at the moment we only use the bath to give our 2 young uns a quick bath 2 or 3 times a week.
otherwise we use the electric shower.
i dont think we have run out of hot water from the tank apart from once when we had a big party and were doing lots of washing up.
we have the hot water set to come on twice a day for an hour at a time.
hot water pressure is non existant at the moment??
i would like to put bigger radiators in the 3 bedrooms at the same time too.
what do you think.
We stuck with the tank when we had our boiler replaced. Our plumber summed it up very simply. If you even have a power cut or problems with the gas supply, then you've got a tank of hot water ready & waiting
If you're running out of hot water with a cylinder, then the cylinder is undersized. Standard gravity cylinder is 120 litres ish. Most common unvented cylinder is around 210, but they go from 90 to 300 in off the shelf sizes. A very good one will still have got water in it 3 or even 4 days after switching the heating off because the insulation is so good.
as i said we have only run out of water once??
"otherwise we use the electric shower."
Electric showers cost a fortune to run!
I have a HW tank and the option of using the immersion element is great ESP when the boiler breaks down (as all new ones will).
As for the amount of gas used to heat the HW tank, it's minimal as demonstrated by gas usage in summer, when CH is off.
My mind was made up the first time I went for a later morning shower after bathing the kids earlier that morning...
We have a new build with a water tank in it which presumably is mains pressure - the showers are truly awesome. Also the whole tank seems to heat up in about 15 minutes, and we have never run out of water. There's at least a bath and half of water in the tank, and who runs 6 baths an hour of hot water? Also our gas bill is about £20-£30 a month for a 3 bed townhouse. When our boiler broke one summer we didn't notice for 3 days cos there was still hot water.
If I were installing a new system tho I'd deffo go for solar, or at least a tank that supports it.
We have a new build with a water tank in it which presumably is mains pressure
I don't think it's gravity fed. The water pressure is very high even in the upstairs with only a few feet between the shower head and the loft. I seem to remember hearing that the hot water tank is force fed at mains pressure rather than having a header tank in the loft like we used to do at my parents' house.
MF - mains pressure cylinder (unvented) or a heated thermal store will give mains pressure hot water.
Renton, if you are thinking of moving in a few years, will you get payback from spending £2000 + on a new boiler in 4 or 5 years? I would think not, despite what a lot of people would claim. The biggest way you can influence your fuel bills is how you use it. A 1 deg change on your thermostat can be a 10% fuel saving, turning it off when you got out, turning it down when you are busy, turning it off half an hour earlier when you go to bed etc.
I would give this advice to one of my customers if they were in this position, obviously can't comment on your particular installation, but there is something to be said for 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
You could possibly fit a pump to boost your water pressure, radiators can be changed regardless of which boioler you use. Saying that the pipewrok that is supplying them has to be big enough to supply them with enough water. Mail me any queries if you like, think I posted my address earlier.
Oh and I would never advise one of my customers to have a combi, for some they are the only option, but if you have the room, and money go for unvented.
This topic has been closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
