Help with electric/hot water needed

[PhilC85]

Hi guys, I have just purchased my first flat. It has no gas supplied to it and no central heating as the flat is heated by an electric under-floor heating system. The hot water is currently provided by a very out of date immersion heater without a timer, and such there is absolutely no hot water on demand, and not enough hot water to even wash your hands without having the immersion on for at least 20 minutes. I was wondering if there was such a thing as an electric combi/boiler that could provide our hot water only, without being set up as part of a central heating system, or whether i'm best off updating the immersion. Or perhaps something else entirely! Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated, thank you.

Phil

 

[chris watkins]

Yes Phil it is called an electric shower & is limited to around 10 Kw for domestic houses

 

[jase158]

I know little of the electric boilers,
but the cheapest option would be to get a timer for your immersion heater,
but depends on your wants/ needs.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Would have thought that you would have been on econ 7 for water / heating have you spoke to your supplier ? 20 to 40 mins is normel sort of time to heat up tank, best thing is to leave them switched on all the time.

 

[PhilC85]

that does seem the easiest option, to be honest i just want it to be fairly economical, and I had heard that outdated immersion heaters could rack up quite large electricity bills, even if used on a timer, but if thats not true it sounds like the best solution

 

[PhilC85]

no i havent spoken to my supplier yet, definitely something i will do tomorrow. Won't leaving the immersion on 24/7 be an expensive thing to do?

 

[JCplumb]

Keeping the immersion hot won't be as cheap as a demand heater, but you're quite limited. As long as the tank is well insulated a timer would be the option I'd go for.
By the way. Washing your hands in hot water doesn't kill more germs than washing them in cold water. The temperature needed to kill bacteria would take a layer of skin off. Stephen Fry said that on Q.I. so it must be true

 

[PhilC85]

right-o that sounds good, thanks for your help, and thanks for the hand washing tip!

 

[tamz]

20 to 40 mins is normel sort of time to heat up tank,

if you have a 15 or 30kw immersion :smile:

I had heard that outdated immersion heaters could rack up quite large electricity bills,

Old or new. The running costs are the same. Not cheap whichever way you run it. Check what electric tarrifs you are on and run it to suit. If you are on a std tarrif it is very expensive.

 

[chris watkins]

Sorry Phil for being a bit sharp on my first post (& you thanked me) Just to explain myself, you may have worked it out but it is a power thing !! to heat water takes a lot of it, to much for a house hold electrical supply to do instantaneously on anything much larger than a shower (& this requires 10mm2 cables & around 40+ amps) so no chance that there could be a combi (gas ones are rated at 24,28, 30+kWs). Stick with the cylinder & immersion at the moment, get on the cheap rate (overnight) where you heat up enough to last throughout the day. Most modern places would use an unvented cylinder (mains feed) so you get the good pressures like off a combi & it will have two immersions one right at the bottom (overnight) & one about half way up (boost) to top up during the day incase you run out.
All immersions have thermostats fitted to control the water temp & turn off when hot enough.
PS Your U/F heating is going to be expensive to run, two choices 1. don't spend too much time at home when its cold. 2. if it is old look to change it (they do some heating systems that us the same principals as the cylinder ie overnight power)

 

[SimonG]

Do you have a bath in the flat or just a shower? If it's just the latter then as said electric shower and then an undersink water heater for kitchen sink and bathroom wash basin. That'll cover washing hands/washing dishes. Had a job the same, old dear had had the bath taken out and an electric shower in, but was heating a full tank of ho****er each night just to wash a few dishes.

 

[petercj]

An electric shower sounds a good bet. Instant hot water at mains pressure when you want it, and off for the majority of the time.

Could add a 3kw instant heater at basin for washing hands.