Should my boiler be on 24/7? is this eating my electric?

I moved into a brand new property 2 and a half years ago, which was fitted with a Pulsacoil A-class boiler; a timer was also fitted to allow us to control when we wanted the boiler to heat up and to be able to use less electric. We were shown on our 'welcome tour' how the timer worked and it was set up to come on twice a day, each for 2/3 hours at a time. Our electricity bills were quite high within the first year and I have since moved to a different tariff which seems to be better.

However we have had a number of problems with the boiler, including smoldering sockets, not heating up, and it releasing a large amount of steam which burnt and blistered the cupboard door and went up into our ceiling and came back down as water, pouring through our light fittings in the bathroom and ruining our ceiling.

On a recent occasion of the boiler not heating up, the emergency electrician asked if we had the boiler on 24/7, to which I told him that we had it on a timer to come on twice a day. He then took the timer off the wall to check it and found that in fact the timer had a wire hanging out of the back and it had NEVER been connected to either an electricity supply or our boiler!

I am now trying to get this rectified with the company who built our flat, but where do i stand with regards to claiming back money for electric? have i been paying out more because of this? and has this affected the level of wear on our boiler?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi;
You should have been on E7 or E10. Off peak.
Where when using in those periods it is half price.
Using the peak supply as a back up or when required.
Once the unit has heated it will stop.
So it is not heating for ever.
Gledhill units come with a 12 month guarantee.
Some builders offer a 2 year one.
After that, you really need some one who repair Gledhill units.
If the timer was not connected how were you using it?
Smouldering sockets? On the Gledhill ?
Mike
MGC/H2O
Norfolk

Thanks Mike.

I'm not sure which one we were on, it was again set up by our property builders; however it was clearly not the most efficient.
I don't know much about boilers and up until a few weeks ago I assumed it was using the timer as we were told when we moved in, so i've no idea how it's been working, other than being told that it is just on all of the time.

Yes, the 2 sockets where the boiler is connected to the on/off switches smoldered and we had a flat full of smoke! this was quite soon after we moved in and this was fixed by the property builders.

I'm just concerned that having the boiler on 24/7 and it not going through the timer has affected it's life expectancy and has cost me more in electric.

Well the Pulsacoil A classes in my location.
Have 2 switches on the wall.
1 x Off peak
1 x Peak.
Off peak is left on and works when the E7 period is on. When the unit is heated up it will stop,
So although a 7 hour period is there. Does not mean the unit is heating for 7 hours.
To use the peak on an A class there is a boost button on the unit.
The sockets/ switches on the wall are NOT Gledhill related.
But were fitted by the builders electricians.
Having the boiler on 24/7 is fine.
As it will only heat up if you are using it.
Whether you are on the correct tariff or indeed whether it has been connected correctly needs to be addressed.
My advice would be to get a Gledhill engineer out.
You may find one in your area on this site, look on home page.
Or Google it up.
Other than that ring Gledhill them selves.
Once you have paid for your own report etc. Then you may be able to approach the builders etc.
Have you spoken to your neighbours to see what set up they have and how they use theirs.
Mike
MGC/H2O
Norfolk