Just moved to a new house: Slow Heating, Poor Water Pressure

LittleMissAspie

It isn't possible for it to be cheaper to leave the heating on all the time. Your house loses heat all the time. Let's say it loses heat at a constant rate, and in the 6 hours you are at work it loses 6 degrees. When you get home, your heating has to heat your house by 6 degrees to get it back up. If you leave the heating on, the house still loses the same 6 degrees but is topped up little and often by the heating. In other words, you've still heated your house by 6 degrees.

Actually though your house doesn't lose heat at a constant rate. The higher the temperature you maintain, the faster the heat loss. So the first hour that you are out the house might lose 1.5 degrees instead of 1 degree. In which case by leaving the heating on, you are heating the house by 1.5 * 6 = 9 degrees.

I did a test in a previous flat, gas combi boiler. I tried leaving the heating on constantly at a lowish temperature vs heating the flat morning and evening for probably about 5 hours total at a much higher temperature. I read the gas meter and the latter used less gas.

sonastin

Rather than continuing this debate, can I point out that both sides can be right. It is more efficient to leave the heating on *for a certain length of time* than it will be to switch it off and then switch it back on again. The longer it is switched off, the more likely it is that it becomes more effective to have it switched off during the down time. It depends on the characteristics of your particular system how long that time period will be. In HappyMJ's example, going out for 1 hour would involve a) switching the heating off for one hour saving 14p and then b) boosting the heating for half an hour costing an extra 14p - may as well leave the heating on, so HappyMJ has to be out for over an hour to make it worth switching the heating off when he goes out. The "running costs" and "boost costs" of googler's system might make it worth leaving the heating on for an 8 hour working day.

If I wanted to punish an engineering student I'd make them plot it on a graph and work out the optimum "leaving it on" time for my house...

mlz1413

Would like to add that none of you have mentioned insulation!

I used to have a part stone house and this due to the 18" thick walls was best to have the heating on 24hrs a day at a low temperture as it used to take 24 hours to initially gain or lose heat.

The next house I lived in had no loft insulation and an ancient boiler that would only work flat out. The house was warm in 20 mins but would lose its heat as quickly, therefore it was best to put the heating on the minimum possible.

Now I live in a well insulated home with good flooring and all the radiators on inside walls, I put the heating on 30-60 mins (depending on outdoor temp) and never need to increase the termostat above 20 degrees but equally never put it below 17. This regime works for this house, but you do need to consider all factors!

googler

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

It isn't possible for it to be cheaper to leave the heating on all the time......

It is, and my gas bills prove it. Going from the average over 4-5 years of "on in the morning and the evening" to 24/7, we saw an immediate change the first year we did this, and this saving continuing at roughly the same level in the years following.

usagirl_2

Do you have double-glazing? In my sister's old cottage, she didn't & she used secondary glazing film, which made a big difference. You basically tape it to the windows, then you can gently heat with a hair drier which makes it contract on cooling, for a better fit. They sell it in Wickes. Obviously, you can't open the windows 'though!

In the toilet cistern, lift the lid while it's refilling, to check the water flow; in hard water areas, the valves (?) can get quite furred up. Easy to take off & clean, but obviously, turn the water off first....I speak from experience (always wanted a wet-room!)

Use draft excluders or towels etc under doors, rugs if you have laminate floors and so on.

We keep the thermostat on 17 in this colder weather when we're out, then up to 18 or 19 when we're home. The last few nights I've left it on, but turned it down to 15 through the night (mainly cos my 4 year old son won't sleep with his door closed & I don't want him to freeze...!)

farazfastian

Thanks for the replies everyone, sorry for the late reply still waiting for Virgin Cable installation hence out of broadband.
Here's the house situation:

It's a Semi-D with 2.5 rooms, small bathroom is on the first floor and the water tank is in the second bedroom. Current owners mentioned that they installed the new boiler just last year which i can see it looks new in the kitchen. The annoying thing is you can't control the hot water and heating temperature separately, currently we are running the boiler at max temperature which is flowing really hot water in the taps. Windows are double glaze but looks pretty old style, previous owners moved in the property 25 years ago and i think that was the time they changed it.

Shower is a normal one, the flow in the bath tub is not bad but when i switch it to shower it goes really weak. I'm really knew to all this, don't even know what's the actual difference b/w combi and conventional boiler but learning very fast.

Questions:
Whats power shower is it the electric one, will it solve the pressure problem?
I've noticed that ground floor heats up quite quickly porbably it has got 3 radiators, adding new radiators does it cost too much?

olly300

farazfastian wrote: »

Questions:
Whats power shower is it the electric one, will it solve the pressure problem?
I've noticed that ground floor heats up quite quickly porbably it has got 3 radiators, adding new radiators does it cost too much?

To answer your post:
1. A power shower is an electric shower.

However you can also get an electric pump to increase the pressure for the shower. The pump is normally place outside the bathroom in a place where the water pipes to the shower go to - I seen them placed under the floor boards outside the bathroom, in the kitchen because it was right next to the bathroom (least disturbing) and in a cupboard spare bedroom. They are very noisy when they are going. The advantage of a pump is that you don't have to mess around with the electrics in the actual bathroom and neither do you have to muck around with tiles/redecorating the bathroom.

2. No it doesn't but the boiler needs to be checked that it can deal with having that many radiators on the system. It's also a good idea to check that the "new" boiler is actually sufficient for the house's needs. Unfortunately some people chuck anything in if they are going to sell a house so put in the wrong type of boiler for a property. I would also check that each existing radiator is big enough for the room it has to heat as you should change these at the same time to save money.

Edited to say: if you are going to change the toilet you may as well get a plumber in who can do heating as well and do the entire lot. I got a radiator added to my flat when I got the bathroom done.

BitterAndTwisted

It sounds like you might need an inline pump for the shower. Why fit an electric one when you already have scalding-hot water? Fitting additional radiators doesn't have to be hugely expensive, it just depends on where they are going and how much additional piping needs to be fitted.

mlz1413

As the water tank is on the same floor as the bathroom and the boiler is the floor below you will struggle with pressure. Pumps can be fitted to help with this. But the incoming water pressure from the mains may still be your biggest problem.

I'd ask a couple of plumbers to come round and check your system and quote you for the works that need doing. That will help you understand the problem(s) and give you a price for the works to be done professionally.

Milliewilly

olly300 wrote: »

To answer your post:
1. A power shower is an electric shower.

However you can also get an electric pump to increase the pressure for the shower. The pump is normally place outside the bathroom in a place where the water pipes to the shower go to - I seen them placed under the floor boards outside the bathroom, in the kitchen because it was right next to the bathroom (least disturbing) and in a cupboard spare bedroom. They are very noisy when they are going. The advantage of a pump is that you don't have to mess around with the electrics in the actual bathroom and neither do you have to muck around with tiles/redecorating the bathroom.

2. No it doesn't but the boiler needs to be checked that it can deal with having that many radiators on the system. It's also a good idea to check that the "new" boiler is actually sufficient for the house's needs. Unfortunately some people chuck anything in if they are going to sell a house so put in the wrong type of boiler for a property. I would also check that each existing radiator is big enough for the room it has to heat as you should change these at the same time to save money.

Edited to say: if you are going to change the toilet you may as well get a plumber in who can do heating as well and do the entire lot. I got a radiator added to my flat when I got the bathroom done.

No - a power shower has a pump on it to provide the power as in flow. An electric shower is a plastic box on the wall in the shower cubicle with a heating element in it to heat the water as it comes in. The higher the Kw electric shower the more 'powerful' they are as in they can heat the water faster so it can flow out the shower head faster but they are not in the same league as a proper pumped thermostatic shower.

Sounds to me like you have a dreaded combi boiler.