Hot water and Unvented Cynlinder system

[RandomMess]

So how does it work (in terms I understand)

How do I use it economically?

Seems to have the hot water turned on for an awful lot of time as we have the heating on a lot at the moment confused

The cylinder might take half an hour or so to heat up. When it is hot, its thermostat will stop calling the boiler for heat. However, if you use some of the water, it will ask the boiler to warm it again. The hot water rises to the top of the cylinder, where it is drawn off by the taps, and the cold water lies at the bottom. The cold water does not dilute and cool the hot.

If you have a typical large unvented cylinder, it is more economical to use the programmer to heat it before and during its main usage (e.g. morning showers) and go off after. You will then have enough stored hot water to last you through the day. You can then have another timed period before and during evening baths.

Lets suppose you have a 250 litre cylinder. A bath takes about 100 litres, some of which will be from the cold tap. It may be that you only need to heat the cylinder once a day.

It it more economical to set the timer to heat the cylinder once or twice a day, than to let it run for a few minutes every time you fill a sink to wash up. That's why a cylinder can be more economical in gas than a combi in summer, when the combi keeps firing up every time you run a hot tap. Frequent short cycles are inefficient.

Rarely have baths so about 3-4 showers a day at the moment so I will try and work out the instructions again reduce the hot water to 2 x 40 minute slots....

Have got a huge huge huge gas bill so we are clearly doing something wrong!

much more gas goes on heating than on hot water. Your recent gas bill probably includes the just-ended winter quarter. Verify that the meter readings are accurate and there are no estimates.

For HW only you might use only about half a cubic metre per day in summer, provided the heating is off. Have a look at your gas meter and note the readings.

It is best to insulate the HW pipes, especially those between the boiler and cylinder. In summer they will act as long, thin, unwanted radiators.

Meter is read every month!!! Gap between the boiler and cylinder is inches

New house, new boiler - just trying to get my head around it.

The house is cold when it is windy so we'll just have to get used to layering up when the gales hit the area!