Parents have heating oil burner on all day?

Cardew

'Chimney Sweep' moved the subject from 'domestic water heating'(DHW) to 'central heating' and trotted out the regular annual 'it's cheaper to have CH on 24/7 etc etc '.


Normally that discussion is later in the year around pantomime time and we can the usual 'Oh no it isn't/Oh yes it is'!!


My point was that although it is obviously cheaper for DHW to be timed, given the small losses from well insulated HW tanks it is not the crime of the century to have it on 24/7.


Don't forget HW tanks heated on a timed basis will still lose some heat; and as said above, for much of the year the leaked heat from HW tank and pipes warms the fabric of the house.


Some of the posts on MSE seem to assume that if their boiler heats sufficient HW in an hour, having it on 24/7 means it will use 24 times as much gas!!!

Smiley_Dan

Sure, of course not, I was just pointing out the losses are more (_noticeably_ more) than those stated by the manufacturers because of the... "limited"... testing process.

G_M

My hot water tank is a newish one, with built in insulation to BS standard.

To that, I've added DIY insulation (those red panels from B&Q), and pipe insulation to all pipe leading to/from the tank.

In summer, I use the emmersion heater, on a timer, for an hour once every 3 days!. Day one my shower needs cold water adding; day two is perfect (hot tap alone); day three the shower is.... er... invigerating but I'm fine with it.