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Original poster

Small water tanks- is this a modern house thing?

63 replies

pwish · 24/02/2025 19:45

Absolutely livid this evening, running a bath to yet again step into a tepid pathetic pool of water and waste yet more of my favourite bath stuff.

Large 4 bedroom family house, you'd think they would have water tanks that could hold more than just a bath tub of hot water? If even one person has one short shower, the fucking thing needs heating up again if I want a bath, and it takes an hour.

I don't remember this in our older houses,
I will hold my hands up to saying I like a full, scolding bath, but it's a standard size.

Is it just our house? Is it yet another environmental irritation like our pathetic toilet flushes?!

OP posts:
Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 19:46

Sorry excuse the language, hormonal and this has been the straw that's broken the camel's back today!

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VivaLaSpag · 24/02/2025 19:47

Didn’t realise hot water tanks were still a thing! Aren’t combi boilers generally fitted these days?

Attictroll · 24/02/2025 19:49

Agree haven't had to think about water tanks for decades it feels. Have lived as an adult in both old and modern homes all with instant hot water

ComtesseDeSpair · 24/02/2025 19:50

I wouldn’t expect one at all in a modern or recently renovated house - have always had combi boilers regardless of the house size. Aren’t hot water tanks usually just backups? Is there any scope for a combi boiler?

Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 19:50

@VivaLaSpag I was told when I bought our last house (so not a sales pitch for this house) that combi boilers don't work as well in larger houses so don't tend to be used in homes with multiple floors and/or multiple bathrooms, no idea if that's changed as it was a few years ago, tbh I don't miss having a combi boiler as I found the temp wasn't great in the one we had. The pressure and temp is great, it's just not enough!

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ComtesseDeSpair · 24/02/2025 19:52

I think it may have used to have been the case that older combi boilers weren’t as effective in larger houses - but modern ones can certainly deal with size / multiple floors, and you can adjust the pressure and temperature to suit the bathroom layout and pipework arrangement.

Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 19:52

Sorry it's not a water tank it's a hot water cylinder which I gather is different from the old water tanks, but still has the issue of hot water running out!

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doodleygirl · 24/02/2025 19:53

My friend lives in a multi level 5 bed house, she had the same issue, they have now installed a 2nd tank, as far as I know there is an abundance of hot water.

TennisLady · 24/02/2025 19:55

Is this a new build house? I moved into one last year, it’s 5 years old and has a hot water cylinder. The bath is cold because legally the bath tap has to have a thermostat that stops it from being too hot! I have to top up my bath with a jug from the sink next to the bath. It took me a while to understand that after moving in and wondering why my baths weren’t getting very hot.

Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 19:56

So you've inspired me to google and it's called an S-Plan heating system apparently and is common in modern houses, and yes it's for environmental reason 🙄 enables us to 'zone' heating and hot water across the house. We hate our zoned heating so much we just ended up fitting air condoning upstairs which somewhat undoes the environmental benefits 🙄

It's not generally a problem but my teen has started showering more frequently so it keeps catching me out!

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Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 19:59

@TennisLady yes we had to override the temperature which we've been able to do from the cylinder, so thankfully it's plenty hot, it's just the volume. It's literally enough for one bath so if someone has had a shower before it's come on to be reheated there isn't enough for a bath,

(The reason it was cold was because I'd left it running and it eventually started running cold, sometimes if I catch it soon enough I can rescue it!)

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CottonCandyCrank · 24/02/2025 20:13

We just upgraded from this type of boiler to a baxi combi and it's solved these issues for us. We only did it as the boiler was in the little box room in a cupboard and as that was our little girls room, it made her room so small.

What I used to do was turn the temp up to max on the cylinder itself.. it was something ridiculous like 90°c or something... but it meant you would fill a bath half with boiling and a third cold to get a hot bath instead of a full bath using just right temp.. if that makes sense. You could then get 2 baths or at least a shower as they use more of the cold as the shower would be scalding

MumonabikeE5 · 24/02/2025 20:14

Have you actually got a tank? Or a combi boiler?

TennisLady · 24/02/2025 20:16

pwish · 24/02/2025 19:59

@TennisLady yes we had to override the temperature which we've been able to do from the cylinder, so thankfully it's plenty hot, it's just the volume. It's literally enough for one bath so if someone has had a shower before it's come on to be reheated there isn't enough for a bath,

(The reason it was cold was because I'd left it running and it eventually started running cold, sometimes if I catch it soon enough I can rescue it!)

Ah this is a thermostat actually attached to the bath tap, accessed by taking the bath panel off, but a plumber isn’t allowed to turn it down. It’s a new building regs thing so seen in new build houses, different from the thermometer on the cylinder. So we can take a scalding hot shower or fill the sink with it, but the bath will never run mega hot!

Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 20:16

@CottonCandyCrank yes it would be lovely to get the space back! I'm not sure I could bring myself to rip out a working boiler just yet though, but maybe in future. Will try the temp thing.

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Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 20:17

@TennisLady oh I don't know then, we upped the temp on the cylinder and it got very hot, hot enough to scold, I actually turned it down a little in the end as I noticed our bills go up lol.

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Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 20:18

@MumonabikeE5 it's an S plan heating system apparently, not a combi boiler, there is a hot water cylinder.

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WonderingWanda · 24/02/2025 20:18

I agree, we moved into a house with a tank and you have to boost the hot water for an hour if you want a deep hot bath.....and not put any cold in it. We luckily have electric showers but I can tell you how many times I've run a disappointingly tepid bath. Miss my combi from my old house. When the boiler broke in this house it was going to be a fortune to change the whole system so we just replaced the boiler.

TennisLady · 24/02/2025 20:19

pwish · 24/02/2025 20:17

@TennisLady oh I don't know then, we upped the temp on the cylinder and it got very hot, hot enough to scold, I actually turned it down a little in the end as I noticed our bills go up lol.

It drove me mad when we first moved in last year as I love my very hot baths, and I realised the water out of the other taps and shower was so much hotter. After googling I discovered the new regulation that it has to be fitted with a TMV that will make the bath water a maximum of 48’c.

MumonabikeE5 · 24/02/2025 20:19

pwish · 24/02/2025 19:52

Sorry it's not a water tank it's a hot water cylinder which I gather is different from the old water tanks, but still has the issue of hot water running out!

I put an unvented cylinder in our house so we could run a shower and bath at same time/or same evening.
still can’t do that. Even having been promised it by heating tech who specced it.

Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 20:21

@MumonabikeE5 yes I think ours is unvented, and yes there's a drop in pressure if more than one person is using so we don't. It just seems a ridiculous system for what is clearly meant to be a family home.

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dementedpixie · 24/02/2025 20:25

Could you get a bigger water cylinder?
Or have the water on for longer?

Original poster
pwish · 24/02/2025 20:31

@dementedpixie I'm assuming water on for longer wouldn't help as once it's drained it's drained? (Although I am going to speak to my teen and adjust the times it comes on, as we thankfully all do use it at different times).

But yes scope for bigger cylinder, it's in a large cupboard that could easily house bigger, I just resent something bigger wasn't put in for the size of the house. I'm assuming they do come in bigger sizes.

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dementedpixie · 24/02/2025 20:35

We have a fairly large water cylinder and only have it on 1 hour per day. Our showers are electric though so they heat their own water and we rarely have a bath so 1 hour seems to be sufficient for us.

TennisLady · 24/02/2025 20:38

We’ve also noticed the same, it’s been put in as it’s a 4 bed house and supposed to mean you can have same pressure if more than one tap on but that doesn’t seem the case at all!