Jason71
Well-Known Member
I doubt that would work. Car will still draw power when charge port is unlocked. It just limits the current I think
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Extra Uses For Off-Peak Electricity
- Thread starter ME_UK
- Start date
Jason71
Well-Known Member
remotely switching off your charger is the only way I know apart from going outside and unplugging it
Great info, seems like you have the same usage as me.
With the immersion you mention on and off for 3 hours, how long is it ON in total?
Need to do some trial and error, as trying to work out the equivalence between a 30 minute gas boiler Vs immersion, i.e. how long do I need to run the immersion for to achieve the same results? I did a little trial today and it seemed close to like for like, about 45 mins had the water nice and hot on the immersion, didn't seem a mile off the gas boiler results after 30 mins.
And when you say on and off, is that deliberately set on the timer to not overdue it in one hit?
ACarneiro
Active Member
Depends on how powerful your boiler is.
The immersion heater should be about 3kW. My boiler is 14kW maximum rated. It heats the water notoriously faster than the immersion heater but as I’m usually not in a hurry in the middle of the night, it makes no difference to me.
On the odd occasion when I needed a hot water boost, though, it was the gas boiler that I used.
The immersion heater should be about 3kW. My boiler is 14kW maximum rated. It heats the water notoriously faster than the immersion heater but as I’m usually not in a hurry in the middle of the night, it makes no difference to me.
On the odd occasion when I needed a hot water boost, though, it was the gas boiler that I used.
Have been watching this thread with interest as I am finally (after 11 months and a complaint to ombudsman) getting a smart meter to get goelectric tariff (still 4.5p 00-05am!) which will save the 2 EV house a chunk of money.
Also have immersion heater for hot water tank (pre-wired) that I'm planning on using overnight, plus some underfloor heating I'll crank up to make it toasty by the time we get up around 6am.
I do have a question for people already using tumble dryers though - how are you getting it to start at the correct time? Mine is relatively old, doesn't have a delay function, anyone have a workaround? I'm assuming a smart plug won't work because you have to manually press a button to start.
Also have immersion heater for hot water tank (pre-wired) that I'm planning on using overnight, plus some underfloor heating I'll crank up to make it toasty by the time we get up around 6am.
I do have a question for people already using tumble dryers though - how are you getting it to start at the correct time? Mine is relatively old, doesn't have a delay function, anyone have a workaround? I'm assuming a smart plug won't work because you have to manually press a button to start.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
Can you access the button and put some wires on each connection, and use a relay with a timer?
Get yourself a SwitchBot … works great on my dryer. SwitchBot Smart Switch Button Pusher - No Wiring, Wireless App or Timer Control, Use SwitchBot Hub Mini to be Compatible with Alexa, Google Home, HomePod and IFTTT
I just turn it on before bed and then the switch both to press the start button once off peak electric starts.
I’ve shifted loads of off peak electric now;
Electric radiators come on for a couple of hours over night to dry the towels in the bathrooms (using a switch bot) (only have two of these in the two bathrooms)
Electric underfloor heating comes on for two hours towards end of off peak hours in the main bathroom (only room that uses electric underfloor heating)
Tumble dryer and dishwasher on overnight.
Smart plugs for other devices that need charging (Dyson and all my camera gear and batteries for that as I’m a full time photographer and have to charge a lot of batteries and power banks)
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This looks really good - thanks. The on switch for mine is one of those stupid semi-haptic buttons (Bosch classix 7 I think) so will have to read if they work
ACarneiro
Active Member
I’m surprised that a Bosch Serie 7 doesn’t have a delay start.
Have you looked in the <gasp!> manual?
Have you looked in the <gasp!> manual?
ACarneiro
Active Member
Sorry, when you mentioned “Classix 7” I clearly incorrectly assumed it was a Serie 7…
Hey,
I am finding my feet with the set up. The timer is setup to run from 0230 to 0530 on the immersion. However looking at the octopus app it does not always draw 1.5kwh per 30 mins over that time. I think the the immersion has a thermostat hence it comes on and off.
For me, I have replaced 45 minutes of the boiler being on with the immersion on for 3 odd hours. No difference in temperature or quantity of hot water. 3 hours is probably overkill.
ACarneiro
Active Member
The immersion heater does indeed have a thermostat. It’s perfectly fine to leave it on even for the whole “cheap o’clock” period, it’ll only draw the required power to warm the water.
Thank you @Bacon for the inspiration and thanks @scdoubleu for the advice!
I've today installed that LAP immersion timer. The cable between the immersion and the switch was already heavy duty and had enough give in it, so just snipped in the middle and ran through the timer. Have set the timer for 3 hours in the overnight slot and adjusted the thermostat on the immersion to 65⁰, so hopefully I'm good to go!
Immersion heater question, if a 3kw immersion heater is on for 3 hours wouldn't it use 9kwh? Just trying to get my man maths right!
For comparison : my normal 30 minutes per day on the Gas boiler I've checked today, uses 7Kwh of gas. So at 10.3p that's 72p per day.
For comparison : my normal 30 minutes per day on the Gas boiler I've checked today, uses 7Kwh of gas. So at 10.3p that's 72p per day.
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Jason71
Well-Known Member
Yes and no.
if continuously heating the water, yes. However if just maintaining temperature it won't even if you took the insulation factor out of the equation. You can do a trial just by bridging a consumption meter if you want to be sure as it will also depend on your time of usage.
Something else in favour of using immersion heater is that you can then reduce the flow temperature of your boiler (assuming you have big enough radiators to heat house on lower temp). This is beneficial because the boiler will run more efficiently, as it no longer needs to get the hot water tank up to a safe 60c to kill Legionella.
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