Combi boiler in loft - wasting loads of cold water on tap in ground floor

[gbrown100]

Hi all,

We have a Worcester Combi in the loft. On the ground floor we have the kitchen. Whenever I run the hot tap it can take a good 30 seconds to get the water really hot in the sink, we can be wasting half a bowl of water or more every time. I'm not up for installing a separate tap and am not really up for spending on a quooker! Is there an inline electric heater that can go under the sink and heat the hot feed on demand until the temp is up to a decent level and then switch off? If not, what's your most economical solution for this? I would rather not have to replace the tap.

Thanks

Graham

 

[gbrown100]

Do you know what? I'm an idiot! There is zero point fixing it to the hot water feed as even if it does stop heating once the incoming hot feed is the right temperature I still will have unnecessarily heated all the water back up the pipe to the boiler. Far simpler to just Tee the cold feed and come off that right? In which case, does anyone have a recommendation of a make or spec to go for?

 

[ianmcd]

Nope you will just need to suck it up Im afraid

 

[carmanmemoranda]

What about getting the combi boiler moved?

 

[kidgreen61]

There's a device on the market (the name of which I've forgotten, maybe combisave?) which you can fit to your boiler, it's essentially a thermostatic valve which only allows 3-4 litres of water per min through the boiler until the DHW warms up, then opens up to allow full flow.
It doesn't make the HW get to outlet any faster, doesn't save any gas, but does save some water wastage.

 

[ianmcd]

What about getting the combi boiler moved?

Yes you can do that but at £500-£2000 average, is the tiny discomfort worth that amount of money, only you can decide that

 

[carmanmemoranda]

How expensive is 30 seconds or so of hot water and water meterage.

Doubt a combi boiler will be that dear to move.

 

[cross thread]

Screwfix etc do a range of under sink electric water heaters that will suit your needs

 

[gas112]

What about getting the combi boiler moved?

yes very cost effective to save a bowl of water

 

[gas112]

are you running the tap slow so the water heats quicker

 

[Johntheo5]

A 30kw combi assuming 10 cold starts/day and gas @ 10p/kwh will consume around 2.94kwh and cost 29.4p/day or £107/annum, this assumes that the boiler is running flat out for those 30sec cold starts.

I read somewhere that you can install some sort of thermostatic control that reduces the flow rate to get the temperature up faster.

 

[gas112]

A 30kw combi assuming 10 cold starts/day and gas @ 10p/kwh will consume around 2.94kwh and cost 29.4p/day or £107/annum, this assumes that the boiler is running flat out for those 30sec cold starts.

I read somewhere that you can install some sort of thermostatic control that reduces the flow rate to get the temperature up faster.

https://www.bes.co.uk/combisave-thermostatic-hot-water-accelerator-for-combi-boilers-20601/?ref=gs&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImc-8t_D7_wIV0vDtCh3WGApfEAQYBSABEgLoPPD_BwE

 

[bernardgreen]

yes very cost effective to save a bowl of water

it is more than just one bowlful. Probably several each and every day.

Do plumbers ( AKA heating engineers ) take account of wasted water when "designing" a system. After all they will not have to pay the running costs of the system they create.


When planning the plumbing for my cottage waste of water was a concern due to very long pipe runs. Solved with two hot water cylinders, one in kitchen and one in the bath room. I was lucky in that the rooms are large and space was available.

 

[cdbe]

Probably running halfway round the house, run a 10mm plastic pipe straight from boiler to tap.

 

[gas112]

it is more than just one bowlful. Probably several each and every day.

Do plumbers ( AKA heating engineers ) take account of wasted water when "designing" a system. After all they will not have to pay the running costs of the system they create.


When planning the plumbing for my cottage waste of water was a concern due to very long pipe runs. Solved with two hot water cylinders, one in kitchen and one in the bath room. I was lucky in that the rooms are large and space was available.

is it wasted water though or still used. How many bowls of water will it take to repay say 1000 quid to reposition a boiler