DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi,

I have just moved to a property with no mains gas & they have had an Economy 7 installed at some point in the past - the problem i have is that with it doing what it's suppose to (Heating the water at the reduced cost period) i only have hot water in the morning & with working about an hour & a halffrom home i have a bath around 8pm at night - the is a manual override which runs for an hour but this only gives me about 10% of water needed for a bath due to the overide element heating about 10 or so % of the top of the tank (which isn't that big).

Im looking to have Oil installed at some point down the line & was wanting for the meantime to be able to have the main element kick in at around say 3pm as it heats for around 4hrs, i know this will cost me but with my situation im willing the pay the cost for a bath after work!

The timer i have is a 'Horstmann Economy 7 Quartz' listed here (link removed) however i think the model here proceded mine as that one has a two hour overide - it may seem a stupid question but i to i set it to kick in at 3pm? the dial has 24hrs on it & i thought setting it to 3pm would do it but it is not kicking in at that time & appears to still be coming on in the early hours?? is it possible to tell it to come on then or does it somehow stick to the reduced rate times??

Any help would be great as i have zero knowledge on these types of systems only ever had a combi with gas.

TIA

Owen

Economy 7 (or White Meter in some areas), gives only one cheap period ie 7 hours thro' the night, and the whole house gets the cheap tarrif. Many people use socket-top timers to run their washing machines and tumble driers during this cheap period (take care when the clocks change, as the cheap period does not budge.) By all means get up early and do your ironing also. The electric supplies inside these E7 boxes have 2 lines- one for your cheap rate period, and the other for the boost - my one was the 2 hour version you mentioned. Total Heat/Total Control tarrif is different;-- the electricity supplier can boost your radiator and hot water cheap power period during the day if a cold snap warrants it;-- a signal comes down the power line to power-up the fuse-boxes. The hot tank I installed for the latter, had positions for 2 immersion elements--the lower one heated the whole tank slowly, and the boost took an age as I had not fitted the higher housing with an element, just a brass blank.
To get the best of your situation I suggest you get a sparky to remove your E7 box, replacing it with a fused/switch with LED, fed by ordinary mains power, and disconnect the E7 feed at the fuse-box. You can then have him fit an ordinary power socket adjacent to your hot tank, and use the time-honoured way of maximising the benefits of E7, namely a socket-top adaptor, with individually chosen boost times, usually set using aluminium pegs. Your power lead from your immersion element just needs a 13 amp plug, to complete the revised supply route details.