hot water

Nov 07, 2005 5 Replies

Hi recently moved into a new (to me built 1990) house and the hot water is heated by gas and the heating is by gas hot air. It is manufactured by Johnston and Starley. The only control for the water heating is a thermostat control on the boiler. There is no timer etc. In fact if the electricity is off the water is still heated but the hot air heating stops. So the only way to control the hot water is by the thermostat in the heating unit. The question is, is it more energy efficient(save money on the gas) to leave the hot water on all the time, as it seems that is how the system works, or manually turn the hot water heating off and on when necessary? However turning it off and on requires planning as I get up in the morning and go straight into the shower so I would have to get up a bit earlier or have a cup of coffee while I waited on the water heating or would it be hot enough. Also I may get used to it but while lying in my bed I keep hearing the gas coming on for a few minutes then going off again as it keeps heating the water. There are only 2 adults in the house. So what are the opinions of the DIY fratenity?



Jackie


Just leave it on. I have a timer on my system, but don't bother using it. A modern well insulated cylinder will still be more efficient timed, but the difference is marginal and not worth the inconvenience of running out when patterns change.

Christian.

But I assume you have a cylinder stat that will stop the boiler cycling every now and again? In this case I would imagine the cost to continually heat up the heat exchanger in the boiler to a point where the boiler's stat cuts in throughout the day and night would add up a fair bit.

Yes, obviously any system should have a cylinder stat to prevent boiler cycling.

Christian.

Hi there is no thermostat on the hot water cylinder. The only control for the hot water is a knob in the heating unit that can change the temperature that the water is heated to or turn it off.

Jackie

temperature

I would upgrade the controls then. I don't think it is acceptable (and it would fail building regulations for a new/replacement installation) to have no cylinder thermostat.

Christian.

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