Timer or not?

Mike,
I have an A-Class in my flat which is permanently wired to a single 24hr on-peak live feed, ie. it is on 24/7, via two separately RCD'd circuits. I think this is the cause of my high electricity bills and have asked my landlord to fit a timer to the 'off-peak' feed so that it's only on when I need it to be rather than 24/7. They have apparently been told that this is not possible. I have looked at the installation manual and, whilst I'm not a qualified electrician, can't see any reason why this would be an issue, after all the system works by detecting the activation of the off-peak feed doesn't it? Can you please advise?
Many Thanks
Adam

Hi Adam

Your post is a little confusing because you have siad that the unit is fed by a "single 24hr live feed via two seperate RCD circuits"
This is not possible as it would continually shut down the RCD's if it were wired in this way (this is due to the RCD's tripping if an imbalance in current is detected, as would be the case if they were wired like this - sorry for the techie stuff).
There must be two power supplies to the Pulsacoil A Class - one to run the control system, on peak element and pump, the other to run the off peak element.

The off peak supply is usually controlled via an economy 7 or economy 10 meter (check with your electricity supplier) and would therefor be running correctly already, however, I have come across a number of installations that have been fed by a single supply only (via one RCD - the other RCD is used for the storage heaters).
In these instances, it is perfectly ok to install a timer to control the off peak supply (don't install the timer on a the on peak supply as this will interupt the control circuit.

Kind regards

David Hickey
Midland Boilercare Ltd
Tel: 07973 624179
mialto: service@midlandboilercare.co.uk

Sorry, David, what I meant was the feed into the building is a single feed, ie. no economy 7. The boiler is supplied by two circuits on the main RCD board one for the 'on-peak' and one for the 'off-peak' (I think, anyway, it may just be one but there is definitely no economy 7 or 10), what I wanted to know was that fitting a timer to the 'off-peak' circuit, ie. in between the main board and the boiler, would be possible. As the boiler is designed to activate when an off-peak supply is activated, I thought this would mimic it effectively so that the boiler isn't on all day every day, it seems that that is what you have said below. Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.
Adam

Hi Adam

I thought that was what you had intended to say, and yes, it is perfectly ok to install a timer on the off peak supply, but not on the main on peak supply as this would interupt the control circuit (just make sure that the timer is intended to switch an immersion element rated at 13.0Amp as some timers may not be able to handle tis current).
A single overnight charge via the off peak supply is usually enough for most households.

Regards
Dave Hickey
Midland Boilercare Ltd
Tel: 07973 624179
mialto: service@midlandboilercare.co.uk