I read with interest the post apropos electricity bills. In comparison to some our bills thus far have been small with the 6 months Aug-Feb comming in at 280 euros. However, as one of my annual reports in the Royal Navy said, “there’s always room for improvement”. In addition I hate paying for something I neither need or want. Our house, cue Madness in the background, is only heated by wood fires and electricity is only used for lighting, sockets and the water heater. Does anyone know if a clock timer is available in France to fit after the water heater isolator switch? I went to Tridom and Brico Depot yesterday with both assistance looking as I’d asked some meaning of life question! I think significant savings can be made by heating for showers in the morning and then switching off. I could of course use the switch. I’m liable to forget!
Paul, VMT. Currently undertaking such a trial at the moment. 7 days on permanently and then 7 days on at 0700 and off after we have showered. Same same in the evening.
Hi Terry , it depends on you size of water heater and your useage . You could try switching it on and off first times ( using a reminder note as suggested by Sandra) and at the same time log your meter readings over a couple of weeks and then do the same with it on permanently to compare.
A note stuck on the wall, which you can't fail to see, as you start to come down the stairs is a good reminder to switch the electricity off, or on the t-bag/coffee jar, so you can't fail to see it first and last thing.
Terry/Paul. VMT. I installed the house electrics some 10 years ago with a 2 tier board. Top is all the dangerous and big stuff, bottom is lighting and socket spurs. I should have, do have, enough room to change the layout for a timer.
Paul, being a simple ex RN mechanic, I am correct in my assumption that this heater, 75litres keeps cutting in and cutting out to maintain the desired temperature? Will a single, heat from cold once a day decrease our usage?
Re low bills, we do use log fires in the winter and with any luck by next winter I will have re commissioned the Deville 9433 stove which has its metal chimney running up through the centre of our stairwell and thus heating the whole house. Sounds ugly but it actually blends in. I’ve tried and tried to find a pukka service centre to give the stove the once over but as of now its me and a set of Spanners looming!
Martin, it's just wired into the circuit and sits in one or two of the slots normally used by a circuit-breaker. We were having a new fuse box installed separating the outdoor stuff from the house circuitry so the electrician just made sure he installed a big enough box to accommodate not just the circuit breakers but also the timer and the transformer which feeds the electrically operated gates. Might be more problematic if you were trying to fit it into an existing box. But as Paul says, you can install a separate box.
There are a few ways and options in which you can do this Terry ;
1. If you just want a simple timer then the best way to do this is to have it fitted in the tableau electrique at the source of the feed to the chauffe eau . There are lots of different types available , but if your fuseboard is short of space there are timers that take up just one module ( one fuseway). Bear in mind though that depending on the size of your tank, it can take several hours to heat up again, so you have to think ahead.
2. If you are on "heures creuses" ( off peak tarif) and have one of the newish electronic meters, then there are a set of contacts that can be wired directly to a special switch in the fuseboard, called a contacteur jour/nuit that will bring on the heater only during off peak hours (of which there are 8 in any 24hr period). I get 6 at night and 2 at lunchtime which is handy. Even if you don't have the new type of meter and change to heures creuses, EDF will leave you a pair of wires for this purpose, for your electrician to connect up. However you do pay a higher standing charge for HC so you have to make full use of your off peak hours to make it worthwhile. Putting your washing machine and dishwasher on during off peak hours will help.
It does depend on your individual setup, for instance your fuseboard may be up high or hidden away somewhere so your better option may be to fit one in a special enclosure near the chauffe eau itself.
Your electric consumption for 6 months ( 46 euros a month) sounds remarkably low anyway so you are doing something right !
Terry, many thanks. Is that in one of the fuse sockets in the MCB?
I have a timer fitted directly into the fuse box. OK, it just switches the pump in the water feature on and off. But if it can do that, presumably it would also work for a water heater. But you'll need a qualified electrician to fit it.