Water takes ages to run hot

kingmint

The last few places I've lived have all had the same issue: it takes ages (minutes) for water to start running hot in sinks and shower, which is a huge waste of water and money. Is this "normal" or is there anything that can be done to get the hot water on quicker and start saving water?

Sirbendy

combi boiler? Or "normal" water tank?

Having had both, I can say that "normal" hot tanks seem quicker to respond to me, even with our current combi's "preheat" feature that should mean fairly instant hot water - my bum it does..heh.

Piping lengths are a pain..the further your tap is from the source, the more cold you have to expel before the hot gets drawn in.

Cardew

As said above, it is the water in the pipes that you need to run off, and if you have a long pipe run, you waste a lot of water, although the latest small bore pipes waste less.

Gothicfairy

It might be worth thinking about the water wasted in another way. If you can not sort out the boiler or pipe work problem then rethink what you use that water for.

Maybe fill the kettle whilst waiting for the hot water, or fill pans for cooking veg later on that day. Fill water bottles to use later on.

pet water bowls are another way to use that water, and I also use to fill a washing up bowl with the cold and use that to wipe down the kitchen and bathroom

This use to be a problem for me at my old flat and as I was on a meter I found other ways round the fact that the water has to be run for a couple of minutes before the water was hot enough to use for a shower or bath etc.

saintlee

not an easy remedy but for anybody having this problem, a solution is to install a secondary return pipe to the hot water cylinder (this doesn't work on combi's)

essentially you loop the hw supply pipework back to the cylinder and feed it in near the bottom (most cylinders are supplied with a connection for this, which is usually capped off with a plug) The system should work on gravity alone, but on larger systems a bronze pump can be added to aid circulation.

This is why large hotels and buildings always have hot water straight from the tap.

I haven't got the fugure to hand, but on a new install if the pipe runs are over a certain distance, a secondary return is now mandatory.