The cost of electricity

[Murphyv310]

Hi
I set the water temperature to 52c for taps which include the shower. The mad council fitted the room thermostat in a cold cupboard that is under the stairs and refuse to move it, it's totally useless where it is. I have to set the boiler to 47c for radiators and usually back it off when the living room is comfortable, the rest of the rooms though only get to 16c and I suffer with feeling cold, it's a mid 50's house and poorly insulated. One reason my bills vary between £100 & 150 a month, will have to reduce the heating next month when the cap goes up but we hope the weather warms up by then.

[boater sam]

Hi
I set the water temperature to 52c for taps which include the shower. The mad council fitted the room thermostat in a cold cupboard that is under the stairs and refuse to move it, it's totally useless where it is. I have to set the boiler to 47c for radiators and usually back it off when the living room is comfortable, the rest of the rooms though only get to 16c and I suffer with feeling cold, it's a mid 50's house and poorly insulated. One reason my bills vary between £100 & 150 a month, will have to reduce the heating next month when the cap goes up but we hope the weather warms up by then.

Fit a remote wireless stat? 

[Pye Man]

I’ve just had my increase notice and it looks like I will be paying around 50% more from April. With other things going on in the world I wouldn’t be surprised if I am paying double my current monthly charge come autumn. With increases in the cost of petrol and grocery already noticeable, and likely to continue upwards, many of us are going to have to make considerable adjustments to our lives. At least living on my own I only need to heat the room I’m in – a policy I already follow to a degree. It won’t be so easy for those with families.

Some activities will be curtailed but then Covid has already conditioned me for a much quieter life.

[Radio Fixer]

Info says "Set the hot water to be 60 C in the cylinder and then it will be about 55 C when at the taps".  This is to kill off bacteria as we know and less may be OK but we dont take that chance. 

When we were young such things werent even a consideration, just keeping warmish was the only concern.  But we survived     

Gary

[Sinewave]

I think that so long as the water doesn't stand for too long, bacteria can't be built up, for example if you have a 100 litre cylinder and you use 100 litres and some over the course of days or a week, you'd be ok to reduce your temperature.

[Nick]

I think that so long as the water doesn't stand for too long, bacteria can't be built up, for example if you have a 100 litre cylinder and you use 100 litres and some over the course of days or a week, you'd be ok to reduce your temperature.

Nope - Legionella breeds in the pipework in low-temperature systems. Dangerous.

Heat pumps specifically have a sterilisation cycle one a week where the DHW temperature is raised to 70C (I think) for 2 hours just to kill anything lurking.

[Mark Hennessy]

The prospect of things like Legionnaires disease did cross my mind initially, but then I wondered if Nick has an unvented mains pressure system?

Effectively, these work in reverse. Instead of water from the heat source (boiler or heat pump) going through a coil to heat a mass of stored water to be delivered to the taps, cold water from the mains goes through the coil and is heated by the mass of hot water. This means that practically none of the water appearing at the taps has been stored for any length of time. While the stored water will have additives to inhibit bacterial growth (and corrosion, etc.).

Of course, the heat stored in the mass of water can be "topped up" by other heat sources, such as solar or electricity. The latter is sometimes necessary to reach the desired temperature if the flow from a heat pump isn't hot enough. And of course, as with a conventional gravity-fed system, you have electricity as a backup, should the primary source fail.

BTW, these are not a DIY install, and I'm not pretending to know a huge amount about them, but I do know a few friends who have gone down this route, and it makes a lot of sense in many situations. I've still got a gravity-fed setup, so need to have a pump to supplement the shower. In my case, as I'm coming directly into contact with the stored hot water, I do make sure it's hot enough. The recommended range for stored water is above 50 degrees. And below 20 degrees. So in the warmer months, the cold water storage tank in the loft could also be a risk. With 4 of us here, and the use of a pumped shower, the water is replenished several times a day.

I'm "warmer" to the idea of heat pumps than some. Since moving over to a weather compensated boiler many years ago, the flow temperature to the heating circuit is only above 50 degrees when it's below zero outside. And that's with the same radiators that I had originally. If I upgraded them (and perhaps also included some under-floor heating in the kitchen), I could envisage a heat pump working very well. I'd only go with ground source, but that's not financially viable for me (and as it's a terraced house with a small-ish garden, I suspect it would involve bore-holes). I don't like the idea of noise from air-source units (we have them at work), plus they are obviously much more weather-dependant. There are some vocal critics of heat pumps, and I can see where they're coming from - but a lot of the criticism I've seen is specific to air-source (coupled with a lack of knowledge/experience that makes them blind to the idea that radiators can work at less 70 degrees).

[Sinewave]

I think that so long as the water doesn't stand for too long, bacteria can't be built up, for example if you have a 100 litre cylinder and you use 100 litres and some over the course of days or a week, you'd be ok to reduce your temperature.

When I did my L8 course when I was a part of a buildings management team, I recall them saying it only needs to be above 55 unless it's being completely used and replenished regularly.

[Sinewave]

...... This means that practically none of the water appearing at the taps has been stored for any length of time.....

Precisely.

[Murphyv310]

Mine is a condensing boiler with no storage so the water AFAIK will not have the bactieral issues.
Sam, I asked about a wireless stat but the council wouldn't do it, I then said I'd fit one myself, then I got the reply I wasn't qualified, I'll not repeat what I said!