Horstmann economy 7 quartz charging off peak times

[Katnovak]

Hello there,

I hope you could help me. I have this horstmann economy quartz 7 and it was working fine until last month. It seems I get charged for heating the water during night which should be the off peak time for low rate. My smart meter from my energy supplier is showing too much usage early in the morning. Really don't know what I should do.
Many thanks for your response
Kat

 

[snowhead]

Is it the one with the dial like below, if so check the current time matches the mark for WINTER time.
Indicated by the Red arrow

 

[Katnovak]

Is it the one with the dial like below, if so check the current time matches the mark for WINTER time.

View attachment 64808

Yes that's the one and it is set to a current time and it matches with winter time so for example now is 1pm so the indicator is on that hour but just to be sure I post the picture

 

[Katnovak]

Also I think the off peak time has been messed up a little as I get charged as normally I would use a boost during the day

 

[brianmoooore]

What are the switching times of your controller?
If you look through the transparent section of the dial (between 11.45 pm and 9 am), you will see an orange and a blue flag. The switching time is the leading edge of the orange flag, and the trailing edge of the blue one (IIRC).
Alternatively, just turn the dial carefully, and note the indicated time when the off peak light comes on and when it turns off.

 

[Katnovak]

What are the switching times of your controller?
If you look through the transparent section of the dial (between 11.45 pm and 9 am), you will see an orange and a blue flag. The switching time is the leading edge of the orange flag, and the trailing edge of the blue one (IIRC).
Alternatively, just turn the dial carefully, and note the indicated time when the off peak light comes on and when it turns off.

Thank you Brian i just did that so rotated the dial. The switching time starts at 2 am and turn off at 7 am. Other than that it should be fine. However I do have one more question is it maybe we get charged more in winter than in summer? Also I shouldn't move these orange and blue flags right.

 

[Katnovak]

Thank you Brian i just did that so rotated the dial. The switching time starts at 2 am and turn off at 7 am. Other than that it should be fine. However I do have one more question is it maybe we get charged more in winter than in summer? Also I shouldn't move these orange and blue flags right.

Also there is no problem if I rotate the dial too many times?

 

[brianmoooore]

No problems will be caused by rotating the dial by hand, as long as you do it forwards only.
It should be turning off at 7am, so as long as the time of day is set accurately, or a little ahead of the actual time, it shouldn't be consuming full price electricity in the morning.
The blue and orange flags can be moved by electrically isolating the circuit, removing the front, and lifting them to where you want them. Yours is set for five hours, which should be sufficient, unless you have an exceptionally large cylinder.
To be certain you're not using full price electricity, you need to know exactly when your off peak period is.

 

[Katnovak]

No problems will be caused by rotating the dial by hand, as long as you do it forwards only.
It should be turning off at 7am, so as long as the time of day is set accurately, or a little ahead of the actual time, it shouldn't be consuming full price electricity in the morning.
The blue and orange flags can be moved by electrically isolating the circuit, removing the front, and lifting them to where you want them. Yours is set for five hours, which should be sufficient, unless you have an exceptionally large cylinder.
To be certain you're not using full price electricity, you need to know exactly when your off peak period is.

Thank you so much Brian, I think you made it clear just one last thing if I understand it correctly the off peak period is not the actual seven hours during night it is only a few hours isn't it? Also I have a concern that recently we've used too much hot water that is why we get charged towards early in the morning (according to the smart meter). And I also think that we don't need 5 hours for heating the water as the boiler measurement is 2.7- 3kW 230-240v length 14"

 

[brianmoooore]

Once the water in the cylinder is heated to temperature, the thermostat built into the immersion heater switches off and no more power is drawn. The cylinder starts losing heat after it is heated, of course, but, with a modern insulated cylinder, that shouldn't be much. It's more important that the off peak power is available to fully heat the cylinder than that it's available too long.
You need to check what time your off peak tariff is available. Should be on the supplier's website.