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I think I read you can go as low as 50c in a tank before bacteria etc. becomes an issue? Don't quote me though.
The tip in one of the vids about having the hot water as cold as possible is better, as there's no point having a red hot, hot water pipe, only to mix it with cold at the tap/shower as your're just cooling down the water you've just paid to heat up.
I run my hot water at 40c, as that's hot enough without requiring much, if any mixing with cold at the business end.
That's also as low as it will go, but I don't have a hot water tank, so don't need to worry about bacteria as much.
So I think I will set the water temp to a modest value, but use the immersion heater on a timer just before the off-peak period ends to get it nice and hot. I’ve just switched to an EV tariff with 7.5p/kWh overnight charging, that will make it fairly cheap. I think the immersion heater has a fixed temperature of 60C or something sanitary.
That's how most electrically heated homes do it. And TBH makes sense if you've got a tariff that makes the gas and eclectic rates the same.
I think I read you can go as low as 50c in a tank before bacteria etc. becomes an issue? DOn’t qoute me though.
I run my hot water at 40c, as that’s hot enough without requitring much if any mixing with cold at the buniss end.
That’s as low as it will go, but I don’t have a hot water tank so don’t need to worry about bacteria as much.
It's probably fine, I'm sure there's something in building regs though that says it has to reach 50C at the tap, but if it's a thermostatic mixer it has to be lower at the outlet. And the tank has to reach 60C at least once a day.
I run my hot water at 40c,
so don’t need to worry about bacteria as much.
Just around body temperature- yum.
Even without a tank that’s a recipe for building a lovely biofilm inn the pipe work. As above, wants to be much hotter to prevent growth. Appreciate that it’s not potable water, but adding the aerosol from a shower head it’s not ideal. HSE advise 50c or higher on hot water distribution systems. Of course if the pipe runs are long then would want hotter at the source to allow for heat loss.
as there’s no point having a red hot, hot water pipe, only to mix it with cold at the tap/shower as your’re just cooling down the water you’ve just paid to heat up.
The point is to have any hot water that is stored at 60ºC, to avoid legionella. Then mix it with cold at the point of use to avoid scalding.
The total energy is the same, if you want 10 litres of water at 40º, whether you heat that 10 litres from 20º to 40º or heat 5 litres to 60º and mix it with 5 litres at 20º.
The total energy is the same, if you want 10 litres of water at 40º, whether you heat that 10 litres from 20º to 40º or heat 5 litres to 60º and mix it with 5 litres at 20º.
In an isentropic system it would be, but nothing is isentropic.
Assuming you've got a closed system and no open header tank with birds and bats shitting in it then there are a number of points to consider:
Mains water is chlorinated and the residual chlorine by the time it reaches your home will deal with pipes and and tanks that get a regular fresh dose. The danger areas are dead end pipes and unused tanks, legonaires loves them - they get neither fresh chlorinated water nor sufficient heat to kill the bugs.
My hot water is solar, it only gets over 60° in Summer and over 50° on really sunny days in Spring. It's currently running in the 40s. Am I worried? No, the water is replaced regularly. However, if I go away for a few weeks in Autumn or Winter and the water is left to stagnate then I use the immersion heater to get it properly hot and then run hot water through all the pipes in the system.
The tip in one of the vids about having the hot water as cold as possible is better, as there’s no point having a red hot, hot water pipe, only to mix it with cold at the tap/shower as your’re just cooling down the water you’ve just paid to heat up.
Yes, but you use less of the water at the tap when it's hotter. I think the reason to have the hot water tank cooler is that you lose less heat. We turned it right down in the hot weather (the tank temp, which dictates when the hot water system shuts off - not the boiler outflow temp) because it contributes to making the top floor of the house hot. And if the water tank is 45 and the boiler outflow temp is 70 then it'll heat up the water tank more efficiently and give a nice cool return temp at the same time.
However, if I go away for a few weeks in Autumn or Winter and the water is left to stagnate then I use the immersion heater to get it properly hot and then run hot water through all the pipes in the system.
Interesting. Still, the immersion heater might end up a bit cheaper. But perhaps not if it's hitting 65C versus 50C from the gas. Hmm.
The total energy is the same, if you want 10 litres of water at 40º, whether you heat that 10 litres from 20º to 40º or heat 5 litres to 60º and mix it with 5 litres at 20º.
Yeah but your whole tank is at 60 versus 40, and a tank at 60 loses more heat than a tank at 40.
Heating still not on here; bar one hour when I tested it for operation last week after doing a radiator bleed. We both run fairly hot bodies as it is so we might last out another couple of weeks unless it takes a plunge outside.
Re: hot water, I've tried storing ours at 50C versus storing it at 60C, and having it on to heat all through the day and night rather than just an hour in the morning and a few hours at night. it made so little difference i decided to just go with 60C as it meant we got more out of one tank and weren't left a bit short after two showers and washing the dishes in the space of a couple hours.
Seem to have hit the time of year when it's too cold to dry your towel on the line and not cold enough for the radiators to come on
My neighbours hang out their washing on cold days as long as there is a breeze that is capable of drying out the ground. They don't own a tumble dryer. They do have a drying rack that winches up to the ceiling in their kitchen.
Goes to check, hot water tank at 55c, has been for years. Needs to be hot, but not enough to scald.
Seem to have hit the time of year when it’s too cold to dry your towel on the line and not cold enough for the radiators to come on
@morecashthandash Wholly agree. Shower in the morning. Then a cool shower after a ride or gym. By that time, the towel is nowhere near dry yet.
Maybe a first-world problem. But it can't be good hygienically if your towel never actually dries completely.
Heating not on here yet - it's felt a bit cool and the thermostat in the hall has dropped as low as 17.5 so far this Autumn
I'd normally have a small electric heater out for a small bit of heat in individual rooms, but I've held off for now
If I'm on the couch watching TV I have a small blanket to put round my legs - works nicely
All that's required for stuff on a clothes line is dry wind; no warmth necessary.
Returning to the topic - I'm wearing t-shirt, overshirt, shorts, shearling lined slippers and that won't change for several weeks; heating fired up once a week to purge system.
Will be using local (council owned) gym - which is within walking distance - more to maximise the benefit to me; that includes showers.
Energy bills aren't a consideration for me but improving fitness and getting showers subsidised by the locals - can't turn that down!
Having said that, it's shit for far too many.
Aga went on yesterday.
Drying rack above it back in action!
Heating still off hopefully running to November before I put it on
I mind my mum hanging my clothes out on the line in the snow, I think she was aiming for freeze dried. How I laughed when I bent feet into my jeans and stood them up.
Windy and no rain, the washing is out.
Our heating ticked on this morning before we got up as evidenced by the radiators being warm to the touch.
it certainly wasn't on for long as the rads are warm to touch but still fairly cool.
Good to know it still works since I cleaned out the baffles and turbulator
A little bit parky this morning in the kitchen. My first thought was 'ooh heating on' but then I put on jumper, problem solved.
Going to go round and get rid of some draughts this weekend.
The tip in one of the vids about having the hot water as cold as possible is better, as there’s no point having a red hot, hot water pipe, only to mix it with cold at the tap/shower as your’re just cooling down the water you’ve just paid to heat up.
We have a "pencil" hot water tank so tiny volume, hence to have an acceptable quantity of hot water for showers, we have to run the HW tank thermostat at 75C in winter, I suspect the top of the tank is closer to 80C. I had to fit thermostatic mixer valves to the hot water taps as otherwise you can scold yourself on them!
Lovely morning sun coming in our south facing windows.
Meanwhile, in the north facing "office" I've resorted to a blanket over my legs for the first time this year
Still off here, just reaching the point where it's slightly chilly in the morning/evening, but realistically no colder than it would be later in the year with the heating on then going off before bedtime, or just not doing nay more than taking the edge off it in the mornings.
First day I've worked from home for a couple of weeks. It's been a bit bloody parky until I've turned on the oven to desiccate some liver dog-treats! Fair play to SWMBO's 1 and 2, there's been no moaning about having the heating on or sneaky boiler adjustment this autumn.
Not sure we'll be holding out too much longer and we have built up some credit in the account over summer.
wore two layers for warmth for last night's bike ride. First time this autumn (with the exception of wearing a waterproof in rain)
pyjama t-shirt has also re-appeared this week.
heating still off.
It’s cold now so heating on, I don’t like being cold and the washing wasn’t drying.
Put the floor on in the bathroom too, think I’ll have to reduce the temperature and time a bit on it. Apparently uses about 600W when it’s heating.
On the plus side my gas has gone down from 6p to 5.74p - small wins.
Well, 8 hours after my previous message I caved and turned it on. Flow temperature set to 3 as apparently that's most efficient. I didn't know that before, always assumed MAX POWER would be best.
Not even thought about putting the heating on. But then I'm sat outside a bar in Girona in t shirt and shorts😀
On the plus side my gas has gone down from 6p to 5.74p
Who's that deal with? That's near enough half the energy price cap.
@retrorick with Octopus, we have Go for car charging.
It’s their gas tracker, I think it has the potential to go up to the cap. It was 4p earlier in the year.
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LoL @ pete68
Heating still not on here in the Midlands, and I hung washing up outside yesterday that dried perfectly well.
Still got the summer duvet on the bed as well.
I hung washing out inside because showers are forecast here. Heating's not on, let's see how fast it dries and if the house gets too cold.
I hung washing out inside because showers are forecast here. Heating’s not on, let’s see how fast it dries and if the house gets too cold.
We do that in summer if it's raining, often open the windows and stick a fan pointing at the washing - dries very quickly. In winter, we switch on the dehumidifier and shut it in the spare bedroom - dries overnight.
Quite windy here which should help evict the humidity from the washing. But it is feeling somewhat chilly in my room. I'm going to put a jumper on and my thick socks. Is it due to the wind or the humidity from the washing?
still resisting here (Bromley - S/E London) but looking at the 2 week weather forecast its gradually trending down so i can't see us lasting until the end of the month before caving in.
I haven't once felt remotely cold yet (and my wife has only commented that she is getting a bit chilly once) so I am hoping to hold out for some weeks yet. I am also thinking about getting some larger rugs to cover up the tile floors in the bathrooms so we don't need the underfloor heating on.
Heating is on, hour in morning and about the same early evening, but set at 17.5c. Gas consumption now around 20Kwh - a day, or about £2.50 a day. That will most likely double to 40KWh in the colder months (looking back to Feb when I started logging useage). What would have been a £60 per month bill, is likely to be nearer £150.
Tested the log burner for the first time. Yep, they get hot. Took longer than expected at around 40mins from ignition to chucking out a decent warmth but once its up and running, very happy
My newly acquired wood is mostly 14 to 16% moisture and takes a flame really well. Burnt 1 builder bucket of split 6in lengths in the evening.
Need to keep an eye on the daytime temps, and when its single figures prep the stove so i can light it as soon as I get in from work.
No heating on in Costa del Chorley yet. Blankets, shutting off unused rooms, have insulated the garage door which is integrated into the house (big difference!). Want to enquire about fitting a wood burner, but it's a new build house and unsure if it's allowed etc. Also 6 solar panels on the roof which I want to see if I can convert somehow to also heat the hot water tank
Just flicked the oil-filled rad on in the office.
Been having a cheeky 20 mins or so of that now and then, plus the odd couple of hours of the CH when there's people over.
Sitting here in home office wearing big hoody, fleece-lined trews and hat on.
Gas consumption now around 20Kwh
Is it my maths or is that a hell of a lot?
I'm on about 1/4 of that I think in a 3 bed house. Is yours big and draughty?
Want to enquire about fitting a wood burner,
They're an environmental disaster, they just spew out PM10s into the environment.
We've had ours on in the new house now maybe 3-4 hours in the last 2 weeks since we moved in. Installed curtains a few days ago and that has definitely helped. Looks like the rest of October could be cold so I guess we will give in soon enough.
Is it my maths or is that a hell of a lot?
I’m on about 1/4 of that I think in a 3 bed house. Is yours big and draughty?
Just checked mine, yesterday 55kWh.
Yes draughty & it’s not even that cold yet.
Are you comparing m^3 to kWh? Or are we using that much more?
Stat set to 15 degrees. Not come on yet in Glasgow.
Well, ecotricity have ballsed up my bills something rotten so I cannot really compare. I'd guess my boiler would be running for no more than 2hrs a day in winter unless it's a cold snap and it's 12kW, so 25kWh seems reasonable at max.
That was last winter though, we will be making serious cutbacks this winter as I have learned a lot about heating - thanks to this thread.
I will post here when our first full month of heating happens.