What is more economical?

elaina79

Hi there

What woul you all consider to be more economical. Having the hot water on all the time or just having it on a timer maybe once or twice a day.

At the moment I have the hot water on all the time, as it would seem more economical to have it just top up the heat rather that heat the water from cold.

Or would it be better not to have it on until maybe the morning for washing and in the evening for washing up.

Also what is the best temperature to have the hot water set at, that is both economical and safe. At the moment it is very hot to the point of nearly scalding my hand if I acidentally put it under the hot tap.
I know that water has to be a certain temp to stop any nasty bugs from developing. But I know that it will be costing me more to keep it at this temp but not sure how much to turn it down by.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Magentasue

Heat the water as and when you need it (we used to do less than two hours a day for six). At least 60deg but just as hot as is needed to wash up with rubber gloves on.

Based on personal experience rather than physics.

Cardew

The subject of timed heating/hot water has been covered scores of times on MSE.

Without any question whatsoever, timed is cheaper.

If you think it might be cheaper to 'just top up' the heating rather than heating it from cold, why don't you keep your kettle boiling 24/7?;) Same principle.

Having said that, the additional cost of having the Hot water on 24/7 is not as much as a lot of people think - assuming you have a well lagged tank - but it is more expensive.

The normal temperature for Hot water(as opposed to the water in Radiators) is 60C to 'kill any bugs'.

elaina79

I suppose then it would depend on how much of the hot water is used during the day.
If the house was empty during the day then I would definately go for the timer option but we are home all day. Somedays I would use quite a bit of water for cleaning ( on the days when I have a cleaning spree ).
I used to have it on a timer when I lived in a flat in scotland and used to get really annoyed when I ran out of hot water.

I will maybe switch to timer in summer as I rarely use hot water then, as I always have cool showers so it would only be for baths for the kids and washing up.

Cardew

Like many things in life, it is a compromise between convenience and cost.

You should experiment to find the best solution for your usage pattern.