oil boiler for hw
Discussion
So, two schools of thought here:
1. Leave the boiler on the whole time to keep the water in the (large) cyclinder hot the whole time.
Or:
2: just have the boiler on for a few hours in the morning and again in the evening.
Obviously, option 1 sounds less economical but the advocates of this claim that this method is more economical because the boiler doesn't have to heat a big column of water from cold to hot (say 50 deg C of a temp difference).
What sayeth ph?
1. Leave the boiler on the whole time to keep the water in the (large) cyclinder hot the whole time.
Or:
2: just have the boiler on for a few hours in the morning and again in the evening.
Obviously, option 1 sounds less economical but the advocates of this claim that this method is more economical because the boiler doesn't have to heat a big column of water from cold to hot (say 50 deg C of a temp difference).
What sayeth ph?
Silent1 said:
3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening is how we run ours, it copes with 4 people using 2 different power showers.
Ours is an oil boiler for ch and hw
Yeah ours does ch too (although we're not using it at the moment - just the wood burner if it turns chilly in the evening).Ours is an oil boiler for ch and hw
At the moment we have it on for 3 hours in the morning for mech showers and then 2 hours in the evening for the kids baths (it's a big bath - 2000 x 1500).
The whole system is only about 3 years old and the cylinder is about 2.5m high and maybe 1.2m diameter and is, I assume, insulated to modern standards. One plumber has suggested having the hw on the whole time and another suggested to do what we do just now, hence my confusion...
I'd do this.
If you've got thermostats on both the boiler and hw tank turn the thermostat on the hw tank down first and leave the boiler stat set to 75% or higher. This stops the boiler short cycling which wastes fuel. It's much more thermally efficient to have one long burn then lots of short ones.
You don't need water any hotter than 50 deg so gradually lower the tank stat to give this and no more. If you need to add cold water to a sink or bathfull then it's still too hot.
Run out of hot water occasionally - this is a great motivation to stop teenagers emptying a whole tankfull twice a day with a powershower. They'll soon learn to have a quick shower and get out if they think it'll go cold on them.
Always shop around for oil. There's big variations in price and never buy small quantities it's not cost effective.
If you need to run a tap for a long time - say in the kitchen for washing up - to get hot water then use that water for rinsing everything pre washing up. It'll mean you'll need much less hot water in the bowl. If you have a bath then never pull the plug out 'till the water has gone cold otherwise thats the equivalent of several radiators full of hot water you are pouring down the drain. It'll keep the bathroom warmer overnight so you can turn the heating down a bit.
If you've got thermostats on both the boiler and hw tank turn the thermostat on the hw tank down first and leave the boiler stat set to 75% or higher. This stops the boiler short cycling which wastes fuel. It's much more thermally efficient to have one long burn then lots of short ones.
You don't need water any hotter than 50 deg so gradually lower the tank stat to give this and no more. If you need to add cold water to a sink or bathfull then it's still too hot.
Run out of hot water occasionally - this is a great motivation to stop teenagers emptying a whole tankfull twice a day with a powershower. They'll soon learn to have a quick shower and get out if they think it'll go cold on them.
Always shop around for oil. There's big variations in price and never buy small quantities it's not cost effective.
If you need to run a tap for a long time - say in the kitchen for washing up - to get hot water then use that water for rinsing everything pre washing up. It'll mean you'll need much less hot water in the bowl. If you have a bath then never pull the plug out 'till the water has gone cold otherwise thats the equivalent of several radiators full of hot water you are pouring down the drain. It'll keep the bathroom warmer overnight so you can turn the heating down a bit.
Jaguar steve said:
I'd do this.
You don't need water any hotter than 50 deg so gradually lower the tank stat to give this and no more.
Out of interest , what temp do people here set the HWC at ?You don't need water any hotter than 50 deg so gradually lower the tank stat to give this and no more.
I have ours at 58 ,
and with constant circulating hot water you get hot as soon as the tap is open so no waste , but the family are complaining it is too hot.
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