Is it cheaper to leave hot water on all day for a system boiler

[diylady]

Hi

We moved into a new house on the 01 March. The heating system in place is a system boiler with a hot water tank in the airing cupboard ( boiler is a valliant Eco tec plus 618) . The previous owners whom we are in touch with have said it is cheaper to leave the hot water on constantly than setting it on a programme . I somehow dont see how this is correct . Surely we are unnecessarily heating water that we may not use. I am not sure if they had it in all the time as they had high demand - However i have noticed that the tank in the airing cupboard doesbt have a jacket on so it may be getting cold more quickly. So i guess my question is
1) what is more efficient?
2) would a cyclinder jacket help it retain heat ?
Rgds
dIy lady

 

[mogget]

Every time you heat the water you lose heat from the pipes, so it's best to heat the hot water in batches between one and several times a day as appropriate.

A cylinder jacket will help if it's not a foamed cylinder, in fact I'd fit two!

 

[diylady]

Thanks Moggett. I like the cat profile pic. We have 4 cats . Will have to upload them on my profile

 

[JohnD]

What colour is the hot water cylinder?

What size?

 

[ianmcd]

As @JohnD says what colour is the HW tank

 

[fixitflav]

We moved into a new house on the 01 March.

Is the house new or new to you? If it's a new place I'm surprised the builders could get away with fitting an unlagged cylinder, usually it's factory-applied foam. If it is unlagged a jacket (or 2) would definitely help.
Once it's lagged I doubt you would see a noticeable difference in gas usage whether it's on 24/7 or timed, unless you have a quite unusual demand pattern. Waste heat goes into the house anyway, so not a dead loss.

 

[ianmcd]

Is the house new or new to you?

Try reading the OPs post

 

[Hot&Cold]

We moved into a new house on the 01 March. The heating system in place is a system boiler with a hot water tank in the airing cupboard ( boiler is a valliant Eco tec plus 618) . The previous owners whom we are in touch with have said it is cheaper to leave the hot water on constantly than setting it on a programme .

Is there an EPC ? That will give some,just some guidance on the property's energy performance. Its possible epc inspector issued inaccurate advice on their considerations

Maybe its to late to ask the vendor about their energy consumption in kw's but if you think you have been told lies,you will need legal help. I am not in any favour with smart meters but having them will offer guidance on the property's duel fuel energy consumption.

moving to a new property with unknown energy costs is always a gamble,smart meters will help to find out what creates high energy kw demand and the occupier can alter their demand to suit their budget.

Tbh,i have little time for smart meters but they have their uses

 

[fixitflav]

Point taken, I only read the first line

 

[ianmcd]

Point taken, I only read the first line

As already asked about the colour of the cylinder it could very well be an insulated high recovery unvented , most are assuming it is an old un insulated copper cylinder we will only know once we are told , and as we all know the correct advice can only be given knowing which cylinder it is

 

[fixitflav]

As already asked about the colour of the cylinder it could very well be an insulated high recovery unvented , most are assuming it is an old un insulated copper cylinder we will only know once we are told , and as we all know the correct advice can only be given knowing which cylinder it is

Agreed, over to diylady. A photo would help. I believe I'm right in saying if it's unvented (mains pressure) there's no way it would be uninsulated.