Saving money on your electric immersion heater

Often the immersion tanks installed 10 years ago were a permanently-on unit, the idea being that the tanks are well insulated and that once the water reached the correct temperature the immersion tank thermostat would shut down the water heater.

The theory made sense but the actual application of this doesn’t work very well. We’ve found that the best option for an electric immersion tank is to have an electrician fit a timer to the immersion tank.

By reducing the time to four hours per day we have found the savings to be in the region of £40-£50 per month when compared to an immersion tank that is on 24/7. The cost of the timer install will normally be around £200 and the saving in the region of £500 over the first year so you’ve recouped your expenditure within 4-6 months. A great payback.

You may also want to look at the make of immersion tank you have and go online for the instructions. The majority of immersion tanks need venting. This may sound complex but we promise it’s not. An immersion tank needs to have air trapped inside it. This air acts as a buffer and when the water heats up it expands and the air is squashed.

If the air is not in the tank, the water will still expand but this time the tank safety valve will open and send a load of the heated water down the drain. It will keep doing this meaning you are heating water and throwing it down the drain every day!

If you look at your immersion tank it will normally have instructions on the side explaining the process. Just remember to not do this when the tank is full of hot water. If you want any advice on this, simply get in touch with the Glide Property Management team for more information.