Hi guys,
At present I have the immersion element in my insulated 300 litre hot water cylinder coming on for 6 hours a night, (using the night rate), in addition to this I have moderate temperature water from the geo-thermal heat-pump heating one of the coils all day, (geo-thermal on all day, set to heat return temperature of house floors to 32 degrees).
Now my question is this: Would it be more efficient to have the immersion element on 24 hours a day depending on said element's thermostat to direct the electric element to heat up when hot water is drawn off and the tank's internal insulation to keep the temperature steady? I think this would mean less water would be heated using the nightrate, however, would this be offset by the smaller heating increments during the day as opposed to one big heating session of a "cold" hot-water tank in said 6 hours overnight?
Hope I'm making sense.
ALERT.