What a twat I am! And also don’t do this.

[Ozgirl75]

So my electricity bill has a “this is where your power is going” section and mine shows that I use a LOT on hot water heating. So I thought, hmmm maybe it’s on too hot?
So I googled how to turn down the temp and there was a sensible looking video on how to turn down the thermostat, which involved unscrewing a panel and turning a screw inside. So I duly turned off the power (as it said to), and was merrily turning the screw with the degrees setting on it, when “ouch!” I got a bloody electric shock!
Honestly nearly crapped myself with fear and surprise. That will teach me to mess around with things that I don’t really understand 😬😬 and also to just blindly follow YouTube videos.
So learn from my fail and don’t mess around with the inside of your hot water heater.

Never mind OP. My hot water heater was on constantly for at least eight years after I moved in before I realised it was an immersion and I had to turn the switch off

If you got a shock then surely you hadn’t turned the power off?

That’s exactly what I thought! But I turned off the mains power AND checked (by turning on some switches and checking the oven light). So bugger knows how it managed to shock me. It was like the shock you get from an electric fence.

You need to be careful doing that. Hot water should be stored at 60 °C at least in order to kill legionella bacteria.

Odd to have to take things apart to lower water temperature. I just turn it down on my boiler and think it was the same when living in other houses.

I was kind of thinking maybe it was on too hot? It is boiling! Which I actually quite like, but anyway, it is what it is now, I’m not messing around in there again.
My bill shows I use between 19-27 kWh per day and I can’t think what else it is because I haven’t had the air con on yet, or the tumble dryer. Even on a day where I do one wash, one dishwasher, and that’s it, it’s still recording 19kwh.

Yes I think so too! But on the water boiler there’s no dials or switches, nothing at all. It’s a Rheem one.

Most boilers, even mine which is over 20 years old, you can turn the water temp down by the buttons on the outside. Are you sure you're doing it the right way?

is this an immersion? If you are using that amount then I expect it is on permanently? If so, please switch it off. And just switch on when needed.

Modern tanks aren't designed to have the water temperature adjusted by the homeowner. We've just had a new one installed. As PP says it needs to be over 60 degrees.

This is only true if you have water tanks. Combi boilers don’t use water tanks and so it doesn’t apply.

It’s a massive tank. Is that an immersion? How would I know when it needs to be on? I just assumed it heated the water up, then when we use the water, it re heats what it adds in and then stops heating.
There’s literally nowhere to switch it on and off unless I go to the fuse box outside. No switches on the tank itself.

An immersion on permanently will cost an absolute fortune to run. there must be an isolator switch somewhere? Switch it off now and take a reading now and in 12 hours - I am sure your energy use will dramatically decrease.

If no switch I would ask a plumber to fit one.

But so would I have to be turning it on and off all the time? How would I know how long to put it on for and when? This seems like a very odd design where it’s either on or I have to turn it off at the fuse.

I think the OP is in Aus, and their boilers are different from the UK. I used to live in Australia and the electrician did exactly the same thing as her to turn down the temp. The boiler was electric heated, and no panel for a timer/temp etc. V different set up to here.

I think we need a photo.

Yes I am! Sorry, I assumed they were the same over here as there.

I’m out at the moment but this is what it looks like.

I’m Australian and have been in the UK for about 15 years.

it is a whole different world over here!

I’ve commented a number of times that I’d never heard anyone in Australia talk about boilers and it’s in the top three conversation topics here!!

i have no idea why it’s so different- but it is!!

Then there are just pipes coming out of it. But no switches.

Depends which version of the boiler you bought.

If the previous owner had spent £20 more on the next model up I’d be able to change the water temp. As it is there is a blank panel where that control would be.

It’s lucky that our power is still quite cheap as I only pay about $6 per day even with this super pricy “on all the time” water heater. But if prices go up (which they’re due to)I’ll be screwed.

So @Cluelessdiyer do you reckon a plumber will know what I’m talking about if I asked about this?

Having an immersion on permanently heating water all day is much more expensive than turning it on for an hour or 2 each day. At the rates you are using power your bill would be about a tenner a day here.

Yes definitely