Stupid questions about hot water...

The other downside to a combi is once it breaks down, and I assure it will, you will be without heat AND hot water whereas those with a cylinder can use their immersion as a back up for hot water.

NOoooooooooooooo don't tell me this! I've had nothing but bad luck with heating and hot water in the multitude of places I have lived. But this flat has a combi and I absolutely love it- heats up quickly for the central heating, efficient, and actually warm in here, hot water whenever I want it... Now my dreams have been shattered.   

Thank God I'm not alone in this!  I really thought I was an idiot for not getting it!  I can stop ranting at my husband now - I'm sure he thanks you all.

I suppose I have a gas boiler with the immersion for backup.  I do know my heating system is very old.  When I had a radiator replaced last year, the guy who came to install it whistled in wonder at the age of our heating system. 

In the kitchen, I have a switch with a red light that controls the immersion heater and I have a boiler that is on a timer that can be set to come on/off twice a day.  The house has radiators in each room.  There is a thermostat in the living room that we only touch once or twice a year, and in the bathroom, I have a cupboard with a big green tank and a smaller, rectangular black tank.

It makes sense that what I have is a power shower rather than an electric shower.  Never thought of that.  Changing it to an electric shower would alleviate most of our issues with having to always plan ahead for hot showers in the summer.

Both my washer and dishwasher heat the water themselves, so no issues there.

I'd wondered what a combi boiler was.  That sounds more like what I need.

Right now, I have the heating come on at about midnight for an hour, and then again at 5am for an hour.  So plenty of warm water for morning showers.  I'm home all day with a baby right now, and will usually run out of hot water by about 4 pm, at which point, I turn on the immersion heater to do any washing up for the night.  I guess this is just how it must be until we can upgrade our system.  *sigh*  Now that I know this is just how it is, I can finally accept it and move on!

This isn't necessarily true.  I put in hundreds of boilers and it's an nearly equal split between combis and regular/system boilers (those with hot water cylinders) -- with the regular/systems just pipping the combis.  Combis aren't right for every situation and are certainly not good for a home with more than one bathroom.  Nor are they overly spectacular for those that are more partial baths than showers (water pressure).

The other downside to a combi is once it breaks down, and I assure it will, you will be without heat AND hot water whereas those with a cylinder can use their immersion as a back up for hot water.

Surely that depends on the system. My old cylinder system for the heating an hot water was from the same gas boiler.....boiler broke down and I'd be without both.
I'm guessing for mine it was ideal. small house, 1 bathroom.

NOoooooooooooooo don't tell me this! I've had nothing but bad luck with heating and hot water in the multitude of places I have lived. But this flat has a combi and I absolutely love it- heats up quickly for the central heating, efficient, and actually warm in here, hot water whenever I want it... Now my dreams have been shattered.   

Sorry! 

Right now, I have the heating come on at about midnight for an hour, and then again at 5am for an hour.  So plenty of warm water for morning showers.  I'm home all day with a baby right now, and will usually run out of hot water by about 4 pm, at which point, I turn on the immersion heater to do any washing up for the night.  I guess this is just how it must be until we can upgrade our system.  *sigh*  Now that I know this is just how it is, I can finally accept it and move on!

It might be helpful to re-think when you heat your water.  If you are heating hot water at midnight and no one is using it, then it's going to sit for hours before anyone gets up and will begin to cool down.

So if your family gets up at 6:30A, set your 1st hot water period to come on at 5:30A.  It may be worth setting your second period around 3:00P so that you have hot water by 4:00P.  Try experimenting with your second 'on' time to suit your needs.  It may be that you need hot water earlier or later in the evening.  The weekends are probably the best time to tinker because no one wants cold water when the need to go to work!

Surely that depends on the system. My old cylinder system for the heating an hot water was from the same gas boiler.....boiler broke down and I'd be without both.

You can have a gas boiler that routinely supplies hot water to a cylinder, plus have an electric immersion installed in the cylinder as a back-up to the boiler.

Carl, I know you don't hate England!    And I agree, heating is fun to argue about.  I argue about it all day work.  Lucky girl, eh?

I find with older folks it's really hard to get them to embrace modern heating controls.  They always used to push that boost button to get an extra bit of hot water and by God if it was good enough for 30 years, it's good enough now. 

{snip}

As I mentioned above, the older folks do struggle with technology.  Most of them just want to turn it on when they are ready and are willing to wait that half an hour to hour to heat the cylinder.

Ah, I see you've met my in-laws. 

As you say, they know the system the way they know the system and it's worked perfectly fine since 1983, so why change it now?

Thank God I'm not alone in this!  I really thought I was an idiot for not getting it!  I can stop ranting at my husband now - I'm sure he thanks you all.

If he's looking for someone to commiserate with, I'm sure my wife would be happy to compare stories about expatriate American spousal rants with him.   

Just a small additional rant.  When our power goes out (which is often) the default setting for both our central heat and our hot water is "off", so that even though the power comes back on (often within a minute) our whole system has shut down and has to be reset. If we're not home for the brown-out, or if we forget to reset it then we have no heat and no hot water.  Surely the clock/timer/controls could have some kind of battery back-up like an alarm clock?

Ah, I see you've met my in-laws. 

And mine. 

Tin, depends on the type of programmer you have.  The one we spec does have a battery back up.

My programmer/timer runs from a battery (it's a wireless device) and warns with a month to go to replace the battery, but I believe I have to press reset on the boiler if there's a power failure.....I think that's what he said, or it was on the wireless receiver next to the boiler. Not lost power yet so I'll see.

Just realised, all these years thinking I needed to put the boiler on for hot water. There's an electric switch in the kitchen that I presume was for an immersion heater! Oh well, too late now!

Just realised, all these years thinking I needed to put the boiler on for hot water. There's an electric switch in the kitchen that I presume was for an immersion heater! Oh well, too late now!

Yeah, I'd say it took me a full year to figure out what that switch was! When I first saw it, I was afraid to go near it, what with that menacing red light and all. Thought it might be some sort of emergency switch to shut off all the electricity or something (hubby was absent a lot with work, so I was left to wonder about these things on my own).  When I finally got up the courage to flip the switch, nothing happened.  So I shrugged my shoulders and went on about my business.  It wasn't until a year later, in summer 2009, I was complaining to my husband about the trials and tribulations of not having access to hot water unless the heating is on when he gave me this quizzical look and asked why I didn't put the immersion heater on.  Immersion heater?  What's that? Never even heard the term before.

Boy did I feel like an ass when he told me what it was and how to turn it on.

Tin, depends on the type of programmer you have.  The one we spec does have a battery back up.

That's the type to get if anybody is in the market for one then! 

It wasn't until a year later, in summer 2009, I was complaining to my husband about the trials and tribulations of not having access to hot water unless the heating is on when he gave me this quizzical look and asked why I didn't put the immersion heater on.  Immersion heater?  What's that? Never even heard the term before.

Boy did I feel like an ass when he told me what it was and how to turn it on.

Man, I hate moments like this when no one thought to explain something to you because even the thickest small child understands how things work (over here) and you've never encountered anything like it before in your life so you didn't know to ask... I was here for about a month (and utterly failing to be able to close doors behind me) before I figured out that you have to turn the handle up or you can't lock it. I swear everyone thought I was special needs because I couldn't figure out how the door worked!

_{edited for word-choice}

Right now, I have the heating come on at about midnight for an hour, and then again at 5am for an hour.  So plenty of warm water for morning showers.  I'm home all day with a baby right now, and will usually run out of hot water by about 4 pm, at which point, I turn on the immersion heater to do any washing up for the night.  I guess this is just how it must be until we can upgrade our system.  *sigh*  Now that I know this is just how it is, I can finally accept it and move on!

I am not sure what upgrading is needed. You can get the equivalent of what is typically the case in the US by leaving the immersion heater on all the time, thereby allowing you to switch off the heating completely during summer months.

Personally I'd like to see water heating systems in US houses have a timer, something I've never ever seen.

I swear everyone thought I was special needs because I couldn't figure out how the door worked!

I had the same experience about 2 weeks ago...and then also quickly found out that it's impossible to open the door from the inside without the key, which also makes no sense to me--what if there's a fire?!?


Anyhow, sorry to add so many questions to the OP's post, but I do personally get annoyed with duplicate topics in such a short time span....I'm hoping someone here can help me figure out what type system I have, and how to make it work!...


What I know about the place:  In the closet in my kitchen, there is a big water heater. Next to it are 2 switches which I haven't bothered to touch yet (I moved into my flat 2 weeks ago).  One is currently set to "on", and the other is "off".  My place doesnt have any gas anywhere, so it's all electric. I seem to get hot water throughout the day, regardless of what time it is...The oven and stove each have their own switches too (which were almost impossible for me to find!)

We also have electric(?) heater things in each room, connected to the wall, with a cord running up to a panel in the wall with an on/off switch (currently set to "on").  Inside, there's a panel with two dials, one is for "input", the other "output", each with numbers from 1-6.

Questions: (i apologize for any stupidity in these questions, but this whole system baffles me!)
1- For the switches next to the water--should I turn the switch that's been ON since I moved in to "off" since i dont need hot water all day long?, and just turn it on when I need it?  I'm under the impression that it's only on at night, when the rates are cheaper(?), so maybe it's best just to leave it on? How many hours are recommended to leave it on for?
2- What's the other switch for??!!??
3- If I did turn off the first switch,  does it sound like this would turn off my heating too? Or does it sound like they are independent of one another?
4- Can anybody recommend any settings for the input/output on the room heaters?
5- How would I go about programming when these things are on/off? I know where my electricity and water meters are, but that's about all.
6- Lastly, Would it make any sense to turn off the stove/oven when they're not in use? Would this save any electricity/$$$, Or is that just being silly?
.

Any answers will be a great help.  My dear boyfriend tries to explain these things to me, but I just can't seem to understand! Maybe we're not speaking the same language...  Hopefully someone here can help!  Thanks in advance if you can