am so run the washing machine after midnight also.
Its difficult to guess what is wrong with the water heater without being there, could be a few things. If it worked once the thermal trip may have opened , all guesswork. Does the heater switch have a light on it ...is it on ?
You can't post pics on here until you have 10 posts in.
In which case you will be on E7 tariff .
You meter changes at midnight to the E7 dial for , believe it or not , 7 hours. as its still warm weather your storage heaters are probably switched off at the wall by the heaters OR the heater fuseboard mayl be switched off . When you need them just switch them back on ...... leave them on all the time.... they will only receive power for those 7 hours , they consume no electricity during the day but the bricks inside store the heat and release it slowly during the day.
Your power is cheaper between 12 and 7am so run the washing machine after midnight also.
Its difficult to guess what is wrong with the water heater without being there, could be a few things. If it worked once the thermal trip may have opened , all guesswork. Does the heater switch have a light on it ...is it on ?
You can't post pics on here until you have 10 posts in.
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Also to add, it's common to have TWO water heaters.
One at the bottom of the tank. You leave this one switched on all the time, and it will only receive power and heat up the tank during the night when the electricity is on the cheap rate. Then there is usually one half way up the tank. You normally leave this one turned off. It's there so that if you have used up all the hot water stored from the previous night, you can turn it on at any time and receive a half tank boost. That will use electricity at the higher daytime rate. Sometimes this function is done with a boost timer of some sort depending on the age of the property and what was specified.
The night time heater gets the most use so will probably fail first. Assuming you have everything switched on as it should be, it's possible your bottom night time heater has failed, but the half tank boost heater still works.
One at the bottom of the tank. You leave this one switched on all the time, and it will only receive power and heat up the tank during the night when the electricity is on the cheap rate. Then there is usually one half way up the tank. You normally leave this one turned off. It's there so that if you have used up all the hot water stored from the previous night, you can turn it on at any time and receive a half tank boost. That will use electricity at the higher daytime rate. Sometimes this function is done with a boost timer of some sort depending on the age of the property and what was specified.
The night time heater gets the most use so will probably fail first. Assuming you have everything switched on as it should be, it's possible your bottom night time heater has failed, but the half tank boost heater still works.
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Ty for your help yes I do have storage heaters .... and the water tank was new this year only moved in April and been using the boost switch I think putting it on for an hour around 6am which has been ok for washing dishes etc.... but not enough for a bath I'm new to this electric heating etc always had gas in previous place..... is the economy 7 meter right like I said at 11am this morning the arrow in it said 15.00 ? And once again to the water heater my landlady said it's a switch in the kitchen which I put on but no hot water so I'm unsure what to do next .... it's too warm for heating yet but need to know what to do with themy when it gets colder ... ty again for you help 
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What type of boost controller do you have? does it have a make and model number?
I take it that it's not a new house? Are you saying there is a mechanical time switch next to the electricity meter? if it's reading 15:00 when it is in fact 11AM then the clock is fast by about 4 hours. This won't alter it's operation, in so far as you will still get 7 hours of cheap rate electricity for your heating. but instead of turning the cheap rate on at midnight, it will be turning the cheap rate on about 8PM and off at about 3AM. Do however keep an eye on the time clock, another possibility is that it's not going round and stuck on 15:00
Make sure the switch(es) for the bottom heater are all on. If it still does not heat up without you having to use the boost switch then you have a fault. Since it's a rented property there is little point spending your time on it, just inform the landlord of the fault and they are responsible for fixing it.
I take it that it's not a new house? Are you saying there is a mechanical time switch next to the electricity meter? if it's reading 15:00 when it is in fact 11AM then the clock is fast by about 4 hours. This won't alter it's operation, in so far as you will still get 7 hours of cheap rate electricity for your heating. but instead of turning the cheap rate on at midnight, it will be turning the cheap rate on about 8PM and off at about 3AM. Do however keep an eye on the time clock, another possibility is that it's not going round and stuck on 15:00
Make sure the switch(es) for the bottom heater are all on. If it still does not heat up without you having to use the boost switch then you have a fault. Since it's a rented property there is little point spending your time on it, just inform the landlord of the fault and they are responsible for fixing it.
Ty dave the people who showed me the flat told me the wrong details ... idiots .... hopefully got the right switch now .... as for the clock thing it was reading 20.00 at 4pm so has moved .... is it a good thing I'm getting cheap electric at night lol or will it affect my heating during the day when it gets colder
Usually with E7 tariffs you pay slightly more for your daytime power then the period from midnight to 7am is around half price .
Remember that the heaters need to be switched on at the wall and /or the heating fuseboard may need to be switched on too when you need heating.
As I said , there is no power to the heaters during the day , just a load of hot bricks giving off heat.
One problem with storage heaters is if you get a warm day in winter , switching them off makes no difference.
You'll get used to them.
Remember that the heaters need to be switched on at the wall and /or the heating fuseboard may need to be switched on too when you need heating.
As I said , there is no power to the heaters during the day , just a load of hot bricks giving off heat.
One problem with storage heaters is if you get a warm day in winter , switching them off makes no difference.
You'll get used to them.
andy_spark
Senior Member
I had economy 7 in a flat I rented and the time was out by about 8 hours. This was more convenient as all electricity was cheap from about 5 pm to midnight which was far more useful for cooking, laundry, showers etc as I could do it all on the cheap after coming home from work!
If you have the more advanced thermostatically controlled storage heaters, they will automatically adjust for warm and cold spells of weather by heating the bricks less and more to achieve a pre-set ambient room temperature on the charging cycle. Basically pick your input setting on the dial and it (the heater) will do the rest, If I remember correctly number 4 related to about 18/19 degrees C. The output dial is best left at it's minimum setting until the room temperature drops, usually around 12 hours after its finished charging (the end of E7 time), then increase the output setting to a higher number. This opens a vent to allow heat out of the storage heater, the higher the number the quicker it releases, remember to close this vent (turn back to minimum) before retiring to bed as the heat will escape prematurely the following day after the next heating cycle.
Hope this helps.
If you have the more advanced thermostatically controlled storage heaters, they will automatically adjust for warm and cold spells of weather by heating the bricks less and more to achieve a pre-set ambient room temperature on the charging cycle. Basically pick your input setting on the dial and it (the heater) will do the rest, If I remember correctly number 4 related to about 18/19 degrees C. The output dial is best left at it's minimum setting until the room temperature drops, usually around 12 hours after its finished charging (the end of E7 time), then increase the output setting to a higher number. This opens a vent to allow heat out of the storage heater, the higher the number the quicker it releases, remember to close this vent (turn back to minimum) before retiring to bed as the heat will escape prematurely the following day after the next heating cycle.
Hope this helps.
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