Hot water takes about 3 minutes to get hot (Megaflo system

[sjanaway]

Just moved into a new place which has a Megaflo system fitted plus a boiler for the central heating (and I assume hot water for the Megaflo?).

The hot water takes about 3 minutes minimum to get hot - initially it's coming out of the taps cold. I don't know much about the Megaflo systems but I'm guessing this is not how it's supposed to work?

Anyone got any ideas as to what could be happening here - does the Megaflo heat it's own water or does the boiler do that? And if so what's likely to be causing the delay in the water getting hot or what could I do in order to work out what part of the system is not working correctly.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dan Robinson]

The Megaflo is just a tank, heated by the boiler like an old fashioned system. The difference is thast it conected straight to mains (normally).

If the tank is up to temperature, then all you have is the trnait time from tank to tap the further this is, the longer you have to wait. 3 minutes is excessive though.

 

[sjanaway]

Thanks

The Megaflo's in the loft but it's only a 3 bed semi so it's not that far from Megaflo to taps.

Am I right in thinking that it looks like the boiler either isn't heating the water quickly enough or for some reason the water in the Megaflo isn't staying hot ready for when it's needed? Is this the way the system works - the boiler keeps heating water for the Megaflo until it's full of hot water which then it stored in the Megaflo until needed? Or does the boiler only heat water for the Megaflo when a hot tap is turned on?

 

[sanj.varah]

the megaflo stores hot water. its not a "heat on demand" system.

you might have an excessively long pipe run to your taps which is the most likely answer. or you could have duff valves if they are thermostatic.

 

[gas4you]

As last reply, even though Megaflo is close to taps there may be a very long run left by the installer when the system was changed rather than him taking the time to shorten it to the minimum required.

 

[sjanaway]

Ah, fair enough. Guess I have to live with it then..

Thanks for the quick replies on this

 

[Dan Robinson]

I take the water is actually hot when it arrives?

Does the tank stat ever acutally switch the boiler off?

 

[sjanaway]

Yeah, after about 3 minutes the water is nice and hot. Very hot in fact...

I've not checked to see if the tank switches the boiler off. I'm guessing it must or my last gas bill would have been huge I'll check the boiler tomorrow to be sure it's turning off OK.

 

[gas4you]

You could always have it re-piped with a secondary flow to keep the hot water circulating ready for instant use.

 

[chrishutt]

3 minutes is ridiculous! With water travelling at say 1 metre/second it would need a pipe run of around 200 metres to take 3 minutes! There must be some other explanation. My guess is the OP is expecting it to heat from cold more or less instantly (hence 3 minutes).

 

[Softus]

The hot water takes about 3 minutes minimum to get hot...
.
.
.
Anyone got any ideas as to what could be happening here

Yes - you're exaggerating.

 

[sjanaway]

OP?

I'm not exagerating

It really does take 3 minutes to heat up. Stays hot then for a bit (i.e. if I close the tap and then open it again a few minutes later), but if I then open a hot tap say 1/2 hour later then the water takes another 3 mins to heat up. The boiler control is set to heat the water all the time so I would have thought that it would heat enough water to fill the Megaflo before shutting off?....