Central Heating - Cheaper on all the time?

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  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    ok so we have a combination boiler, so half hour am and pm should be enough?

    You have a Combination boiler AND a hot water tank?

    I appreciate that such a system is possible, but most combi boiler systems don't have a hot water tank and heat up domestic hot water 'on demand'.
  • espresso
    espresso Posts: 16,446
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    Cardew wrote: »
    You have a Combination boiler AND a hot water tank?

    I appreciate that such a system is possible, but most combi boiler systems don't have a hot water tank and heat up domestic hot water 'on demand'.

    Depends on the size of the property e.g. how many bathrooms/power showers etc. Instantaneous water heating is only really suitable for one.
    :doh: Blue text on this forum usually signifies hyperlinks, so click on them!..:wall:
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    espresso wrote: »
    Depends on the size of the property e.g. how many bathrooms/power showers etc. Instantaneous water heating is only really suitable for one.

    I understand the point you are making espresso but there are 'tanks' and there are 'TANKS'!!!

    You can have a small 'header tank' that will enable a combi boiler to cope with 2 taps on together etc, I would have thought that not adequate for a power shower etc(just an opinion)

    Such a system, only on for 30 mins morning and night would not provide the daily use of HW in most properties.

    A conventional, say, 100lt HW tank would be needed.

    All depends on the size of tank I guess.
  • iceicebaby
    iceicebaby Posts: 3,633
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    Hiya

    Just to answer the OP's question and to back up what most have said here.

    I was in the leave it on low all the time brigade for many years as I was under the impression that was the most efficient.

    However , when I first joines this site last November I read that it is more efficient to have it on just when you need it. So I did an experiment as I too was unsure.

    I timed my water and heating to come on only when I needed then and compared the usage to the previous year when both had been on constantly.

    Now I do have the units used written down somewhere, but not to hand. I compared the units used the previous year (as advised on my bills - yes I keep then all!!) and the actual units used that year and I found that less units are used if you time the heating/water to come on only when you need it.

    Just as a ball park figure, I was paying £40 a month for gas and now I pay £19, and am well in credit foir the winter months. I am not saying yours will drop by as much, but just to give you an idea. If I can find where I put the info of the exact units used to compare I will post them.

    I have my heating on in the winter for an hour in the morning and about 4 to 5 hours in the evening , and the hot water on for half an hour each evening which is plenty to heat up my 100 litre tank. I have an electric shower so dont need hot water in the mornings and the water is still warm from the previous night anyway. I live in a 2 bedroom Semi.

    Hope this helps
    Baby Ice arrived 17th April 2011. Tired.com! :j
  • Cardew wrote: »
    You have a Combination boiler AND a hot water tank?

    I appreciate that such a system is possible, but most combi boiler systems don't have a hot water tank and heat up domestic hot water 'on demand'.

    ok so i'm confused, if i have a combi boiler then i dont have a hot water tank? and it heats up my hot water on demand. so why have i got a programmer for hot water ?? i have one that is for hw and heating. so is the water tank in the airing cupboard for the central heating?i really dont know my stuff do i.
  • espresso
    espresso Posts: 16,446
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    ok so i'm confused, if i have a combi boiler then i dont have a hot water tank? and it heats up my hot water on demand. so why have i got a programmer for hot water ?? i have one that is for hw and heating. so is the water tank in the airing cupboard for the central heating?i really dont know my stuff do i.

    No, it is quite normal to have a combi boiler and a storage tank in the airing cupboard. This is in my view the best system to have but most heating installers simply rip out the old system and replace it with a simplified but inferior on demand system without a storage tank, telling you that you will now have more room and you can make use of the space that was once used as an airing cupboard. It is obviously cheaper and simpler to install in this manner and it seems to have become the norm, unless you specify otherwise or have a larger property needing the extra storage. I have found that a tank full of hot water can be heated in less than half an hour and two bursts twice a day is usually sufficient. Try it and see how you get on.
    :doh: Blue text on this forum usually signifies hyperlinks, so click on them!..:wall:
  • i will thankyou for the explanation
  • CLAPTON
    CLAPTON Posts: 41,865
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    ok so we have a combination boiler, so half hour am and pm should be enough?


    if you have a combination boiler then why do you have a tank for hot water.. the point of the combo is to heat the water only when you turn the taps on.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    espresso wrote: »
    No, it is quite normal to have a combi boiler and a storage tank in the airing cupboard. This is in my view the best system to have but most heating installers simply rip out the old system and replace it with a simplified but inferior on demand system without a storage tank, telling you that you will now have more room and you can make use of the space that was once used as an airing cupboard. It is obviously cheaper and simpler to install in this manner and it seems to have become the norm, unless you specify otherwise or have a larger property needing the extra storage. I have found that a tank full of hot water can be heated in less than half an hour and two bursts twice a day is usually sufficient. Try it and see how you get on.

    espresso, in case paulalawson gets the wrong idea, I tend to agree with the points you make above.

    I have a 'proper' HW storage tank system, and an 'on demand' combi system in a little used annex; and the 'proper' tank is obviously the best.

    However when the OP said she only had a small tank, and expressed doubts on its capacity, I thought it might be a smallish header tank; and as you say this cheaper form of installation has become the norm with a combi in newer properties.
  • Canucklehead
    Canucklehead Posts: 6,254 Forumite
    ok so i'm confused, if i have a combi boiler then i dont have a hot water tank? and it heats up my hot water on demand. so why have i got a programmer for hot water ?? i have one that is for hw and heating. so is the water tank in the airing cupboard for the central heating?i really dont know my stuff do i.

    Good evening: In order to clarify an increasingly murky situation, Paula, what is the make and model number of your boiler?
    Thanks.

    Canucklehead
    Ask to see CIPHE (Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineering)
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