New Build Home Energy Set Up Help

Jseao00

Hello, any help or advice would be welcome. I have just moved into a new build house which has the below systems, and I am unsure how to get the best (most economical) out of them-

- Boiler- Vaaillant Home System 12
- Water- OSO Super S
- Control- Drayton Lifestyle
- Dual Thermostat- Upstairs and Downstairs

First thing I did was change energy supplier from British Gas Standard to the cheapest available dual fuel fixed tariff. At the moment I just have the control set to on for both Hot Water and Heating and controlling the heating with the thermostats. As for water I am unsure if I should set the control to a timed periods or just leave this as on (I have never had a OSO hot water tank).

matelodave

We can get away with just heating our hot water for about two hours a day just before we get up (say 6-8am) and then we've got sufficient for all our needs until the next day.

I suggest that you try just running it for an hour a day for a couple of days to see how you get on and if neccessary put in on for another hour if you run out before bedtime and want a bath.

Obviously if you use vast quantities of hot water then you'll run out but if you are reasonably economical with it then it'll go a lot further.

Dont let it run down the sink, take showers instead of baths but only spend a few minutes in there, pehaps fit a fow restrictor or Eco shower head. A power shower or deluge head on for 10-15 minutes can use as much as a bath. Rinse stuff, including your hands in cold water rather than running off a gallon or so of cold and ten leaving a gallon or so of hot sitting in the pipework.

In the end you tweak the times and temperatures to suit you, your lifestyle and requirements.

Drayton Lifestyle programmers come in various configurations, so you need to check the actual model number to see what it does.

The tank is just a posh hot water tank, nothing really special, except that it's pressurised and probably got better insulation than most. Leave the immersion off and use the boiler to heat it.

Personally I'd be inclined to replace the thermostats with programmable stats so you could vary the heating times and temperatures between upsatirs and downstairs rather than haing it all come on or off at the same time (unless that suits you of course).

Jseao00

Great advice matelodave. Already done a bit of tinkering with the time and it's working well so far.