Noob questions regarding Hot Water Tanks

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First time living with a Hot Water Tank (300L Tempest). Some nooby questions please...

1.) My understanding is I don't have to wait for the whole (300L) of cold water to get heated. By design, the water around the area of the hot water outflow pipe is always the "hottest". Although as they state it takes 2 hours for the entire 300L to get up to temperature (60 deg C), I can in fact have 60 degrees in "some places" earlier. In this way we always benefit from the heated water as soon as possible. True or False? If False, what actually happens?

2.) The tank has a thermostat which has the function of maintaining the temperature inside the tank but according to a lot of people, that's inefficient for working/at school families, better to rely on a timer too. This leads to another issue. When usage is abnormal (example, an extra shower or washing the dishes after a guest invite), you'll run out of hot water sooner. Why is there no quantity/temperature gauge that can help me understand how much "hot" water is left in the tank? I.e. I have to rely on the tap going cold to find out there's no hot water left? Wouldn't this be a useful way to learn and adjust usage/settings?

Thanks
 
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Is the hot water cylinder (tank) heated by the boiler, or by an immersion heater?

Almost all cylinders which are heated by a boiler, use a heating coil at the bottom of the cylinder, and they heat up pretty much uniformly.

300l is a lot of hot water. Have you actually noticed it go cold? I think most people would have enough for normal hot water needs, without re-heating. Are you saying you let the whole cylinder go cold before heating it again?

There may be things you can alter, about the way you use the system, to make it work better for you. How do you turn the cylinder on to heat; is there a time clock or programmer? Do you know what boiler you have? Have you had this system installed yourself, or have you moved to a property where everything was already there?

EDIT: Do you know whether you have priority hot water? This is where the water from the boiler is boosted to a high temperature, and directed solely to the cylinder, to make the cylinder heat faster. It's becoming more popular these days.
 
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1.) My understanding is I don't have to wait for the whole (300L) of cold water to get heated. By design, the water around the area of the hot water outflow pipe is always the "hottest". Although as they state it takes 2 hours for the entire 300L to get up to temperature (60 deg C), I can in fact have 60 degrees in "some places" earlier. In this way we always benefit from the heated water as soon as possible. True or False? If False, what actually happens?
Same principle as an hot air balloon - Hot air and hot water are less dense than cooler. Which means they will naturally rise, so as the water in the cylinder is heated up, the heated water will rise to the highest point, which is where the 'outflow' pipe is located.

The heated water level, will gradually progress it's way down the cylinder, until it reaches the source of the heat - either the heating coil, or the bottom end of the immersion heater element.
 
A mass of water that's heated at single point will become less dense and rise, pushing the colder water to the bottom but as long as there is a heat source it will setup a convection cycle with the hottest at the top and as its replaced with hotter water welling up, it will circulate around until the heat is removed, once removed then the hottest water will always rise to the top and stay there.

When the hot water is being used (and not being heated) and the cold water enters from the bottom the cylinder is designed so the water will stratify minimising the mix which is why stored water will supply most of the water as hot and then goes warm and then cold quite quickly (in relation to the volume of the cylinder).
 
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Why is there no quantity/temperature gauge that can help me understand how much "hot" water is left in the tank
One for dragons den maybe ... no real reason that it couldn't be done over above a level of complexity and functionality. Is there technology available that could be adapted to perform that function, probably. Hard to retrofit on some system if you can't get direct access to the cylinder wall though.
 
Show us a photo of this "Tempest" please. I have a feeling it is not an ordinary Cylinder.

Include the pipes and cables around it.
 
Must be 10 million+ hot water cylinders in the UK without a thermometer (O.K.,storage less universal with uptake of combis)

how the heck do people manage?
 

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