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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:
FruminousBandersnatch · 30/10/2018 09:06

We were warned not to turn ours off because of the risk of Legionnaires Disease - no one has mentioned this here though? I can’t bring myself to turn it off as a result!

Omgineedanamechange · 30/10/2018 09:07

Dont understand the people using up all the hot water to wash up. When my daughter was little, I had no running hot water at all. I just boiled a kettle to wash up, and bathe her. I had a twin tub washer, which was my pride and joy, that heated the water for a wash. I used to drag it into the bathroom, fill it, heat it up, then empty it into the bath for myself.

needsanewname · 30/10/2018 09:09

People with combi boilers just don't understand do they lol. We had a combi boiler at home growing up and yes, it was great but I had British Gas out to my house last year to do a heating review (it's a old, cold house) with a view to change to a combi boiler and he said having a tank system is a lot better - way more energy efficient and not prone to breaking down as much as combi.

Rebecca36 · 30/10/2018 09:12

I have it on all the time. Washing machine and dishwasher use a lot as well as baths and showers. Works out cheaper to keep the water at an even temperature than to keep heating up.

WitchesBritches · 30/10/2018 09:12

MrsMWA Tue 30-Oct-18 09:05:1. 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!!

What’s stopping you moving?

OMG. People used to go by horse and cart, write on slate and store their food in a cold store. Technology happened.

reallybadidea · 30/10/2018 09:12

It is cheapest to heat the water just before you use it, so using a timer that turns it on at the those times of day makes the most sense.

Imagine the tank is empty and you are heating it from 10C to 60C. On the timed tank the heater turns off, you use the water and that's that.

If you don't use it immediately and your heater is on constantly then the water will gradually cool down to say 59C and then the heater will turn itself on and heat it back up to 60C. The longer it is before you use it then the more frequently it happens and the more energy it uses.

ChilliHobnobs · 30/10/2018 09:13

No idea with hot water but we tried leaving our heating on low all the time and had the most horrendous bill. Not making that mistake again.

SoupDragon · 30/10/2018 09:14

I have a combi boiler so hot water is there on demand.

I remember growing up with the hot water on a timer and having to work out who was going to have a bath/shower. I don't think I could ever go back to that now!

WhirlyGigWhirlyGig · 30/10/2018 09:14

Rebecca modern day app,iances only have cold feed don't they? They no longer use water from the hot tank.

Peridot1 · 30/10/2018 09:19

Ours is on for two hours in the morning, an hour at lunch time and two hours in the evening.

We have solar panels on the garage which are connected to the water system and that is just enough even in winter to keep it warm enough that it’s not heating from cold all the time. Apparently.

Lovemusic33 · 30/10/2018 09:20

Mines on all day and off at night (goes off at 10pm, on again at 7am), I was advised to do this when the new boiler was fitted last year. I am on gas and it doesn’t cost me a fortune, obviously more in winter as the heating is gas too but in the summer it’s about £5 a week on a key metre.

OtteryStMary · 30/10/2018 09:24

I heard a useful way of thinking of this. If you wanted a cup of tea this afternoon would you keep the kettle boiling constantly all day?
The water doesn’t get cold instantly when it’s not being heated, there is normally insulation round the tank.
We have it on for 45mins in morn and 30mins in pm timed for before we want baths/showers/washing up, but if I have a shower midday the water is still hot.
Only time we need to boost hot water is when kids have a deep bath, then one extra hour fixes it.

TheWiseWomansFear · 30/10/2018 09:37

You can turn off hot water?

dementedpixie · 30/10/2018 09:43

My gas boiler heats hot water and stores it in a big cylinder. It is on twice a day and that gives plenty of water. My shower is Electric and heats it's own water. An immersion heater uses electricity to heat water and is more expensive than using gas.

ErrolTheDragon · 30/10/2018 09:52

We used to have a CH/water system with a big thermal store (heat exchanger). So it was on all the time in winter - the heat loss from this tank heated the house anyway - but it was a pain in summer, upstairs got too hot just for heating water. So we only had it on enough to heat the water for evening baths. There was usually enough residual heat in the thermal store for hand washing etc the next day.

Fortunately we got a combi early this year - despite the weather the bedrooms were much more comfortable this summer!

blueskiesandforests · 30/10/2018 09:53

Havana I work shifts, so some weeks I get up at 4:45 6 days out of 7 but other weeks maybe only once. I suppose I could constantly change it.

MrsSteveMcDonald · 30/10/2018 09:54

We only have the immersion here to make hot water as our boiler isn't connected to the water system. There isn't a timer fitted and our shower runs off the hot water so we have it on all the time to be able to have hot showers in the morning

Bombardier25966 · 30/10/2018 09:54

@MrsMWA Who told you that? You get combi boilers in far bigger premises than a large house, hotels, sports centres, care homes all have them. If your heating engineer can't work out what he's doing then get another one, preferably with commercial experience.

IsTheRainEverComingBack · 30/10/2018 10:00

I have pay as you go gas and electric, and haven’t noticed an increase leaving the boiler on all day.
When it was on a timer it would do one shower in the morning, and just about one bath. If I wanted to top the bath up with more hot there wasn’t enough.

1Wanda1 · 30/10/2018 10:01

1Wanda1 .... Hi, Have you seen the reflection of having the water on permanently in your bills?

The bills have not increased since we started having the water on constant. It's hard to assess whether they have reduced, due to other factors such as one of my children being at home more in the day (so using more power), and having changed energy supplier.

Fluffycloudland77 · 30/10/2018 10:02

We have a hw tank that’s newish so very well insulated. 20 mins gets a bath each.

Stat set to 60c. I turned pils combo stat to 60, gas bills are down.

ErrolTheDragon · 30/10/2018 10:07

The first generation of domestic combi boilers available a few years ago weren't big enough for our house (5 bed detached but not enormous). The ones available now are.
You might want to check again, @MrsMWA

mateysmum · 30/10/2018 10:15

Ours is on once a day and it keeps warm all day with enough for 3 showers and washing up.If anyone wants a bath in the evening it just need flicking on for 10mins.
We don't have gas available so having the water on all day would cost a fortune and just isn't necessary with a well insulated cylinder.

SpoonBlender · 30/10/2018 10:20

People with combi boilers totally do understand - that's the reason we ripped out the tanks and got a combi when we needed to replace the old boiler! The whole stored hot water and running out thing is just so 19th century.

MsJudgemental · 30/10/2018 10:20

Surely you would save money getting a combi boiler? Didn’t think there were many of the older type left!

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