Discuss What is this? Help please in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Reaction score
3
Hello everyone,
I'm not sure I'm in the right place but I was wondering if anyone knew what that thing was (see picture)?

It's on the wall above my immersion boiler and is connected only to a thermostat (but is not connected directly to the boiler).

I'm a renter and never noticed it before and what worries me is that it's extremely hot to the touch and shows yellow stains on it...must also say that our boiler runs cold water right now and is not heating up at the moment (we only have it on briefly at night).

I'm not sure if this is to do with the boiler (or a previous boiler and was left there?) or the storage heater.

All's electric in out flat and we have (ancient) storage heaters too.
Thank you,
Sophie
 

Attachments

  • What is this? Help please 20221022_181530 - EletriciansForums.net
    20221022_181530.jpg
    289.3 KB · Views: 19
  • What is this? Help please 20221022_180720 - EletriciansForums.net
    20221022_180720.jpg
    389.3 KB · Views: 19
It is a tubular heater, probably to protect the pipework from freezing.
I would expect the thermostat to be set below 10 degrees.
Hi James,
Thanks so much for replying to me so quickly, much appreciated!
The thermostat is set on 25 degrees and our landlord handyman had told us (the thermostat) was for our bathroom heater...so that's 12 years of that thing being on 24/7 at 25degrees......arghhhhh...I'm not even going to attempt to calculate the energy and money lost there....
Would you happen to know if that thing is (was) used to heat up an airing cupboard? (cos that's where it is right now)
Thanks so much again!
Sophie
 
It's a tube heater. I take it this is all inside an airing cupboard?
Hi Nicebutdim,
(I feel I should steal your username!)
Yes, inside an airing cupboard indeed (that has never been used as one for years - the shelves were ripped off before we moved in.
Oh dear, we've unplugged it now...12 years of that thing being one 24/7 at 25 degrees C without us knowing....I'm going to cry.
Thanks so much for getting back to me, this is hugely appreciated!
Kind regards,
Sophie
 
Hi Nicebutdim,
(I feel I should steal your username!)
Yes, inside an airing cupboard indeed (that has never been used as one for years - the shelves were ripped off before we moved in.
Oh dear, we've unplugged it now...12 years of that thing being one 24/7 at 25 degrees C without us knowing....I'm going to cry.
Thanks so much for getting back to me, this is hugely appreciated!
Kind regards,
Sophie

Certainly not ideal running 24/7, but these don't consume vast quantities of power.

Difficult to tell from the image, but I'd guess it's rated somewhere in the region of 40 - 80W. Not insignificant over a period of time, but far less than one might expect of an electric heater.

Edit: I can only speculate without knowing the particulars of your accomodation, but it might be prudent to use this during spells of very cold weather.
 
Certainly not ideal running 24/7, but these don't consume vast quantities of power.

Difficult to tell from the image, but I'd guess it's rated somewhere in the region of 40 - 80W. Not insignificant over a period of time, but far less than one might expect of an electric heater.

Edit: I can only speculate without knowing the particulars of your accomodation, but it might be prudent to use this during spells of very cold weather.
Thanks again Nicebutdim!
It looks like it's a 60W one...
I'll keep your good advice in mind re cold weather - I live in a small block of flats.
 
Hi James,
Thanks so much for replying to me so quickly, much appreciated!
The thermostat is set on 25 degrees and our landlord handyman had told us (the thermostat) was for our bathroom heater...so that's 12 years of that thing being on 24/7 at 25degrees......arghhhhh...I'm not even going to attempt to calculate the energy and money lost there....
Would you happen to know if that thing is (was) used to heat up an airing cupboard? (cos that's where it is right now)
Thanks so much again!
Sophie
Hndyman needs reeducatingg ----
 
I see on the end of it, it says 60W per foot… so how long is it? 1 ft or 2ft

Seems strange to be there at all, but must have been someone’s clever idea of frost protection.

You say your boiler isn’t working? Have you got a boiler and the immersion tank?
Have you reported it to your landlord?
 
Surprised to see one near an immersion tank that is normally a warm place.

Does seem unusual and two reasons come to mind for it being there:

1. Very poorly insulated property and pipes have frozen in the past, or
2. Someone wanted to prevent their linen getting damp and rarely heated water.
 

Reply to What is this? Help please in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock