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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you have the hot water on all day?

167 replies

LittleBookofCalm · 30/10/2018 07:48

I have it on a timer, same as the heating
however if you want a shower or bath in the middle of the day in my house, you need to make sure there is hot water.

do others do the same?
this is a money saver in my eyes

OP posts:
TheCatWhisperer · 30/10/2018 08:37

Yep, have mine on for an hour in the morning and evening, slightly longer if we're having baths. It stays hot for quite a while after being on for an hour. Leaving on low all day does not cost less, it's a myth much like leaving lights on all day is cheaper than turning them off/on.

PiperPublickOccurrences · 30/10/2018 08:40

Agree with previous poster, I spent my early childhood in a house where you had to wait for the water to heat up, and then if it ran out because other family members had had too long a shower or bath, you'd be freezing.

Combi boilers all the way - wouldn't consider anything else. Or failing that, an electric shower.

laceygo · 30/10/2018 08:40

Plumber told us to leave it on all day

TeenTimesTwo · 30/10/2018 08:40

And still on physics, the inverse square rule gives that you lose energy at a faster rate the bigger the temperature difference between you and the surroundings, so if anything keeping it on all day will be more expensive as the rate of heat loss will be greater.

Which is why if you are having coffee with milk if you add the milk straight away it will stay hotter than adding the milk after 5 minutes, all other things being equal.

MrsStrowman · 30/10/2018 08:43

Ours is on for an hour in the morning and the tank is still piping hot at night, we never run out of hot water. Our shower is electric though, we have a dishwasher and neither of us take baths very often. I've asked my brother, a plumber about the keep it on all day thing and he says it's a myth. We will be swapping to a combi after Christmas though as it's much more efficient , we're upgrading the bathroom and getting a mains rather than electric shower and DB is doing all the work for free

Daftasabroom · 30/10/2018 08:44

It is cheaper and more efficient to only heat water or heating as and when you need it.

Heat loss is dependent on temperature difference and insulation. If you want your home to be at 20C when you are in just set you're timer to come on half an hour before you get home or wake up. Keeping the heating on when no one is home will increase heat loss and you bills.

Abeautifulpeagreenboat · 30/10/2018 08:44

If you insulate your tank well, it's much better to use a timer than keep it on all day. The CSE debunks that myth www.cse.org.uk/advice/energy-saving-tips/energy-mythbuster

LIZS · 30/10/2018 08:45

Use timer here. The insulation keeps the water in the tank hot and can boost as and when required.

WitchesBritches · 30/10/2018 08:45

I have to get up at 4.45am though and DH is illogically resistant to the hot water being heated from 4am to 6an instead of 5am to 7am, so my morning shower is usually tepid

Why, for the love of little fish, do you accept this?

Monty27 · 30/10/2018 08:46

I have an immersion heater for almost immediate hot water well half an hour for a bath. I also have an electric shower. So if I use up the normal hot water by a rare major clean in the kitchen not a problem. Except remembering to turn the immersion off again! Shock

PrincessConsuelaBananahamm0ck · 30/10/2018 08:47

I have to get up at 4.45am though and DH is illogically resistant to the hot water being heated from 4am to 6an instead of 5am to 7am, so my morning shower is usually tepid

Change it! Why is that okay??

DeaflySilence · 30/10/2018 08:47

"I have to get up at 4.45am though and DH is illogically resistant to the hot water being heated from 4am to 6an instead of 5am to 7am, so my morning shower is usually tepid "

Your husband has the final say on whether you have a hot shower or not????

Tomatoesrock · 30/10/2018 08:50

I leave it on low one switch for most of the day. It is easy on the electric. You could get have a quick shower with the amount. I have a power shower that only works off the mains so it can be a pain.

It is pain and expensive if I forget and leave on high for hours.

MsMightyTitanAndHerTroubadours · 30/10/2018 08:51

I'd NEVER have a combi boiler as the only source of hotwater/CH

We had one once in a previous house and it was a bloody nightmare, it was a WorcesterBosch, spent so much money on that thing and it was only three years old when we left it, we'd had it from new. Unfortunately we believed the plumber's sweet talking and had not installed an electric shower anywhere because of the alleged wondrousness of the combi boiler.

My mother has been in her house 14 years and is on her FOURTH!!

My elderly range was installed in this house 19 years ago and was 20 or thereabouts when we bought it ...and this year it had to have a new motor (or something!) but the broken one was the original.

havingabadhairday · 30/10/2018 08:52

Very rarely have the immersion on. 45 mins in the evening if DS is having a bath. To bloody expensive. The electric shower costs a bomb as well. At least now it's cold enough to put the heating on regularly there'll be some hot water from that.

I really, really miss having a combi.

Tomatoesrock · 30/10/2018 08:53

In the winter the oil heats the water so the immersion has a break.

Worriedmummybekind · 30/10/2018 08:53

I have it on all day. It often doesn’t save you money turning it on and off repeatedly. Also it’s not practical when we have two adults working from home and three children based at home all day!

WitchesBritches · 30/10/2018 08:55

I now have a combi, but before getting that I had the standard HWC, but it was so old it wasn’t on a timer so it was on 24/7. Despite the cover being crap and the pipes not being insulated, the electric bills weren’t high. Perhaps it depends on your tank?

I love the never ending, extremely hot water, from my combi, but I do miss the water volume (in the shower) from the old tank system.

LizzieBennettDarcy · 30/10/2018 08:59

We put a combi boiler in last year after 20 years of never having enough hot water or having to wait an hour with it on boost to run a bath.

Having instant water as and when we need it is utter bliss! And we have electric showers too.

Tomatoesrock · 30/10/2018 09:01

My Dsis has an instant boiling tap in the kitchen for cleaning etc. It is fitted to a normal tap so cheap enough. It is great but would not be very safe with younger DC.

Havaina · 30/10/2018 09:02

@blueskiesandforests

I have to get up at 4.45am though and DH is illogically resistant to the hot water being heated from 4am to 6an instead of 5am to 7am, so my morning shower is usually tepid angry

Just switch it to 4am. He doesn't get to decide you have a tepid shower. What time does he get up?

MrsMWA · 30/10/2018 09:05

You can’t have a combi if you have a large property unfortunately. Heating and hot water is a constant worry for me with 23 radiators and x 2 cold and hot tanks. Wish I was back in a flat with a combi and hot water and warmth. And more money!!

needsanewname · 30/10/2018 09:05

Ours comes on twice a day - morning for washes and washing up etc. Throughout the day and evening for bath/showers. If we want extra then it just goes on for half an hour. No point in having a tank full of hot water if it's not going to be used.

Nothisispatrick · 30/10/2018 09:05

I don’t understand the question Blush

I wouldn’t know how to turn it off. It just comes out of the hot taps. If you don’t have hot water do you wash your hands in cold water all day? What if you need to do the washing up?

Cherries101 · 30/10/2018 09:06

It’s more efficient to have it on consistantly the whole day. Our bills dropped when we started that.