I have often used the phrase about tech, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". Well, I found another real example of it today. I bought and fitted the attached immersion heater timer 30 years ago. (still works perfectly) Beautiful in it's simplicity. You select how long you want it on using the rotary control, then press the 'on' button. It automatically switches off after the allocated time.

Wanted to buy similar today for a friend. Can't be bought, they are all overcomplicated, digital displayed, numerous settings, a triumph of bad design. (Found one eventually with 3 fixed times, though a proper rotary knob would give infinite settings).

Yep, modern tech, very often crap!

In my very first house (40 years ago) I fitted a manual time clock to the immersion heater. Used to come on for an hour before I got up for work and about 4 hours in the evening. It was simple and easy to use. You could set as many or as few 15minute segments as required in a day. If you turned it on by override it would always turn itself off at the next 'off' section.

I wonder if it's still working ? - You can still buy the one I used so it must have stood the test of time.

1 minute ago, unofix said:

I wounder if it still working ? - You can still buy the one I used so it must have stood the test of time.

Still not as simple as the on/off I want, but still, useful bit of kit...

Yes simple is not the answer of today's life 😧

More is better so we get told, and if you can get an 'App' to control it then it must be good 🤣

2 minutes ago, unofix said:

... and if you can get an 'App' to control it then it must be good 🤣

Until your WiFi goes down (and no ones had that??) and you can't heat your water! LOL

34 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Until your WiFi goes down

On a slightly different note, have you ever watched any of the videos on YouTube by Richard Vobes ?

He's so very often on the same wavelength as me 🤣  Here's todays:

 

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

Still not as simple as the on/off I want, but still, useful bit of kit...

Not sure I'm understanding the full advantage of this...  You still have to get out of bed to switch it on.  Then sit waiting for an hour in the freezing cold until the water heats up?

My grandparents lived in an old cottage, rebuilt after the war but still very basic.  No piped hot water when they moved in, in the 80's!!  They had a hot water tank with immersion heater fitted at some point.  I only found out after my Grandad died that there was no timer on it.  They spent about 20 years having to get up an hour earlier than desired to switch the hot water on.  Some modern tech is definitely useful!!

 

8 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Not sure I'm understanding the full advantage of this...  You still have to get out of bed to switch it on.  Then sit waiting for an hour in the freezing cold until the water heats up?

Tom, I fear you are simply too young LOL If you need the hot water when you get up, sure, you can set a complex timer if you get up the same time every day, or set it to turn on different times at the weekend, if you get up the same time on those days too. But, if you simply want an on/off switch that you don't need to remember to turn off, considering you are controlling a 3Kw appliance, and you ask around the number of people that have accidentally left them on permanently for days, you'll soon see why this is a must for many people, including me.

Mainly used for occasional use when the central heating is off, and you just want some hot water during the day...

Ah, you have that new fangled central heating!  All electric here so immersion heater is needed every day.

Slightly off-topic but you should get up at the same time every day for your body clock.  Having a lay in on the weekends knocks it out of sync.

When we moved into our previous house, brand new house with air-source underfloor heating and hot water, we had to have a member of the installation team come by for a 'familiarisation' session to help us understand the controls! Took about an hour and we thought we had taken everything in........ how wrong we were!!!! 

 

When we decided to slightly alter the timings I spent a couple of hours trying to get it sorted but in the end had to get the installer back in again to change the timings! 

 

Totally agree with @unofix regarding manual timers 👍 I have a couple of plugin timers for various things around the house and the manual ones are so simple to set. 

I bought a new radio alarm clock from John Lewis, their own brand. Reviews were shocking with everyone saying they couldn’t use the functions. I thought how complicated can it be , I thought I must be able to do it. Well I did keep it, and I can use it, but it is very very complicated. It should never had been unleashed on customers. John Lewis must have lost so much money on returns. The fact that the instructions had an error in it does not help, but in spite of that it’s still shocking. A radio alarm clock on which you have to turn the radio on to alter the alarm time? Yes it’s true. How stupid is that if someone is already asleep when you get into bed and need to alter the wake-up time. 

2 minutes ago, isetta said:

I bought a new radio alarm clock from John Lewis, their own brand. ...

It's not this one is it? I have it but I only use it as a 'radio' just manually turn it on/off so never need to set the alarm. The instructions do indeed have an error in it, and the radio itself is annoying as when switched on, you have to hit the menu button to activate the scrolling DAB display function - every other DAB I have, this switches on by default!

 

And whilst I’m having a rant. My sister bought our 85 year old mum an Alcatel mobile phone with big buttons on. The menu on it and the way it is navigated is the most complicated you could imagine. The reviews are terrible.  My mum is pretty terrible at using stuff like this. I wouldn’t have bought it, it would have been obvious our mum would have problems with it. It’s a big button phone for old people, how did this get released. The slightest bit of testing on the target market would have revealed it was no good.

2 minutes ago, isetta said:

And whilst I’m having a rant. My sister bought our 85 year old mum an Alcatel mobile phone with big buttons on. The menu on it and the way it is navigated is the most complicated you could imagine....

Good rant! I too have an 85 year old mum, I just couldn't find one she could work - so, she doesn't have one anymore. (Also, the volume on an old fashioned landline phone needs looking at for the elderly!)

Similar but not the same. It’s almost impossible to read the writing on the buttons. See the pic of the back.   If you want to turn the radio on you have to press that button.   Why is it on the back?   Also when you get out of bed and want to turn the alarm radio sound off (as opposed to snooze) you have to press that button twice. It’s not very convenient for stopping the sound if my wife wants to remain asleep.  But I do like the way that the radio alarm volume increases gradually.  On my old one it just came on suddenly at the set volume.

11 minutes ago, isetta said:

Similar but not the same. ...

That is the newer version of mine. I wanted the older one as it has the power button on top, much easier to access if you use it as a simple on/off radio. Yours has the power button on the back which is awkward to get at so unsuitable for my needs. Apart from that, they're the same radio. 

Power switch on the back is a terrible idea...how did that ever get past design stage?

By everyone is having a good old rant today 🤣  Can I join in please ?

Telephones for the hard of hearing and with big buttons (Land line only):https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=bt+telephones+for+hard+of+hearing&adgrpid=52905353443&gclid=CjwKCAiA3KefBhByEiwAi2LDHIFRfKOkRR7pUjVWAi3I_oEROE2vu1joyowLaOiE6Eo_vHcrjeqD7RoCe9gQAvD_BwE&hvadid=259077052686&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006688&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=910503685398130928&hvtargid=kwd-356720390123&hydadcr=5116_1827870&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_7k692auglu_e

I need a new radio alarm clock for myself. The one I have still works (bought 40 years ago from Dixons) but I struggle to get any stations now. It only has MW and FM and I'm down to only 3 stations none of which I like.

 

13 minutes ago, unofix said:

By everyone is having a good old rant today 🤣  Can I join in please ?

Telephones for the hard of hearing and with big buttons (Land line only

This is the one I got mum, big buttons, and a 'loud' button, which does pretty much nothing! (It's like the button you find in pelican crossings, they're not connected to the lights but act as a pacifier to calm you when you want to cross the road!)

4 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

(It's like the button you find in pelican crossings, they're not connected to the lights but act as a pacifier to calm you when you want to cross the road!)

I won't ever be able to press the button on a crossing again without having a chuckle 🤣

On 2/13/2023 at 9:48 PM, unofix said:

I need a new radio alarm clock for myself. The one I have still works (bought 40 years ago from Dixons) but I struggle to get any stations now. It only has MW and FM and I'm down to only 3 stations none of which I like.

 

My Bush radio alarm was new in 1985 so was a bit old. The white plastic had yellowed so about 5 years ago I took it apart and resprayed it black as my wife was complaining about the shabby look of it. But now replaced with the John Lewis one to get more stations.