WWYD about this hot water problem

[JellyBellies]

So we moved into our house in November last year. Before this we have always had a combi boiler so always had instant hot water.

New house has a hot water tank. It takes 2 hours to heat up. And lasts for about one 15 shower. So noone can shower back to back.

The boiler is newish (5 years old) and is very good according to the British gas engineer who we called for a combi boiler quote.

One of my friends who has the same boiler says that they get hot water in 10 min. How does this work? Do they have an immersion heater? Is this what I should get?

What would be the most cost effective option long term? House has 4 bedrooms and only one bathroom. I need something that can provide hot water for longer than 15 min.

Please help!

[ImperialBlether]

It might be cheaper to change the shower for an electric one.

[JellyBellies]

Ooh, didn't think of that one.
Also, there is some sort of pump that gives the shower pressure when the hot water is turned on. So maybe just changing the shower means we want get the pressure?

Sorry for the drip feed, I am not from the UK and have lived rented for the last 10 years. So not very familiar with different heating systems.

[minijoeyjojo]

How big is the hot water tank? I'm not an expert, but maybe you can put in a bigger tank so that the boiler heats up a larger quantity of water in one go, thus giving you more water to shower with.

If you have a pump then it may be that the amount of water being pumped is too great such that it is emptying the tank too quickly.

[PigletJohn]

What colour is the cylinder? What are its dimensions? Is it heated by the boiler? What are the on/off times on the HW of the boiler? Have you got an immersion heater, and is it turned off? Photos would help.

Run the shower into a bucket. Time it to full. Calculate how many litres per minute it delivers.

[Villagernumber9]

You should have enough hot water within 30 minutes and after 2 hours, enough for a bath, shower and wash the pots.
Have you got the settings right on your control panel? Have you just got your heating coming on and not your hot water?
Can you post a photo of your control panel?

[JellyBellies]

Thanks all. Will go into the loft tomorrow and provide all the pics.

The system is controlled by hive. We have an app on our phones. Hot water comes on for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. Heating is set for longer in the evenings.

[PigletJohn]

Are you having your showers during those 2-hour windows? When it is being heated by the boiler, the cylinder (unless very old) should reheat much more quickly.

However, if the cylinder is being heated by the immersion heater, it will be much slower, and cost about four times as much. An immersion heater can warm about one litre per minute. A typical cylinder contains about 100 litres of water. Electricity is much more expensive than gas, so you should leave the electric immersion turned off unless the boiler breaks down. A typical modern gas boiler has between three and ten times as much power as an immersion heater.

The cylinder appears to be cream and to have a metal casing, which is unusual. Is the casing hot?

The red pump is not a shower pump, it is a boiler pump and sends heat from the boiler to the radiators and/or the cylinder. It would be useful to see the pumps around the pump and cylinder.

[PigletJohn]

sorry

It would be useful to see the pipes around the pump and cylinder

[PigletJohn]

sorry again

I am looking at two similar threads.

If the cream cylinder and the red pump are not yours, my reply was not meant for you.