Best way forward for heating and hot water

Gerry1

FreeBear said:

Gerry1 said: The first thing to do is to get rid of the instantaneous electric shower.  Use hot water heated by the immersion heater, and make sure it's switched off during the daytime,

Showering takes 5-10 minutes (15 tops), and a 10KW shower would cost 10-30p. Heating a tank of water will cost an awful lot more than that !

The hot water will presumably be used for hand washing, washing up etc, not just showering, so the rest of the tankful won't be wasted.  In any case, a properly insulated tank won't lose much heat, so it should only need a relatively small top up the next time the E7 circuit goes live.

You've also assumed that there will only be one person showering in this 2-bedroomed property, which may not necessarily be the case.

It simply doesn't make sense to use daytime E7 electricity for showering when it's likely to be about twice as expensive as the night rate.

greatcrested

Gerry1 said:

FreeBear said:

Gerry1 said: The first thing to do is to get rid of the instantaneous electric shower.  Use hot water heated by the immersion heater, and make sure it's switched off during the daytime,

Showering takes 5-10 minutes (15 tops), and a 10KW shower would cost 10-30p. Heating a tank of water will cost an awful lot more than that !

The hot water will presumably be used for hand washing, washing up etc, not just showering, so the rest of the tankful won't be wasted.  In any case, a properly insulated tank won't lose much heat, so it should only need a relatively small top up the next time the E7 circuit goes live.

You've also assumed that there will only be one person showering in this 2-bedroomed property, which may not necessarily be the case.

It simply doesn't make sense to use daytime E7 electricity for showering when it's likely to be about twice as expensive as the night rate.

Electric shower as freebear say.

Use the cold tap for hand washing!

Kettle for washing up.

Forget heating up a whole tank of water.

Gerry1

greatcrested said:

Gerry1 said:

FreeBear said:

Gerry1 said: The first thing to do is to get rid of the instantaneous electric shower.  Use hot water heated by the immersion heater, and make sure it's switched off during the daytime,

Showering takes 5-10 minutes (15 tops), and a 10KW shower would cost 10-30p. Heating a tank of water will cost an awful lot more than that !

The hot water will presumably be used for hand washing, washing up etc, not just showering, so the rest of the tankful won't be wasted.  In any case, a properly insulated tank won't lose much heat, so it should only need a relatively small top up the next time the E7 circuit goes live.

You've also assumed that there will only be one person showering in this 2-bedroomed property, which may not necessarily be the case.

It simply doesn't make sense to use daytime E7 electricity for showering when it's likely to be about twice as expensive as the night rate.

Electric shower as freebear say.

Use the cold tap for hand washing!

Kettle for washing up.

Forget heating up a whole tank of water.

It depends on all sorts of variables but let's consider a typical case of two people each having a daily 10 minute shower.  With a 10kW power shower that's 3.33kWh per day which would cost 53p if the day rate is 16p/kWh.

Those 3.33kWh would cost only 30p if the night rate is 9p/kWh.  The extra 23p per day works out at an extra £84 per year.

That's assuming that normal hot water remains available for hand washing and washing up which is what most people will do.

OK, let's assume you go for your hairshirt option of never having any hot water available for handwashing, and having to make do with the kettle for washing up.  (Let's even overlook that hygienically it's not a good idea to wash your hands in cold water, let alone with Covid19 where we are always being urged to wash our hands frequently for 20 seconds each time; let's also ignore that it's not a good idea for elderly people whose body heat may not warm them up again so efficiently.)

A well insulated hot tank will probably lose about 2kWh per day, 18p at night rate, so you'll save that.  But you'd still be paying an extra £18.25 per year with all the hassle of no hot water available from the taps.  In fact, it'll cost a fair more than that because doing the washing up using a kettle will actually cost more, just as it does with the power shower, because most of the kettle usage is likely to be on the expensive day rate.

mumf

greatcrested said:

Gerry1 said:

FreeBear said:

Gerry1 said: The first thing to do is to get rid of the instantaneous electric shower.  Use hot water heated by the immersion heater, and make sure it's switched off during the daytime,

Showering takes 5-10 minutes (15 tops), and a 10KW shower would cost 10-30p. Heating a tank of water will cost an awful lot more than that !

The hot water will presumably be used for hand washing, washing up etc, not just showering, so the rest of the tankful won't be wasted.  In any case, a properly insulated tank won't lose much heat, so it should only need a relatively small top up the next time the E7 circuit goes live.

You've also assumed that there will only be one person showering in this 2-bedroomed property, which may not necessarily be the case.

It simply doesn't make sense to use daytime E7 electricity for showering when it's likely to be about twice as expensive as the night rate.

Electric shower as freebear say.

Use the cold tap for hand washing!

Kettle for washing up.

Forget heating up a whole tank of water.

Some years ago our gas boiler packed up.It was not repairable. Turned out the entire system had to be upgraded because of building regulations. Because of the way the original system had been installed, the practicalities of a new installation were both very expensive, and entailed tearing the house apart. As we had just gotten over a rewire, we couldn’t do that again!

Long story short, we went electric.Our electrician couldn’t get to us for six weeks ( thankfully it was Summer), and we did have an electric shower. The single biggest downside was no hot water on tap. Boiling a kettle soon gets very tiresome, as practical as it may seem.When the immersion heater was finally fitted, we cranked the temperature up - running hot water is wonderful!

I do find it interesting though, when I read comments about electric heating and hot water. Our bills are quite acceptable if I am honest ( We are not filthy rich btw!). I think it is all about usage.The hot water is on a digital timer, and we never run out. We heat the room we are in.Even when we had GCH, we were not the sorts who walked around the house half naked in January,in fact my wife is a fresh air freak.

I have just been listening to Radio 4, and it was mentioned that Boris& co. are looking at the environmental ‘cost’ of everything from meat to gas!!! One of our considerations back then was the fact that gradually, environmental rules were going to dictate the fuels we use.Also, my builder neighbour told me he hadn’t put up a house ( he works for large house building companies) since 2015 that had gas going into it. Interesting.