Hot Water Heating

NotAGran55

MerylStreep

With respect NotAGran you have a long way to go with being greener
A shower and bath in one day. Are you having a laugh ?

I would think most people would shower to start the day and again at the end of the day if they have a job that leaves them covered in dust, mud and sweat everyday surely??

I’d have thought the evening shower would be enough - unless you happened to be a very sweaty sleeper.

We have a modern traditional boiler with a really well insulated hot water tank. Our house does not lend itself to having a combi.

GSM, why do you not use your dishwasher? Genuine question.

I moved to a bungalow with a combi boiler after always used a conventional boiler. Amazed how much money I have saved by having a combi boiler. Only heating water I need plus being on a water meter saved a packet.

Never realised how much cheaper a bungalow was to run compared with a house. More expensive to buy but the household savings out way that also easier to keep warm.

I have a shower every other day-to cut costs. So does my DH. Obviously a good wash in between.

Also turned the water temp down on the combi boiler by a few degrees, and no discernible difference in water temperature.

NotAGran55

Thanks Tanith.
Does that give you enough water to shower in the morning and a bath early evening?

Why would you need both a bath and a shower in one day?

A shower takes only a few minutes unless I wash my hair and I can't remember the last time I had a bath.

Combi boilers came in, in the 1980s. My sister and my MiL had one installed in the early 80s when they were fairly new on the UK market, so I would think most modern homes, especially flats and small houses would have one.

Ds and family have a 1930s house, which had the previously standard boiler and hotwater tank and when they had it replaced they had more of the same, so i think many people do still have big insulated hotwater tanks.

Yes - combi boiler here too ..

I agree M0nica. I thought a combi boiler was what most homes have these days?

We have a combi boiler, so water is only heated at the time of use and we do not have a hot water tank.

We heat our hot water (pressurised tank) for an hour at 6am and for another hour at 5pm. That gives us plenty of hot water all the time. There is an electric immersion heater inside the tank so if the gas boiler fails, we can heat the water that way. Both of us shower daily, no baths.

I do some washing up by hand oldnproud, for instance I never wash the pots and pans in the dishwasher, a casserole dish might be left to soak and then washed by hand and I wash the dog’s bowls in the sink, however except when we have certain family members to stay who seem to live in the shower, our half to one hour of the immersion heater overnight is ample for the two of us. I might need to give it a quick boost if I’m using a lot of hot water on a ‘spring clean’ but that’s a rare event!

MaizieD

NotAGran55

MerylStreep

With respect NotAGran you have a long way to go with being greener
A shower and bath in one day. Are you having a laugh ?

I would think most people would shower to start the day and again at the end of the day if they have a job that leaves them covered in dust, mud and sweat everyday surely??

I think I wouldn't bother with the morning shower in that case.

Yuk!

Germanshepherdsmum

Yes oldnproud, our immersion heater is separate to the heating system and we find it much more economical than using the water heater which is part of the air pump heating system like you have. The latter is great for heating the house and as you say is on continuously but is an expensive way to heat the water.

Thanks for answering. It's really useful to know that you find a separate immersion more economical
.
I guess that as we don't have a dishwasher, and no prospect of getting one, we wouldn't save quite as much as you do, but even so, I think an immersion might still be more economical for us.

NotAGran55

MerylStreep

With respect NotAGran you have a long way to go with being greener
A shower and bath in one day. Are you having a laugh ?

I would think most people would shower to start the day and again at the end of the day if they have a job that leaves them covered in dust, mud and sweat everyday surely??

I think I wouldn't bother with the morning shower in that case.

Yes oldnproud, our immersion heater is separate to the heating system and we find it much more economical than using the water heater which is part of the air pump heating system like you have. The latter is great for heating the house and as you say is on continuously but is an expensive way to heat the water.

MerylStreep

With respect NotAGran you have a long way to go with being greener
A shower and bath in one day. Are you having a laugh ?

I would think most people would shower to start the day and again at the end of the day if they have a job that leaves them covered in dust, mud and sweat everyday surely??

Germanshepherdsmum

Is your immersion totally separate from the heating system?

Ours isn't, it's an integral part of it, and I've trawled through the user manual many times but not found any way of using it independantly

Oldnproud

Our water heating stays on all the time, as it's a part of the air source heating system that we can't turn on/off independently of the radiator heating. As soon as the temp of the water drops to 46°, it heats up again to around 52°.

Ive been thinking that this is something that we need to take up with the landlord, to see if anything can be done about it. I am absolutely certain that for much of the year, it would be cheaper to boil a kettle for the little hot water that we use, though obviously showering would be difficult.

This coming summer, once we dont need any heating, I will put that to the test by turning the whole system off, and doing exactly that, just boiling a kettle, for our hot water.

I monitor our energy usage carefully, so should quickly see if it makes a difference.

We don’t use our air source heating for the water, instead we put the immersion heater on. Half an hour to an hour overnight (cheap rate) is sufficient for us, when it’s just the two of us having quick showers and using the dishwasher for almost all washing up (cold fill, as is washing machine).

I read somewhere, will look it up later, that it is more economical to leave it on all the time if the tank is well insulated.

With respect NotAGran you have a long way to go with being greener
A shower and bath in one day. Are you having a laugh ?

That makes sense if it doesn't cost you more, I find mine is still perfectly hot enough all day for any usage including a second evening shower.

Precisely that Tanith. It stays hot so only needs heating if the temperature falls eg after a shower. If one has a shower after the water heating has gone off then the water temperature in the tank is lower and needs more heating up the next time the heating comes on.

We compared the bills over a year with previous bills and there was no appreciable difference but we had the hot water if we needed it.

We don't use lots. Just 2 showers and a bit of washing up.

We tried it with the ch too but that did make a difference.

In a properly insulated tank the heated water stay hot for ages after being heated. I’m interested how you manage to have your water heating 24/7 with no increase in your costs? kittylester
I’m nosy lol.

We have a really well insulated hot water tank and have the water heating on all day so it keeps at temperature all the time. This cost us no more than having it timed.

NotAGran55

ComeonEileen Thanks for your reply.

Does an hour in the morning and 30 minutes later actually work for you?
I need to check that my timer can be set twice a day possibly.
I currently have it on once a day.

You have made me think about mine. I have a one hour “boost” at lunchtime for both the CH and water and think I should cancel that.
As to the water, I have a large, pressurised but totally insulated cylinder and think perhaps letting the water cool right down to cold might be a bad thing as to heat it up again every morning would probably take more than an hour.
(As a child, our water tank was much smaller)
Food for thought.