Heating water - electric only, advice please.

[Pickup]

Hi folks,

Looking for some advice please. First floor, 1 bed flat in a 3 storey building, 1980s housing estate no gas or oil in scheme ie all electric. Central heating is night storage off-peak, water heater is immersion heater in 110l tank again off-peak but with timer facility to "boost" water heater for up to 1 hour during non off peak periods. There is also an electric shower.

Problems are :-
1 - the hot water tank (used to supply 2 sinks (1 in the kitchen & 1 in the bathroom)) is located in the wardrobe (in the bedroom) so at about 3:30am there is the sound of 1000 kettles boiling 3' away from your head and then again at various intervals during the night.
2 - hot water pressure is incredibly poor, takes over 9 minutes to fill the kitchen sink (height differential between HW tank outlet & sink is about 0.3m)

So... is there any substitute for the existing HW system that would give mains pressure hot water and ideally be capable of providing HW to a shower as well as the kitchen & bathroom sinks?

Thanks

 

[Mechanical Matt]

Yes. ACV cylinder with 6kw immersion. As long as you don't have a bath 160ltr will be fine. You can run 4 wet radiators from it too so you can remove the existing terrible night storage heaters. Call a local heating engineer with experience in ACV cylinders to get a quote.

 

[Roger928]

Yes. ACV cylinder with 6kw immersion. As long as you don't have a bath 160ltr will be fine. You can run 4 wet radiators from it too so you can remove the existing terrible night storage heaters. Call a local heating engineer with experience in ACV cylinders to get a quote.

Will these things go pop if you fill them wrong?

 

[Mechanical Matt]

Possible!

 

[endecotp]

takes over 9 minutes to fill the kitchen sink

That's extraordinarily slow. Are the other hot taps similar? Has it always been like that?

The height difference that matters is between the water level in the header tank and the tap. Is there a header tank immediately above the hot cylinder, or is it in the loft?

 

[Pickup]

Thanks folks,

Always been like that (well since we've had the flat) , header tank immediately above cylinder (built in??). Other people in the block we spoken too have exactly the same complaints

Thanks again

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

If it sounds like its boiling, I'd check the stat and make sure the temperature isn't set too high, wants to be about 65° C max.

By the description, you have a 'Fortic' type cylinder, maybe worth looking at an 'unvented' type cylinder. These provide mains pressure hot water, with the advantage you are still able to heat it off peak. Due to the nature of these you will need an installer with a 'G3' certificate and they also require an annual service for safety purposes. If you have/use a bath in the property, this may be your best option.

Alternatively, if you are only filling the sink and/or basin, (not a bath), there are other water heaters available that will supply at mains pressure, (although if you are heating water as you require during the day it wont allow you to take advantage of off peak electricity prices), these are somewhat smaller and can even be fitted in a kitchen cupboard under the sink.

 

[Pickup]

Thanks Hugh,

I wondered if it was boiling but the indicator on the end of the immersion is in the mid (65 deg) position. Tank & immersion were replaced shortly before we bought the flat 3-4 years ago and since other people in the block have noisy immersion don't think it's a fault.

Any idea of costs for fitting an unvented cylinder & annual inspection would be much appreciated.

Thanks