Immersion Water Heater 24 Hour Timer and Fused Switch Ask questions and find answers to many subjects relating to electrics and electrical work

[haveatry@it]

hi. just fitted a 24 hr immersion timer in place of an on/off switch. this is so i can time it to come on when the economy7 kicks in thereby avoiding having to stay up half the nite and losing sleep. apparently, i also have to put an on/off switch that is fused somewhere in the power supply cable. my question is : should this come before the timer or after and does it have to be a certain distance away from the timer switch ? understandably, the landlord insists that i get the work passed as safe and that i get a safety certificate to send to him via the letting agents. what would be the going rate for checking my installation and providing a certificate please ? thanks.

[ericmark]

With a battery powered timer it would not matter but with mains powered clearly turning off power would lose the time.

The installation certificate or minor works certificate can only be filled in by the person doing the work. i.e. you.

You can get a EICR done and you can specify what is to be covered by the report but likely it will cost more than getting an electrician to do the work in the first place.

Step one is always test the supply. Then fit what ever. Then re-test. As to if a fused connection unit (FCU) or a switched FCU is used would depend on if you think there is any need to switch it off? They would normally be before the timer and only used for maintenance. But an immersion heater is normally on a dedicated supply so there would normally not be a need for a FCU. Normally a special timer is used which has a built in over ride should you want extra hot water during the day.

I would have expected the land lord to have fitted this not the tenant.