How can I find out what size Immersion heater if fitted to thw wate
tank without having to take it out? It's fitted in the top of the tan and is 2.3 KW. looking on screw fix i see 2 options 11" & 27" Bot being 3k
-- Macc Glyn
How tall is the tank?
If the immersion is your only source of hot water (not unusual in local rural areas) it's almost certainly 27". I don't actually know what the 11" ones are for though.
tank - but why would you want to do that?
Hi Macc If you are lucky there should be a label on the cover of the IM or if it is a metal cover it is sometimes stamped into the cover wall. This gives voltage watts and length. In your post you say it's a 2.3 kw so you may have already found the cover with no length info'. Then you do have a problem. Most top entry heaters are around 27" (the old heat rising thing so the deeper it goes the more water it heats) however certain cylinders which are designed for dual heat (central heating boiler and electric immersion heater) are restricted internally to length of heater.
Something you could try is removing the 'stat from the heater if it is a long thin brass stat (around 13" ) then it can't be an 11" heater. The down side to this is ring,red-ring and the like made heaters with a std
6" stat (silver coloured about 15mm dia)so if you come across this you are back to square 1.Maybe others may have more advice.
HTH CJ
They're for cylinders or tanks where the element is fitted into the side (or even the bottom) rather than from the top. Commonly 'Fortic'-type combination cylinders.
Because you might want a small amount of hot water quickly eg washing up or handwashing, instead of a bathful.
Owain
"wire across the built-in stat and add an external stat strapped to the tank"
Er, how exactly does that comply with the regs for a non-resettable overheat cutout to be part of the thermostat? Leaving aside that strap-on stats are not typically rated at 13A.
Would someone else like to sanity-check this article?
Pro-tem I've put a caveat at the top of the page, as John Rumm did for his excellent article on electrics in outbuildings, to warn anyone tempted to Try This At Home (tm)
Just sink use, no baths.
bzzt! I mean manually-resettable, err, not automatically self-resetting. But you knew that didn't you? :-)
Often for a fast acting "boost" facility. It can get you a small amount of hot water (rather than a large amount of warm water) in a short period of time.
article updated
NT
article updated
NT
On Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:09:18 +0100 someone who may be Macc Glyn wrote this:-
To add to what the others have said, it depends what the heater is used for. If it is used to heat the cylinder overnight on cheap electricity then go for a long one. If it is for boosting the temperature during the day, summer use or for backup then get a short one.
Getting the old heater out may be a difficult task, especially if someone used pipe jointing compound on the thread. Don't do this when you fit the new one. In extreme cases the job can become expensive as one ends up replacing the whole cylinder, in which case it is worth considering one with a coil for a solar panel.
Dave,
Thanks, the tank is 36" its dual I have solid fuel central heating tha heats the water also when lit
-- Macc Glyn
Keep tapping the end of the immersion heater spanner with a hammer until it starts to turn rather than trying to wrench it around, and do it with the cylinder mostly full rather than completely empty (you don't need to empty it much for a tom-mounted immersion anyway)
Is that to keep them warm when they're standing waiting for punters in the cold?
Owain
And you might be paying full price for that electric, whereas the big one will heat the bulk of the tank on cheaper over-night stuff.
Yes, but once you've run out of cheap night-time hot water you want to spend the minimum getting a bit more hot water to see you through until night-time again. It would be even more wasteful to have to heat the whole tank unneccessarily.
Owain
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