Immersion Heater - Constantly on and using electricity?

[freddyarsner]

As saving electricity is very important for our future. So if we are going to use those appliances which are electricity savers then its better to use them. In market there are different electric heaters which are used more as these has the capacity to save more electricity.

 

[drew35]

You can usually hear when the immersion heater is on.

 

[Guitarist]

You can usually hear when the immersion heater is on.

The old fashioned way of listening to a bearing is useful for this.... Pop the end of a screwdriver against the plastic case and press your ear to the handle of the screwdriver. You will hear a buzzing when it's on.

 

[Sangamo.Ryan]

Hey everyone,

I'm a first time user and needed some information about immersion heaters.

I have an immersion heater tank in my bathroom (fairly big) which supplies the whole flat and has two heating elements going in to it. They are both wired into switches with indicator lights on them, the bottom elements switch says 'Off Peak' and has been constantly switched on for two months (When I moved in). I have never turned on the top element as I have never run out of hot water with the bottom element being on all the time.

The electric company estimated that for a one bedroom flat my electric bill would be approximately £60 a month. I am concious of my electricity usage and don't have all the lights on, fan heaters, etc. I assumed I might be below the £60 a month but my electricity bill was slightly higher for the two months.

I assumed most heating systems would have timers so that they wouldn't be needlessly heating water all night and then all day when I didn't need it.

Is my immersion element being constantly on 24/7 costing me money? Or would it not make much of a difference to my electricity bill? Do most immersion heating elements have measures in them to save energy like auto shut off temperature sensors? Shall I invest in a timer if possible?

Any help in answering these questions would be greatly appreciated, I can get photos if needed but there isn't much more to see from what I described.

Many Thanks.

Hi there

Generally an immersion tank would have a thermostat fitted that would limit the temperature of the water and switch the heating element off and on as necessary to maintain the water temperature. In your case this process would be ongoing as the manual control switch is always on with hot water always being available. This wwill result in increased energy usage.

A time switch fitted in place of the manual control switch will let you heat the right amount of water at the right time and take full advantage of the off-peak Economy 7/10 tariffs.
Your system has a second, smaller heating element at the top of the immersion cylinder, activated by a separate manual boost switch. This should be used to heat a small amount of water at expensive peak times during the day.
Timeswitches are available that can replace both your manual control switches with a single unit providing time control of both off peak & boost elements of an immersion tank.
There is more information on the Powersaver page on the Sangamo website if you need it.