Electricians, I need advice!

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I have a large, electric immersion heater in my flat (no gas supply to the property), which is costing an absolute bomb to run but without leaving it on all night there isn't any hot water for our morning showers so I want to fit a time switch.

The immersion heater has two thermostats which are wired to separate switches in the wall. I've also noticed that one of these switches seems to only be live at night (probably to coincide with my eco-7 meter).

Will I need two timers to make this work and what would be compatible?

Can I do the installation myself or does it need a qualified electrician?

The immersion heater is a Range Tribune HE.

Thanks for any advice!
 
The eco-7 switch should heat the water on cheap rate so you have hot water in the morning which shouldn't cost a bomb (or need a timer!)

The other switch should only be on if you need hot water once you have used up the nights tankful and should only take a short time to heat a smaller amount and then turn it off again.

If you leave the non eco-7 switch on it will cost you a fortune!
 
And if the cylinder isn't insulated, that will also cost you a fortune.


Steve.
 
I am a qualified electrician, and my advice to you would be to get a qualified electrician in to firstly check what you need, then to do the work.
If any new wiring is installed he will need to be Part P registered.
 
Would you not be cheaper in the long run to get an electric shower installed?
 
If you need to ask these questions then you are obviously not competent to undertake the work yourself. As Craig said, get someone in that knows what they're doing and can do the job to comply with the 17th Edition.
You should also ask for a 'completion certificate' signed off by whoever did the work.
 
Eco-7 is Economy 7 cheap electricity for 7 hours in a night. Ideally it's for those with storage heaters and immersion heaters where you can warm them up using cheap electricity and then use them during the day. If you don't use much electricity at night then they can be uneconomical because you pay a higher rate during the day. You really need to look at your usage and see if it's worth continuing with Eco-7, I think you need to be using approx 20% of your electricity at night. Maybe setting your washing machine/dishwasher on a timer to work in Eco-7 hours to make it more worthwhile. Or maybe you would be better switching to a standard tariff and fitting an electric shower as Hugh suggests
 
We used to have an immersion heater and it was cheaper to leave it on all the time than keep asking it to heat up cold water.
 
As Hugh said I would get an electric shower fitted will be much cheaper than paying to run an immersion heater but get an electrician to fit it
 
note not a qualified electirician (nor even an unqualified one.) I find it amazing that DIY wannabee's ask strangers on internet fora how to do stuff, but then (and not necessarily the OP or other contributers to this thread) go a bit postal when "Uncle Bob, has a try at shooting a wedding."

Sure get a qualified sparky or at least a competent friend / friend of a friend to take a look at mates rates (usually double!)
 
You should have an eco seven control unit somewhere, usually in the kitchen, which will have a hot water boost on it.
The lower heater on the tank is the lower tarriff one and comes on automatically at the off peak times along with your storage heaters. The upper element is designed to just give a boost of hot water should you use up all of the large tank of off peak heated water. Its in the upper half of the tank for that reason (it is not intended to heat the whole tank) and using it for constant hot water would be inneficient and costly.

Are you using up all of your full tank of off peak heated water before days end every day?

Does the tank have thick polyfoam insulation over its entire surface or a separate jacket.
 
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