Large electric bill - any ideas welcomed

Mr.Generous

Stop having baths take showers, much cheaper. Do you need to heat a full tank of water if you have an electric shower? Having the immersion on for a few hours is a big bite out of your cake. It would probably be cheaper to boil the kettle for washing up. Is it the Cylinder just above head hight or the header tank that feeds it? The pressure comes from the header tank height. Isolation valves can be restrictive or full bore, we only fit full bore on bathroom taps, also hot bath tap should be plumbed on 22mm copper or plastic, worst case is 15mm plastic with pipe stiffeners for a metal isolation valve - it leaves a tiny gap for the flow.
Check if you can get a better rate from comparison sites, tenants are allowed to change supplier.

Houseplant26

Thank you for this. We've just discussed and I'm not going to take baths any more. Which is a shame as I love a bath but it might work out cheaper to go use a pools jacuzzi occasionally!

We've decided to turn the immersion heater off as we only really use it to wash up with and you're right we can boil a kettle. Waters never hit in bathroom taps anyway!

System

Quote Your taps should be the type you have to turn multiple times. Not the quarter turn type. Unquote

I beg to disagree. The OP is talking about taps that use 1/4 turn ceramic discs. I have them fitted on my Bristan shower; Bristan basin taps and Rangemaster Monobloc kitchen tap. They eliminate the need for rubber washers which, in use, tend to leak with age.

Drench.co.uk

Nowadays, the vast majority of modern bathroom taps use ceramic disc cartridges instead of rubber washers. In simple terms, this means no (or at least far fewer) leaks, and only a 90-degree rotation to turn the tap on or off. Back in days of old, taps and shower fittings always used rubber washers to prevent dripping.

CashStrapped

I disagree Hengus.

Ceramic disc taps are designed for high pressure systems in mind. Most systems now are high pressure, hence they are far more common these days. The ceramic discs only open a tiny slot which water at the appropriate pressure is able to flow through at force. It many ways ceramic disc 1/4 turn taps restrict the flow of a high pressure system so that it does not jet out too quickly.

The main reason for this switch is because ceramic disc types deal better and are less likely to leak compared to rubber washers due to the higher pressure of the water. Rubber washers may not be able to cope with the pressure over the long term and hence fail or start leaking.

But, for a low pressure system, the multi-turn taps are much more suited as these open up to a much larger bore (far less restriction). And allow a larger unrestricted flow, which is perfect for low pressure.

If you look at the gap in a ceramic disc (when opened fully) it is only a tiny sliver. This restriction in flow for a low pressure system is too much, hence you get a dribble.

I recently switched a high pressure ceramic disc (1/4 turn) bath tap which was allowing water to flow at 4 litres/min (terrible) to a multi-turn rubber washer type. The result was an increase to around 10 litres per min!

That was on a system with a 2-3 metre head. So an effective low pressure of 0.2-0.3 bar. In a flat with a low open vent tank, it may be only 0.1 bar.

Many taps are mislabelled high & low pressure. If they are ceramic disc quarter turn, they are unlikely to be suitable.

Only rubber washer multi-turn taps are truly for low pressure 0.2/0.1bar systems.

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In addition, you may find that flexi-hoses (those braided metal types), also reduce the flow on a low pressure system. This is because the internal bore diameter is reduced to only 8mm. This is reduced from 15mm in standard pipework. Both of these together will really affect flow out of a tap.

System

@Cashstrapped. I bow to your superior knowledge save that all my Bristan ceramic taps are listed in the manufacturer's specifications as being suitable for low and high pressure systems. Be that as it may. The OP lives in rented accommodation so any changes to the plumbing would need to be agreed with the Landlord. I suspect from the OP's comments that approval to change taps is unlikely to be forthcoming unless the OP agrees to cover all costs. If I was the landlord, I would insist that any changes were carried out by a plumber that I approved.

CashStrapped

Hengus wrote: »

all my Bristan ceramic taps are listed in the manufacturer's specifications as being suitable for low and high pressure systems.

Indeed, this is part of the confusion.

This is probably because there are still a lot of low pressure systems out there. But most modern tap styles are the 1/4 turn type. So they do not want to cut out a huge corner of the market.

What I think the manufactures mean by this is that they will work with a low pressure system. You will still get water coming out of a tap.

What they do not make clear is what the actual flow will be at those low pressures.

For most basins, a low flow is usually acceptable. So people put up with/are happy with it.

It is the bath that causes issues most of the time, but many do not realise it is that tap that can be a big contributor to this.

matelodave

Dont forget that you can use just as much hot water with a shower as you do when filling a bath. Standing in there for twenty minutes with a deluge type of shower head could use even more. So use it sensibly if you want to save water and energy.

Likewise only use stuff like the wahing machine, dryer or dishwasher with full load, they cost just as much to run half empty as when full.

Turning stuff off when not in use - and that means at the wall not just leaving it on standby will help. Swapping lightbults to LEDs in rooms where you've got a lot of lights and use them a lot, like the kitchen. Ours had ten 50 watt halogen downlighters, that's 500w. We now have ten 4 watt LEDs which is only 40 watts, saving around six pence an hour when they are on. It may not sound a lot but it all adds up.