hot water for sink kettle or boiler

Chrysalis

I been wondering after listening to what my sister told me she used to do on her old boiler which is cheaper to heat enough water to wash dishes or hands with.

Kettle 1kwh takes a minute or two to boil. For dishes would need to boil 4 or 5 times.

Gas boiler (very old type) needs to be turned on for at least 20 minutes for water to be hot enough. Been told by an engineer my boiler is 50% efficient.

Fire_Fox

And how many KWH does your boiler use?

timmmers

People use a lot of water washing dishes...hot water I mean. I had a broken combi for a while so was stuck for hot. I got into several habits that I still do most times.

Washing up bowl ...only the cutlery in there to begin, when food is ready, pour any veg water in there with some fairy liquid. If needed boil the kettle and add a pint or so of very hot to that, and just enough cold to make it tolerable for hands. Scrub each plate and set aside on drainer soapy, then the pans while the water is still hot...and then the cutlery. At this point I use the warm water for the cat dishes....then throw it away. (Can be used to scrub the loo at this point if it's soapy and warm ).

With a hot tap working I find this a dream after being without for a while.

Cold water...rinse everything. Dry anyway you like.

I also leave pots and washing up in a bowl of cold water overnight to soak where possible, most times by morning it doesn't need any hot water at all to get them clean.

I would really like one of those instant hot water taps.. http://www.boiling-water-taps.co.uk/product_8-1-2_Quooker-Classic---PR03-VAQ---Bronze.htm but the price. eek :eek:

t

Swipe

I live alone and I always use the kettle for my washing up unless I'm boiling an egg. 1 litre of water in a 2kw kettle will suffice for a few dishes and pans if you add a little cold water.

markharding557

you could heat some water with gas in a big pan

Chrysalis

my hob is inefficient also, takes an age to heat up (slow electric).

Interesting replies tho. Will try what has been said.

Chrysalis

Fire_Fox wrote: »

And how many KWH does your boiler use?

no idea to be honest but it cost me £40 a month in the summer just for hot water no central heating, seemed quite high. This did include baths tho, but I would say I was using about 70% of that at least for heating for dishes and wash basin.

spinningsheep

From May until October we turn our heating off as we dont need it, but we also keep our hot water off too year round, as we dont need it. In winter the heating ONLY is on, but this heats the water in the tank too. Water option on the programmer is always set to off.
We dont use baths as we are on a meter, our showers are electric, and we have a cold fill washing machine, so we just boil the kettle for doing the dishes say every other day. Meant we only used about £30 gas over 5 months which is nice! Have thought about keeping the hot water on timer year round when heating is not needed but we honestly found it better to boil the kettle. No point in heating a whole cylinder of water just to wash a few pots!

Fire_Fox

Chrysalis wrote: »

no idea to be honest but it cost me £40 a month in the summer just for hot water no central heating, seemed quite high. This did include baths tho, but I would say I was using about 70% of that at least for heating for dishes and wash basin.

And what are your water bills like - average, above or below for the size of your household?

Chrysalis

water bills arent metered.