Can Someone Explain ...

[wolf63]

I have ow moved into my new home and there is things I can't fully understand

New shower mixer working off the immersion heater. There is off peak electric heaters.

Q1 ... Does this mean that I will only have hot water for the shower in the morning?
Q2... In winter when the storage heaters are running will that disrupt the pressure in the shower?
Q3 ... I have a Aquarius washing machine, does that fill with cold water and heat it? Or does it use hot water?

My previous house had Gas CH and an electric shower.

Thanks for any help

[bobbinwales]

q3- how old is your washer??? Machines nowaday's use cold water only, Is there allso a hot water filler pipe on yours

[bobbinwales]

You can switch your immersion heater on an d off manually i would of thought... or you can seta timer

[bobbinwales]

Q2,,, sorry i dont see the connection

[wolf63]

Bobbin, the machine is pretty new. It looks pretty complicated compared to my last one.

Storage heaters are new to me. Are they heating water individually? Or do they use hot water from the immersion?

[TheWinner]

q3 they fill with cold water and heat to the wash temperature you have selected.

[wolf63]

Thewinner, thanks.

[Buenchico]

Assuming that your immersion heater is connected to the off-peak supply then, by default, it will only heat up overnight. For many people though that might provide sufficient hot water for the whole day.

If you need additional hot water from the immersion heater, there's probably a 'boost' button for that purpose. See the example here:
https://www.magna.org.uk/your-home/maintenance-and-modifications/immersion-heaters

Hotpoint used the 'Aquarius' branding on several different washing machines but this might help you to find your way around your one. (To watch the video at its clearest, click on the 'Play' button and then on the full-screen icon at the bottom right of the video):

[barry1010]

If your immersion heater is well insulated the water should be hot enough all day unless you have several baths or hot showers during the day.

[Hopkirk]

There might be two switches for the immersion heaters. One possibly marked off peak.

They usually have an off peak heater which heats the whole tank at night, and a second one that just heats the top of the tank if you run out during the day. You need to ensure that this daytime boost one is switched off as it will be costing you money.

[Prudie]

Q3 Every washing machine I've had for years is cold fill only

Q2 I thought electric off peak storage heaters were just connected to the electricity supply and had nothing to do with water and being plumbed in like normal CH radiators.

Where's the Builder when you need him :-)

[Hopkirk]

Are you on an economy 7 or similar tariff?

If so your storage heaters and immersion should only heat at off peak times. If you aren't then they are probably just heaters not storage heaters.

[wolf63]

Thanks to all of you. The plumber came and sorted me out.

The washing machine is cold-filled.
The Immersion is only off-peak and has no booster.
The Immersion is reasonably new and has built-in insulation.

Electrics - something tripped the switch in the kitchen. I had the washing machine on, the kettle boiling and the toaster had just popped out my bread.

Which one is the likely culprit and will I have to purchase a new one?

[bhg481]

It could just be the fact that you had all three on at the same time - all are high current devices. They shouldn't trip it but, if there were other things on at the same time, the trip might just have had a mad moment. If any of the devices is faulty it should trip it on its own.

[Prudie]

My first guess would be the toaster, something fell off food wise and upset the wiring. My toaster trips regularly when I'm doing hot cross buns. a sultana gets stuck on the element.

[Old_Geezer]

Finding a culprit can be a pain. You can only try disconnecting stuff and seeing what is still running when it blows again.

[barry1010]

Ebac still sell hot water fill washing machines, made in UK, too.

[Prudie]

Who are Ebac ? :-)

[ZebuSanctuary]

Q2. FYI

The (electric) storage heaters are independent of the hot water supplied to your shower mixer unit. The sole purpose of them is to heat your home.

This confusion probably arose from your last house having gas CH. Typically this older type of arrangement (not Combi boiler) allows you to put on the radiators and heat the water at the same time. The heated water being stored in a large copper cylinder which is synonymous with the term immersion heater.

In reference to the above, the water in the copper cylinder can be heated in 2 ways;

1. Turning the gas CH on and selecting HW, allows hot water produced by the boiler to enter the cylinder and via a heat exchange coil within the cylinder, the stored water is subsequently heated.

2. The alternative is you leave the gas CH switched off. In the 'airing' cupboard you will find a switch where you can electrically heat the water within the cylinder. This is the immersion heater and is just like a large kettle element.

Thus in your last house, the 'Immersion Tank' incorporated both a 'heat exchanger coil (gas CH) and a 'electrical heating element' run from a 240 volt ac supply.

Method 2 is extremely useful for heating water in the event of gas boiler malfunction. The disadvantage, electricity useage is more expensive than gas.

On a final note, you might find in your new house a shower pump feeding the mixer unit.

[The Builder]

Just tuned in.
I'm glad the gang have sorted you out Wolfers.

/Where's the Builder when you need him/

Sorry Prudie, but at 7.44 am, I'm still asleep :o)
I don't do 'early'. I learnt this from an electrician years ago. He didn't start work 'til 9am either. He always said he liked to wait for the day to be 'aired'.

As to your kitchen circuit breaker going off... you might have been drawing anything between 25-30 amps with that lot on.
Still below the breaker's current rating, but like the rest off us, they do age.
If it keeps happening under less than full load, it's cheap enough to replace the breaker with new.

As for Prudie's sultana... that's going in the 'Big Book of Building Trade Faults and Excuses.' ;o)

[Bazile]

//Sorry Prudie, but at 7.44 am, I'm still asleep :o)
I don't do 'early'. I learnt this from an electrician years ago. He didn't start work 'til 9am either. He always said he liked to wait for the day to be 'aired'.//

TB
Waiting for the day to be 'aired'

Lol - I'll use that one the next time her indoors says ' aren't you getting up you lazy so and so ' :-)