4 bed holiday home - hot water system?

J_B

We are starting to renovate a 'seaside property' to create a 4 bedroom 4 bathroom holiday home.
There is mains gas on site and plenty of water pressure
Should we go for an un-vented system with a hot water storage tank or one (or 2?) instant hot water combi boiler?

We will be doing holiday lets, as well as using it ourselves.

Thoughts?

MoneySavingMole

I would say it depends on your budget and how often you believe the hot water will be required.

There are pro's and con's to both set-ups. Mostly the recovery time for an unvented cylinder (once it runs out, it will have to refill and reheat) and potential problems with combi's resulting in absolutely no hot water (the unvented can always be heated by an immersion heater, if the boiler is not working).

With either set-up, I would consider 'remote heating controls' such as Hive, Tado, Nest etc. as this will enable you to control the heating and hot water (if using a hot water cylinder) from anywhere in the world (as long as there is internet at the property).

phill99

If you are having 4 showers, I would go for some of them to be electric showers. Then you will never run out of water and will still be able to shower if the boiler goes down.

J_B

Thanks both.
Are combi-boilers big/good enough for larger properties.

I have no experience of electric showers - are they any good?

southcoastrgi

I fail to see if you have 4 bedrooms why you are gonna have 4 bathrooms or do you mean 4 bed all with ensuites ?

No a combi won't do 4 ensuites if they are used together 2 outlets are about the best you will get

MoneySavingMole

Yes, Combi Boilers do come large enough for 4 bed properties, however, as mentioned they aren't great for more than one tap being ran at a time.

The problem is, the water is heated as it passes through the boiler, therefore, you share that supply with any taps that are open - more open taps, less hot water from each.

If you suspect there will be 4 showers being ran at the same time, consider hot water cylinders, or as mentioned, electric showers (which aren't great, but rarely break down and never run out of water).

Your best bet would be to get some quotes and compare them, more often than not experienced plumbers will give similar advice (the manufacturers may vary but the principal will be the same i.e. both may suggest a 400L Unvented HW Cylinder - one suggests Megaflo and the other suggests Gledhill)

SuzieSue

You need to check with a plumber, but if you have the space you should go for a large unvented cylinder such as a Magaflow. This will ensure that you have enough hot water for more than one shower to be used at the same time.

Don't go for a combi.

J_B

SuzieSue wrote: »

This will ensure that you have enough hot water for more than one shower to be used at the same time.

But as it's a 'holiday home' there are several times when there will be no requirement for a large tank of hot water - maybe a bit of a waste ...

Waldir

Electric showers are useful but you may quickly exceed the total power provided to your house.
A "normal" house seems to have 80-100 Amps delivered (but sometimes as low as 60 Amps), and one 9kW electric shower uses 38 Amps.