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Original poster

Do you have your hot water on constant?

37 replies

GinGeum · 24/12/2018 09:22

I feel like we don’t use our hot water properly and need help!

Our hot water comes on in the morning for a few hours, but DH has the most ridiculously long showers every morning so must drain the tank.

We’ve now just started installing a second bathroom with a bath, and I refuse to have cold showers or baths any longer, or having to remember to switch the hot water back on and wait around for it to heat back up after DH’s showers.

We also have a baby about to arrive any day now, so probably need a more reliable amount of hot water throughout the day.

Do I just leave the hot water on constant? (Apart from through the night?)

I don’t really understand how it works if I’m honest, so I’ve probably had it set wrong the whole time.

OP posts:
cheesywotnots · 24/12/2018 09:24

What sort of boiler do you have, we leave our hot water on constantly, the heating is also switched to on but we turn it on and off via the thermostat, that's a combi boiler.

dementedpixie · 24/12/2018 09:24

Ours is on a timer and goes on twice a day for an hour or 2. We have electric showers though so they heat their own water rather than using stored water

dementedpixie · 24/12/2018 09:25

A combi boiler heats water on demand so there is no stored water like the OP describes.

Original poster
GinGeum · 24/12/2018 09:25

What sort of boiler do you have

Oh god, I’ve got no idea...

OP posts:
GahWhatever · 24/12/2018 09:26

I leave the hot water on constantly on the advice of an energy efficiency consultant. Our tank is very week insulated and most of the time it isn't running, but will put on a little burst to keep it up to temp.
Heating a whole tank from cold uses loads of energy.

In the winter I also have the heating on constantly, but with a smart thermostat that drops the temperature a bit while we're out or away but still keeps all the pipes warm.

Fairylea · 24/12/2018 09:27

Might be better long term to have a combi boiler fitted so you have constant hot water (it heats the water up as you use it).

dementedpixie · 24/12/2018 09:27

I wouldn't leave the hot water on all day but it might be better to have it timed to go on a couple of times a day so you get a new batch of water when you need it. And tell your dh to stop using all the hot water!

OddestSock · 24/12/2018 09:28

Ours is constant (combi boiler).

dementedpixie · 24/12/2018 09:29

Combi boilers are not suitable for all properties especially if using more than one bathroom at a time. I am happy with my system which has storage tanks in the loft and hot water cylinder in a cupboard. I suspect that's what the OP may have too

donajimena · 24/12/2018 09:29

Can you install an electric shower? Its always good to have a second source of hot water.

Almostthere15 · 24/12/2018 09:31

Ours is on a timer (but electric showers means they don't use the hot water). It's an hour in the morning and two hours late afternoon. That means there's plenty for washing up/hand washing etc through the day but also enough for a bath in the evening. If it's needed at other times (like say someone had a daytime bath) I boost it for an hour.

Original poster
GinGeum · 24/12/2018 09:32

I feel like DH would just spend even longer in the shower if there was more hot water...

I think there’s the option to have three different times set up on the boiler so maybe I’ll try that, coming on in the morning, at lunch time and then early evening?

OP posts:
SantasBassoon · 24/12/2018 09:33

No, it's set to come on for 40 minutes in the morning and again at teatime. We've got one of those pressurised Megaflo type tanks, so we can run multiple showers simultaneously. It's well insulated so we never run out of hot water.

madroid · 24/12/2018 09:33

Don't leave it on all the time because your bill will be enormous.

You have to have a routine I'm afraid. Decide when you want baths or showers and put the boiler on an hour before

ChoudeBruxelles · 24/12/2018 09:34

We have a huge hot water tank. The water is on for a couple of hours on the morning and evening. We rarely run out of hot water. The hearing is on for longer than the water at the minute too

Original poster
GinGeum · 24/12/2018 09:34

demented that sounds like our set up.

We’ve had electric showers in the past and they just need replacing constantly because DH wears them out. His mother warned me never to install an electric shower or power shower unless I wanted to constantly replace them Grin

OP posts:
TheStarOnTheChristmasTree · 24/12/2018 09:41

Your DH has long showers knowing that there will be no hot water left for you!! Is he always this selfish?

Plaiceholder · 24/12/2018 09:42

We're wood fuelled central heating and hot water.

Have hw on for a few hours in the evening. Apart from weekends and times like now when we're all about for a couple of weeks so will have it ticking over.

We can also ping the system via an app and turn on the hw / heating wherever we we are though - so if we're skiing we can turn everything on on the drive home and it's toasty when we arrive.

StepMug · 24/12/2018 09:42

We have the same type of boiler as you op. We don’t have an electric shower either, just a mixer tap which is like dicing with death.
We have to have the water on for the central heating to run hot as well.

Problem is, If you left the hot water on long enough to heat the whole tank, even if your DH only used half of what was there, the tank refills with cold water, therefore diluting what hot water is left in there, leaving it tepid.

We put the general hot water on at the wall for about and 4 hours but spaced through the day because that’s how often we use the central heating. It seems to work and there is normally hot or at least very warm water.

Do you have an immersion heater? If all my DPs kids are here, I put that on as well as it seems to guarantee the water more.

I would definitely install an electric shower in your new bathroom though! I’m not sure how good/cheap/efficient any of the above advice is but I absolutely feel your pain, it’s a nightmare!

mando12345 · 24/12/2018 09:46

No its not on constantly.
The hot water is set to come on with the heating, ages ago a plumber told me it was most energy efficient to run the heating and hot water together, if piglet john is around in prepared to be corrected on this! But obviously I wouldn't do this in the summer when the heating is off. In the summer it is not on continuous just once a day.

Original poster
GinGeum · 24/12/2018 09:49

Your DH has long showers knowing that there will be no hot water left for you!! Is he always this selfish?

Only with the hot water. I’ve lost patience with it so many times but according to MIL he’s been like it since he was about 3 years old, so I can’t see me being able to break the habit any time soon.

Step I think we do have an immersion heater but I’m not sure I actually know what one is or how it works...

OP posts:
StepMug · 24/12/2018 09:58

It’s like a kettle. Heats a coil inside the hot water tank which heats the water.

Is it in your airing cupboard? There should be a switch on the wall next to it. Flick it on for an hour or two. I normally leave mine on until everyone is done using the water for the night. Bloody loud though, sounds like a giant kettle!

CherryPavlova · 24/12/2018 10:00

It depends whose here. This time of year it’s constant. We’ve two boilers and both are in demand throughout the day. When it’s ‘just us’ one goes onto slumber with a small burst a couple of times a day to ensure pipes don’t freeze up. The other one stays on constant.

JeezYouLoon · 24/12/2018 10:09

We used to have the same set up as you however last year we changed to a combi boiler, best decision ever.

However you can't have two taps/showers running at the same time, although if my shower loving youngest is taking too long I can 'accidentally' run a tap so his shower runs cold Wink

It's a small price to pay for instant hot water, I always feel like I've won the lottery no, I don't get out much

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