Hot water takes an age.

treecol

I have a new hot water cylinder, but am wondering why the hot water takes so long to reach the taps...I hate the wasted water waiting for it to come through. It used to be quite bad at our previous house, I vaguely remember a plumber once saying it was due to the age of the pipework. The water pressure is good. Last house was 20 years old, this one late 60's. Can anything be done?

Ebe_Scrooge

Is the new cylinder in the same position as the old one, and is the hot water now taking longer to reach the taps than before ?

It can take a while for the water to reach the taps depending on the pipework - if the water has to travel through 50' of pipes to get from the cylinder to the taps, that'll take longer than a 10' run, for instance.

But if the cylinder is in the same place, the pipe run hasn't been changed, and it used to be OK I can only think the flow rate is less than it was ? I'm sure a proper plumber will be along shortly to offer some more constructive advice !

PlutoinCapricorn

My flat was built in the mid 60s and never upgraded, so when I got a new bathroom the plumber said all the pipework needed to be replaced. He also put a pump in to help push the water along.

treecol

No, nothing has changed since the new cylinder was fitted. Was slow coming through before, still the same. I didn't ask the plumber why at the time, but would like some advice as to if anything can be done before I ask him to quote for anything - that way I know if what he tells me is correct. The pipework seems to run through the loft & it's a 2000sq ft bungalow....maybe it's just the distance.

Ectophile

The distance from the water tank to the tap can make a big difference. In my kitchen, I have to draw off about 3 litres of water before it starts running warm.

I don't waste the water. I stick a 5 litre water carrier under the tap until it's starting to go warm, then use the water for watering plants, or flushing the loo.

MX5huggy

15 mm pipe has 0.145 litres of water per meter. 22mm has 0.32. You could have a secondary return fitted meaning hot water flows around a loop so you have it instantly. But you will have pump running costs and heat losses.

jennifernil

We have this problem too, in a house we had built. In our case it is due to the length of the pipes.

The HW cylinder is directly below one corner of the kitchen, so we thought we would get HW quite quickly, but the plumber, in his wisdom, has brought the pipes up through the kitchen in one corner and into the loft above, then along and back down in the corner beside the sink and along to the taps.

This addds about 15 feet to the pipe. Very frustrating!