hot water tank insulation query

Hi all, my hot water tank, gas heated, has foam? covering. Would there be any significant savings on water heating costs if I was to add an extra insulation jacket? The only problem is that the tank sits in the corner of the cupboard and the flue for the gas heating is on the other corner. The tank is approx 36" high by 18" diam. here is a link to a picture of it.

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Mark

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Mark
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Ask yourself how warm the foamed tank is to the touch when it's heated up, and how warm it is inside that cupboard.... what you are feeling is wasted heat.

Jackets don't cost much and are well worth fitting... best thing is to wrap it as well as you can given the constraints: anything is better than nothing, if you can't wrap it completely.

David

Reply to
Lobster

The message from "Mark" contains these words:

Our tank stays hot for a day or more longer than it did before I added an extra jaket over the top of the foam. the airing cupboard's cooler, too. And the cats don't seem to like it as much.

Reply to
Guy King

you get in B&Q, wickes & builders merchants etc. It made quite a difference to the surface temperature of the cylinder. Make sure to thoroughly lag the pipes, too.

Reply to
John Stumbles

Oops, sorry, I can see you have done that. However you should not put insulation over the immersion heater!

Reply to
John Stumbles

Hi It is not an immersion heater, there is not one, it is just a big nut. Also there is no way to turn the gas heating off other than the thermostat knob on the boiler.

Mark

Reply to
Mark

The message from "Mark" contains these words:

If there's a thermostat on the tank, a switch in parallel will stop it.

Reply to
Guy King

The message from Guy King contains these words:

Sorry, that should, of course, have been "in series".

Reply to
Guy King

That should be fixed as a priority. Having fully independent control of heating and hot water with thermostatic control is a must for energy efficiency. It also helps safety, as it stops the water getting so hot that a child is almost guaranteed to need hospital treatment before long.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Hi that is the way the water heating works, it has been like that for the past 16 years I asked if it was worth while putting another layer of insulation on the tank not on how my heating does or does not work.

Mark

Reply to
Mark

No doubt.

And I'm saying that a much greater benefit is available to you by fixing the controls to modern standard.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Hi I had the unit serviced today and there is nothing that can be added or altered to the water heating as it is designed to be left on all the time. Mark

Reply to
Tricia

Hi I had the unit serviced today and there is nothing that can be added or altered to the water heating as it is designed to be left on all the time. Mark

Reply to
Mark

The message from "Mark" contains these words:

That sounds like complete and utter bullshit to me.

All it needs is a timer in series with the tankstat.

Reply to
Guy King

So how would you fit a timer to a Johnson & Starley J25-32 warm air/hot water unit where the only control for the hot water is a knob in the unit behind a door?

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The black knob with OFF and HOT on it is the only control for the hot water

Mark

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Mark

Also the gas still works and heats the hot water even when the electricity is off during a power failure. So since no electricity is used or required how is it possible to fit a timer? Mark

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Mark

The message from "Mark" contains these words:

You might have mentioned before that you were talking about pre-history!

If that's the unit I think it is, then there were hundreds of them on this estate - all now gone bar two, or so it is rumoured. I have yet to find anyone who actually knows someone who still has one.

If there's really no electrics involved then you're largely stuffed.

Reply to
Guy King

I had a similar circulator in a WAU up to 12 years ago. The gas was controlled by a solenoid valve. I put a time switch and a (bypassable) thermostat in series with the (24v ac) solenoid, so I could control it and also only heat the top of the tank for normal use, and the whole tank for baths.

Reply to
<me9

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