No Hot Water - Economy 7 Smart meter or Boiler?

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  • priceworld's Avatar
    Level 5
    I had Smart meter (Kaifa MA120) fitted 7 March and last night our E7 did not heat our Hot Water. How do I work out if its the boiler or the Smart meter? The storage heaters also didn't charge up but i was wondering f that was because the weather is milder. Is there any way of finding out if E7 is working?
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    retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    Best Answer
    @priceworld

    Could be the lower (Economy 7) immersion heater has failed, or you've tripped a breaker in the secondary consumer unit. Both of those are possible scenarios here. When I lived in an all electric house with E7 heating, I needed to replace the lower immersion more than once. A bit of a pain as the tank will need draining and more often than not in hard water areas, the immersion can be a bit of a pig to remove if the tank has got a lot of scale in it.

    Alternatively, the stat may have failed and this can be replaced without needing to remove the immersion element itself. The contacts need to switch a lot of amps and they can burn out. They are not too expensive either. You usually find it's a simple 'probe' that just slides into an orifice in the heater unit itself, and just has a couple of screw terminals. Easy to get to just by popping off that white cover with the three scews holding it in situ. But make sure you isolate any breaker first....even if it only operate at off peak times, better safe than sorry.

    Check the breaker first as that's the easiest 'fix' if that's the case. If it's the immersion, then if your DIY skills aren't up to the task, you may want to find a plumber.
    Last edited by retrotecchie; 19-03-23 at 10:28.
    Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player. I DON'T work for or on behalf of EON.Next, but am willing to try and help if I can. Not on mains gas, mobile network or mains drainage. House heated almost entirely by baby dragons.
  • Best Answer

    retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    Best Answer
    @priceworld

    Hopefully a quick and straightforward job. One I did more then once when I had Eco 7 heating and hot water. I lived in Hampshire where the water was as hard as nails, so always used an immersion replacement as an opportunity to clean the chalky clinker out of the bottom of the the tank while I was about it. The only risk is that if the immersion is really old, then there is a danger of ripping the boss out of the side of the tank if it's properly corroded in, but any decent plumber will have the correct spanner and be very aware of the dangers. All should be good 👍
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @priceworld

    The fact that both hot water and heating did not operate as expected suggests a meter fault. Does you meter have 5 thick cables running in out of it?
    @retrotecchie should be able to confirm and offer some tests you can carry out. As an amateur I’d not like to suggest anything.
    Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    @priceworld

    Did everything work properly between 7th March and now? The water boiler or the storage heater outlets should usually have a red neon on them to show they are actually energised.

    The meter itself also has an icon on the display to indicate that the heating circuits (fifth wire) is also energised.



  • Anasa_EONNext's Avatar
    Community Manager
    Hello @priceworld Anasa here 👋 I'm so sorry to hear that you've got some issues with your boiler or meter. I can see that you've had some fantastic help from our members here!

    Just checking in to see if there is an update with this? Or if you still need some help?😊
    'The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members’

    Did you know that we're open 24/7? There are lots of ways to contact us over here!📣


  • priceworld's Avatar
    Level 5
    Looks like it must be the boiler as the storage heaters heated up overnight last night. The upper half of hot water boiler works on Day rate still no joy from bottom half (Night rate) its a Santon Boiler PP210e direct. Can't find the trip switch on it to reset thermostat. In reply to Qs: All worked OK from 7th March up till 17 March. We only have red neon indicator for day rate hot water (Upper half of boiler). Any further advice would be most welcome, really appreciate people taking time out of there day to help a stranger.
    Here is a pic of thermostat.Name:  20230319_093336643_iOS.jpg
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    Regards Sean - Kaifa MA120 Smart Meter (fitted 7 March 2023). Economy 7 - Electric Only
  • Anasa_EONNext's Avatar
    Community Manager
    Thank you for the update @priceworld I'll have a dig around for you, hopefully our other members should pop on soon who have lots of knowledge and maybe able to shed a bit more light for you 😊
  • priceworld's Avatar
    Level 5
    @retrotecchie sorry for my ignorance but where is the breaker/secondary consumer unit? Is that what i call E7 fuse box? Age 56
  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    If you have E7 heating and hot water, you usually have two boxes. The main one for lights, power, cooker, etc. and then a second one that just has fuses or breakers for the heating/water circuits coming off the off peak feed. The E7, fuse box, as you say👍