electric boiler for water only

[nmac234]

All electric heaters are equally efficient at converting heat into electricity. Having said that, if you use very little hot water, you may find you would use less electricity by using electric showers and/or a small point-of-use electric water heater rather than heating a whole cylinder and having it slowly go cold over the day. Though if your house is also heated electrically, you will probably only notice the difference in the summer months as the heat lost from that cylinder is currently heating your flat.

Also bear in mind having economy 7 is a mixed blessing, because you pay less for night rate and then they charge you more for the day rate units.

If you are on a pre-payment meter, contact the electricity supplier Ebico and see what they are charging, as they used to be one of the cheapest for this payment method.

Paying 21p for the day rate, economy 7 is for hot water only, mixer shower and 2 taps, immersion heaters have been tested, but still, look like they are running for 7 hours1

 

[Ric2013]

Are your cylinders not lagged or are they piped in such a way that the heat in the water is somehow being lost? How big is your cylinder? 7 hours to heat does seem a lot indeed!

 

[Ric2013]

Does the pipe from the top of that cylinder run directly up or is there a significant horizontal section before any upward pipe?

 

[nmac234]

The pipe goes vertical through the ceiling!
Now, most are saying how great it is to have the immersion as a reserve, Boiler packs up and you still have hot water!
Which means I do not have a Boiler!!

 

[Ric2013]

The pipe goes vertical through the ceiling!
Now, most are saying how great it is to have the immersion as a reserve, Boiler packs up and you still have hot water!
Which means I do not have a Boiler!!

What you have in your photos is called a hot water cylinder. Immersion heaters are usually used to heat a cylinder as a backup to a gas boiler. So no, you don't have a boiler. What you have is a cylinder with two immersion heaters, and nothing wrong with that.

The pipe should run horizontal about 18" before going up through the ceiling. If it goes straight up, while this is not dangerous, this does mean that the heated water in that cylinder will tend to circulate up and down the vertical section and act as a small radiator in your airing cupboard and loft, thus losing the heat from the cylinder and increasing your bills. Would suggest it would be a good idea to get a plumber in to rectify this.

 

[nmac234]

is the top of the cylinder economy 7 as well, as I have a timer on that bit?
Where can get independent advice as to what I need?