What are the best (electric only) water heaters/hot water tanks?

[lalalonglegs]

We are looking at a flat which needs complete stripping out: it only has electric heating, no gas in the building. We are planning to insulate the walls to improve the heat loss from the radiators but the tank (about 50 years old immersion heater) needs replacing and I have no idea what would be best to put in its place. Any suggestions?

run the kitchen cold tap into a bucket. Time it to fill. Calculate how many litres per minute you get. This is important.

How big is the airing cupboard? Height as well as width and depth. I imagine there is a small cold water tank on top of the hot water cylinder, right?

Presumably it has storage heaters and an economy 7 or similar electricity meter.

How many baths and showers are likely to be in use at any one time?

How old do you think the electrical installation is? I bet you didn't look at the label on the main fuse to see if it was 60Amp or what.

Hi Piglet

I thought you might have an opinion. The hot water tank will go in the loft which has a max height of about 1.4m, there is a cold water tank up there as well but I was thinking we might be better off getting rid of it? The heating is plug in radiators - I am thinking about switching to E7 storage heaters. There will be one shower room. The mains pressure isn't great although I haven't had a chance to do the bucket test yet - assume pretty bad.

The electrics will probably be redone as nothing has been earthed.

Any thoughts?

not until I know the water flow.

I'm surprised a flat has a loft. Was it purpose-built or converted old house?

Look at the colour and diameter of the incoming water main as well. It might be steel, lead, copper or plastic.

I imagine it has an existing cylinder in airing cupboard which you want to do away with.