Horstmann Economy 7 Quartz - leaving immersion on?

unimaginativeusername

Hi there,

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this immersion? I have been told the best thing, efficiency & cost wise, is to leave it on all the time and I'm terrified at the prospect!

I have been turning it on as needed, heating it for the (preset) 4 hours overnight, turning it off, getting a few days worth of hot water out of it before turning it on again when I run out but apparently this is a bad approach as each time it turns on it has to start from scratch heating the tank. Leaving it on all the time means it only heats up the amount of water needed.

Allegedly.

Any ideas? I am dreading the electricity bills.

coylemj

No matter how well the tank is insulated, there will always be heat loss. And the hotter the the tank, the more energy you will lose. You cannot save money by leaving the immersion permanently on because when you do, you are maximizing the amount of energy you will lose by thermal leakage.

If you leave the immersion on and nobody is drawing hot water then every time the thermostat cuts in to heat the element, the energy that's pumped out to heat the water is replacing heat energy that floated into the air since the last cycle. And that is wasted money.

unimaginativeusername

Thank you for replying to this. So what’s the best bet with it? Ok to leave on so long as the hot water is being used but turn off if I’m away or something?

Wearb

The best way is to heat just what you need as close to time needed as possible.

vrusinov

getting a few days worth of hot water

Wow, you must have a really large and well-insulated tank. Mine holds maybe a couple of showers worth of hot water, and cools down in about a day.