Immersion heater controls

[LovePGtipsMonkey]

I need advice on how to turn off my immersion heater which heats the hot water in the house (no combi boiler) while I'm away. I get huge electricity bills, and usually leave it on when away for couple of weeks, but I thought it's such a waste. The issue is, I don't know how to do it - and whether I should I do it at all as don't want to disturb the system.

There is no clear on/off switch on the wall control panel. It has 4 buttons: Prog, Time, Adv and Bst around the screen, and also has a fuse (on the same small panel) which is on. It looks like the fuse is the only thing that can be turned off - but am worried it's the wrong thing to do.

The other question is, it's normally on timed, twice daily, regime. So if I turn it off, I don't want to reprogramme (was all set by previous owner). Also when we are in, the hot water always gets used twice daily - but if no one is there, would it still heat up second time in the day if the tank is still full of warm water, even if not very hot by that time? meaning that maybe it doesn't fire up twice daily if it's 'intelligent' enough, and uses less electricity?

Thanks a lot!

[PigletJohn]

What colour is the cylinder

Are you on Economy 7 electricity

A photo of your control would help

[PigletJohn]

is it like this?

Horstmann is a more common brand.

Strill need to know colour

[LovePGtipsMonkey]

I think it's grey - can't see too clearly as it's panelled up and in dark corner, may know better in daylight, but as I say looks grey.

The panel is nearly the same. It's TimeGuard and has no reset etc signs on the left - but upper section same.

[LovePGtipsMonkey]

dont think i'm on economy 7, but don't know.

[specialsubject]

you really must find out more!

look at your electricity bill to see what tariff you are on. Also, are there two meter readings?

if it is economy 7 you need to think whether it is worth it. Unless you have storage heaters, probably not.

google the make of your controller for the instruction manual. That may allow you to turn off the hot water.

without knowing your system you are probably wasting loads of energy and paying way too much. With the info you can get those bills down.

[PigletJohn]

it is not likely to be grey. If it has a coating of stiff plastic foam, it might be blue, green or yellow.

Or it might be plain metal.

Or wrapped in a red jacket, or an old blanket.

[PigletJohn]

you might identify the timer here

email them for instructions.

the colour of the cylinder will affect how much heat it will lose if left hot and not used. It should be in the region of 20p worth a day.

If there is no switch near the cylinder, it might be possible to turn it off near the fusebox.

Photos of both will help.

[LovePGtipsMonkey]

so definitely not the fuse on the control panel?
It looked like plain metal but grey - will look again tomorrow.

I'm not on economy 7, I get separate gas and electric costs. No storage heaters.

thank you both.

[PigletJohn]

you may be able to switch off the MCB. That kind of timer has a standby battery, it might last a week or two. If it runs down, you may need to reset at least the clock, and possibly the timing schedule as well.

If you have gas, it is very strange to heat the hw cylinder using electricity, as it is much more expensive.

Some photos would help a lot.

[LovePGtipsMonkey]

yes I know it's strange - blame the ex-owners! the had cut off perfectly good combi boiler HW pipes. I've posted about this before.

I know you'd like photos - too dark now but if I have time in the morning I'll do it, should have asked sooner as I'm going away tomorrow.

Tbh sounds like it's best left alone!