Hot water tank - how long?

Diaphanous

How long does it take one of those old fashioned large brown water tanks to heat up after you switch them on? And does it take longer without lagging on it (maintenance are supposed to fix this)?

As I had it on for about 20 minutes and it was only a tiny bit warm...ended up having to boil kettle for a just above cold bath

tanith

It will take longer than 20 mins if the tanks cold and it will take longer if the tank isn't lagged.. I'd say give it a good hour but it will depend on how much capacity the tank has.

macman

Are you referring to an immersion heater?
If so it will take an hour or so from cold. And without a jacket on it you are just throwing money away, as the heat is just conducted away through the bare metal.
A jacket is about a fiver at any DIY shed and will take you 5 minutes to fit-you don't need 'maintenance'.

Diaphanous

Ok, stupid old fashioned systems. Will wait that long next time.

I've never lived in a place with water tanks so this all new to me.

I don't know what an immersion heater is...but it's what the maintenance company has to deal with among many other problems the property I just moved into has.

macman

It's not a 'stupid old fashioned system', It's pretty much standard in any property without mains gas as a means of providing heating and hot water.
An immersion heater is basically a big kettle element that sits in your hot water tank, with a thermostat (and hopefully a timer). But if you don't have an E7 tariff then it's an expensive way to heat your DHW.

Diaphanous

To me it is old fashioned because it's not a modern way of heating water. And there are storage heaters in the flat which are expensive and pointless to boot. It's also expensive to run a water tank. The property is very low on the energy rating. It makes sense to modernize properties heating and water supply for cheaper running and better energy and environmental ratings.

HappyMJ

Diaphanous wrote: »

To me it is old fashioned because it's not a modern way of heating water. And there are storage heaters in the flat which are expensive and pointless to boot. It's also expensive to run a water tank. The property is very low on the energy rating. It makes sense to modernize properties heating and water supply for cheaper running and better energy and environmental ratings.

There are millions of properties with immersion heaters and storage heaters. It's quite normal and it's almost the same price as gas when maintenance costs of a boiler and gas standing charges are taken into consideration. You need to set the timer on the immersion to only heat the water at night to be cheap. Try not to only use the boost button during the day to get hot water.

Storage heaters are quite cheap at only £1 per heater per night to charge with heat. It can also be of a similar price to gas when all costs are taken into account.

Some properties especially flats cannot have gas at all.

Yolina

HappyMJ wrote: »

Some properties especially flats cannot have gas at all.

Eh? I'm in a flat and we all have gas... For the more recent new builds (the development I'm in is a bit over 20 years old) they often don't have gas but I would guess it's probably because it's cheaper and easier for a developer to only install electricity... it takes my "vintage" gas boiler around 40 minutes to heat enough water for a bath (210 litre tank)

gas4you

OP

I assume from your description you have an ageing Elson tank?

If the boiler heats this via gravity circulation then it could take around an hour to heat up. If fully pumped, check your pump.

ormus

the most common type of hot water cylinder.
the boiler heats the domestic hot water via the heat exchanger.

the electric immersion heater is a heating element inside the cylinder, (like a kettle). usually used for summer use, when the boiler is not required for CH.

a modern combi boiler does away with all this stuff, as it heats the hot water on demand only.
theres no HW storage system, hence a bath takes an age to fill.

macman

Yolina wrote: »

Eh? I'm in a flat and we all have gas... For the more recent new builds (the development I'm in is a bit over 20 years old) they often don't have gas but I would guess it's probably because it's cheaper and easier for a developer to only install electricity... it takes my "vintage" gas boiler around 40 minutes to heat enough water for a bath (210 litre tank)

No, it's because many smaller towns and rural areas do not have mains gas.