Hot Water Heating

Thank goodness some of us consider how much water we use and don’t just ‘Enjoy!’. What an irresponsible comment.

I think, generally that most of us waste an awful lot of water with continuous showering and frequent bathing.

Personally, I just switch my hot water on once a day for a few hours and switch it of before I go to bed. Don’t bother with a timer, and don’t know how to work it anyway.

I find these comments fascinating, and I'm not taking the you know what. It's so different from the system we have in the US, at least it seems to be, what with all the timing and different types of coordinating heat. My washing machine and dishwasher fill with whatever kind of water I select, hot or cold. At least where I live, we don't have any choice about who provides our heat. I've wondered how y'all compare rates etc. We just fall into certain regions which are served by certain companies, here in the Midwest. I am actually fascinated by the endless comparisons and choices and box ticking and choosing vendors that y'all have to go through. I'd be totally lost. And, NOTAGRAN55 , trust me, your two extra showers or baths a day are not even a drop in the bucket towards saving the planet. Honestly, a person can't enjoy their life for love nor money. If you need the shower to feel better, to brace yourself for the day, to get rid of the sleep sweat, go right ahead. I don't think anyone will be reading out your names at the end of the world saying if only they had eliminated their extra bathing. Enjoy! ?

Teacheranne
No yuks from me as i think I was the first poster to point out what an obscene waste this is of one of our most precious resources.
I’m also astounded that it’s taken an energy crisis to make so called educated adults to wake up.

No yuks from me Teacheranne I only shower 3 times a week after a good night's sleep. It's not the shower and hair washing that exhausts me but getting dry and putting my cream on . I do this all year round. Just have a wash the others days. I have never smelt. I use a deo everyday. I only change my bed end of every month. I live on my own and since my husband died 18 years ago still only sleep on my side of our king size bed. I always wear slippers in my bungalow and take them with me when visiting other peoples homes.

The only time I have had dirty feet is when I have had to stay in hospital. And always used a flannel on my feet before getting into the hospital bed.

I don't think I use more any more water when I shower than I do when I wash in the basin, except when I do my hair too.

First I run off the cold water into a bucket , and it is used to flush the toilet. That is half a bucketful.

Then I wet myself - ten seconds at the most . After that, I turn the tap off again, soap myself, then rinse. The tap is running no longer for that than it is when I run off the cold water, so it can't be more than half a bucketful.

I don't think I could possibly save any more water unless A. I start cleaning myself every two days instead of every day, which is not an option with my erratic body thermostat since the menopause, or B. Shave my head so that a weekly hair wash is no longer necessary.

To be honest, I think those two options might be going a little too far, even for me.

I have a combi boiler so all I do is turn the water on and there is instant hot water, you don't need a water tank

As a single lady, retired and mobility issues so does little physical work, I reckon I could get away with a shower twice a week and not smell! As a child in the 1960’s, a weekly baths was considered sufficient although I did have extra ones during my periods. I don’t sweat much and use deodorant so I don’t smell of BO - I have checked by asking my very honest daughter!

I do shower more than once a week ( not giving any details though!) but not every day other than during the rare heatwaves we have. I wash my hair every time I shower and it does not get greasy in between washes.

I don’t know where this obsession about daily or twice daily showers came from, probably a marketing ploy from soap product manufacturers!

I’m off now to wait for all the “yuks” to start flying around!

Well, the filthy farmers in my family just shower in the evening; I don't know how anyone can get dirty overnight in bed
Don't answer that either

@MaizieD is absolutely correct and @NotAGran55 how rude are you to say yuk. Showering/bathing twice a day is not being green at all. Experts say you should absolutely shower before bed and if you do it's not necessary to shower in the morning (you can of course shower in the morning too - but then you wouldn't be being green would you).

I have a small two bedroom bungalow and storage heaters. In the past it was cheaper than those who had oil. No gas in this Village. The immersion heater is on for an hour overnight heating only five gallons which is sufficient as the shower is separately heated and washing machine cold fill. No dishwasher.

What I cannot understand why my bills are so much more than my son’s who has a large four bedroom house heated by electric and gas.
Have been informed by Eon that my cost will be more than double from April. I asked if I could go on a different tariff only to be informed that I am already on the lowest assisted.

Washing hair and bathing every day takes all the natural oils from the skin which cannot be replaced by creams.

Nannan2 and MS - in the last couple of years, a friend and her husband (between redundancy and pension, so could show a household income of under £16K) had a new boiler installed under such a scheme in their mortgage free house. Savings not taken into the account either, which I found odd. They had to pay up to £500 towards it depending which boiler they chose either Worcester or Ideal Standard. She’s currently trying to get the same for her son, but fears his house (also privately owned) isn’t suitable.

In our last house we had solid fuel heating /hot water and didn’t want to light it in the summer so relied on the immersion to warm the water, and also handy to stop pipes freezing in the winter if we were away. Wasn’t terribly expensive to leave on all the time, good insulation on the tank and obvs if you don’t use it it stays warm . On a separate thread where do you get the time to do bathing and showering on the same day ?

NotAGran55

Experimenting today with 2 hours water heating from 5-7…..
Watch this space….

Callistemon21 you are very close with your guesses about our business ?

I'm intrigued!

I need my bath, having broken my back the facility of being able to soak in hot water is something I would find hard to do without. I would have a bath every day but conscious of cost I limit it to one a week, with daily showers.
I would like to keep the house hotter than the 22c recommended as 'adequate' by AgeUK.
I heat the full tank for my bath by using the immersion heater for half an hour once week, the rest of the time we use an electric shower.
Our electricity bill is always a shock!
You have set me off thinking of ways to cut down, its all getting very worrying.

Nannan2
When we came to view our bungalow ( empty) the boiler was in the lounge. The gentleman that died here had the boiler put in under that scheme, they told him that it was the only place it could go so the poor old fella lived with a boiler going on and off.

Combi boiler here so the water is heated as it's used, it doesn't sit in a tank going cold.

Re. the shower every day debate - www.bustle.com/articles/114177-6-reasons-you-should-stop-showering-every-day-according-to-science

Combi boiler here, on from 6:30 - 8:30, again 4:30 - 8:30, goes on constant if it’s very cold if I’m in, or at weekends. MrJ showers every day if working as it’s manual work, otherwise every other day for us both. I have a bath every now and then. No tumble dryer, I just dry clothes on an airer inside or out, dependent on weather.

I think it was just for private tenants and homeowners.

I think councils used to help folk with insulation/heating grants etc, including wall heaters and new combi boilers if necessary, dont know if they still do?- but it might be worth asking, for those of you who want to make the swap to a combi boiler?

The idiot boiler installers still put my new combi boiler in airing cupboard upstairs, instead of in kitchen so we dont have heating on in night at all, even if its snowing & freezing outside, as boiler would wake us all up.Consequently we've veeto'd any viewings of houses with an upstairs combi boiler as well....?

Goodness, there seems to be a LOT of you still on 'old' immersion heater systems- i thought best way to go was gas boilers these days, that give instant hot water when you need it, and heat radiators? I had immersion heater in present house at first, and as its housing association house i couldnt just swap it, but it had its own insulated wrapped type covering and then a boiler jacket over that so was good(ish) at staying hot.But i could not afford it on all day so an hour morning & teatime was usual.But thank fully after 6 yrs they replaced it with an instant gas boiler! But now after another 4 yrs nearly i want a move, so any private lets I've viewed have had gas instant boilers in. I couldn't go back to the immersion heater! ?

30 minutes morning and 30 minutes between 4-5 pm….. our shower is a power shower so not necessary for that , also we have no bath ( walk in shower installed). The wash mach heats its own water! So it’s just washing up / cleaning. I use water collected from tumble drier to water gardens!

I have a combi boiler for heating and water. Water is heated as required and is available at all times..