RogerS
Established Member
garywayne":rggzjrbq said:
Could just as easily be a poorly installed/sized system, Gary, I reckon.
Moving hot water tank or new boiler.
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Could just as easily be a poorly installed/sized system, Gary, I reckon.
PowerTool
Established Member
I live in a 3-bed semi - have a tank system and virtually always have hot water,and can run a hot bath in 3 to 4 minutes.
So I agree with Roger,might be worth having your system checked.
Andrew
DaveL
Established Member
One house I bought back in the 80's had an interesting hot water system. :roll:
We moved in and the water was cold, I found the switch for the immersion heater as the place had a wood burner running the heating and we did not need any heat in August.
An hour later the water was still running very cold from the taps, :? on checking the pipe work in the airing cupboard, I found the hot tank had the cold feed into the top instead of the bottom. ](*,) I was planning on changing the heat system but had to get a plumber in the next month to completely replace the system as most of the rads did not get hot due to the way the pipe work had been done. #-o
We moved in and the water was cold, I found the switch for the immersion heater as the place had a wood burner running the heating and we did not need any heat in August.
An hour later the water was still running very cold from the taps, :? on checking the pipe work in the airing cupboard, I found the hot tank had the cold feed into the top instead of the bottom. ](*,) I was planning on changing the heat system but had to get a plumber in the next month to completely replace the system as most of the rads did not get hot due to the way the pipe work had been done. #-o
dedee
Established Member
Thanks again guys.
I've read the diyfaq thread and loads more over the weekend and have come to the conclusion that I will get a quote for shifting the hot water tank up into the loft before I make a decision on the boiler.
I have read some scare stories of HW tanks bursting in the loft and dumping volumes of scolding water on the occupants sleeping below but I see this as about as likely as a cold water tank bursting.
I guess I would have to double the insulation around the tank and may well invest in some under tile insulation as well still better than replacing the boiler and being left disappointed due to poor pressure or bad flow rates.
Andy
I've read the diyfaq thread and loads more over the weekend and have come to the conclusion that I will get a quote for shifting the hot water tank up into the loft before I make a decision on the boiler.
I have read some scare stories of HW tanks bursting in the loft and dumping volumes of scolding water on the occupants sleeping below but I see this as about as likely as a cold water tank bursting.
I guess I would have to double the insulation around the tank and may well invest in some under tile insulation as well still better than replacing the boiler and being left disappointed due to poor pressure or bad flow rates.
Andy
Les Mahon
Established Member
Andy,
I moved the hot water cylinder into the attice in a house I revamped a few years ago and had no problems, however I would recomend you sit it on some from of tray because the risk of the tank bursting is very low, but the risk of one of the connections seeping a little is much higher.
Les
I moved the hot water cylinder into the attice in a house I revamped a few years ago and had no problems, however I would recomend you sit it on some from of tray because the risk of the tank bursting is very low, but the risk of one of the connections seeping a little is much higher.
Les
RogerS
Established Member
Andy..when you say hot water tank, do you mean cylinder? Pre-Lagged presumably?
dedee
Established Member
Roger,
yes. The one I currently have is torpedo shaped about 5' tall with a layer of foam insulation surrounding the cylinder.
Les, what happens when the tray fills up? Or are you suggesting a small seepage will just evaporate?
Andy
yes. The one I currently have is torpedo shaped about 5' tall with a layer of foam insulation surrounding the cylinder.
Les, what happens when the tray fills up? Or are you suggesting a small seepage will just evaporate?
Andy
Les Mahon
Established Member
Andy,
If the tray fills up you would have a fairly serious leak. The logic is that it will evaporate. Really it is there to prevent tiny leaks leaving you with a nasty water stain on the ceiling.
Les
If the tray fills up you would have a fairly serious leak. The logic is that it will evaporate. Really it is there to prevent tiny leaks leaving you with a nasty water stain on the ceiling.
Les
StevieB
Established Member
I had a combi fitted at my last house. Vailent was the make and I was very happy with it. There are two things I remember being told, the first is that I shouldnt run a power shower with a combi (it draws water faster than the combi can heat it - this may be why your bath is tepid) and the second was that it would take a good 30 secs to get hot water from a tap due to the distance from the boiler to the kitchen tap and the lag phase for the boiler to heat said water.
Apart from that I was very happy with it and had no problems running a hot bath or a shower. I guess water pressure has alot to do with it though.
Steve.
Apart from that I was very happy with it and had no problems running a hot bath or a shower. I guess water pressure has alot to do with it though.
Steve.
les chicken
Established Member
Andy
If you are going to move the tank to the loft why not remove it and put in a separate hot water boiler as per my previous response.
Our hot water boiler is 72000btu and the shower unit allows approx 12litres per minute, no need to run round in it to get wet.
It may be worth comparing costs and to weigh up long term savings.
Les
If you are going to move the tank to the loft why not remove it and put in a separate hot water boiler as per my previous response.
Our hot water boiler is 72000btu and the shower unit allows approx 12litres per minute, no need to run round in it to get wet.
It may be worth comparing costs and to weigh up long term savings.
Les
dedee
Established Member
Les,
thanks for bringing that up again, I had missed the significance of your earlier thread first time around. I'l do some more research. One problem I can think of are where to locate a second boiler - in the loft possibly but that would mean running gas up there.
Andy
thanks for bringing that up again, I had missed the significance of your earlier thread first time around. I'l do some more research. One problem I can think of are where to locate a second boiler - in the loft possibly but that would mean running gas up there.
Andy
RogerS
Established Member
Slightly off-topic but does anyone know how much energy 1 litre of CH oil generates in kW or BTU's? I'm trying to work out the relative cost per unit of heat between electricity off-peak and oil.
Les Mahon
Established Member
Roger,
Natural Gas = 10.33 kWh/m3
Kerosene Oil = 10.13 kWh/litre
Diesel No 2 Oil = 10.74 kWh/litre
LPG = 7.39 kWh /litre
Those figure come from a payback calculator for a wood pellet system so they are provided by the wood pellet boiler supplier, in other words I'm not vouching for thei acuracy!
Les
Natural Gas = 10.33 kWh/m3
Kerosene Oil = 10.13 kWh/litre
Diesel No 2 Oil = 10.74 kWh/litre
LPG = 7.39 kWh /litre
Those figure come from a payback calculator for a wood pellet system so they are provided by the wood pellet boiler supplier, in other words I'm not vouching for thei acuracy!
Les
RogerS
Established Member
Thanks, Les. Exactly what I was after. Now where's that figure for cow dung :wink:
EDIT: Interesting calculation, nPower cheap rate is a tad over 4p (4.09). Working on kerosene as the equivalent of central heating oil, it works out at 10kW for 35p (current price for CH oil). I'm assuming that the figures from Les assume 100% efficiency so if my boiler is 85% efficient then CH oil works out at marginally more expensive (4.11p) and so electricity (offpeak) is marginally cheaper than oilfired CH ...and there's no maintenance charge either :lol:
EDIT: Interesting calculation, nPower cheap rate is a tad over 4p (4.09). Working on kerosene as the equivalent of central heating oil, it works out at 10kW for 35p (current price for CH oil). I'm assuming that the figures from Les assume 100% efficiency so if my boiler is 85% efficient then CH oil works out at marginally more expensive (4.11p) and so electricity (offpeak) is marginally cheaper than oilfired CH ...and there's no maintenance charge either :lol:
