You would be forgiven for thinking that a hot water cylinder that's installed in your home may run out of hot water, causing the cold to wait until it’s hot again. But that isn’t always the case. If the cylinder is the correct size for water usage in your household, then, in theory, it should never run out! However, there may be some situations where you need more water than usual. Find out how to know what size of water cylinder you need to get by reading the rest of this blog post from Boiler Boys London.
What are hot water cylinders?
Hot water cylinders are used to store water for your household's use. Boiler Boys install water cylinders with our boiler installations depending on the needs and requirements of water in your home. We install these throughout Ealing, Hanwell, Northfields, and Pitshanger Lane in London, so get in touch with our team if you are interested in booking an installation with us.
There are two types of water cylinders; either indirect hot water cylinders or direct hot water cylinders. The water in a direct hot water cylinder uses immersion heaters within the cylinder itself to heat the water, some have multiple to ensure an optimum level of performance. Indirect hot water cylinders, however, are reliant on your boiler to generate the hot water.
You may have also come across the terms, vented cylinder or unvented cylinder. The difference between the two is simple, as unvented hot water cylinders are connected directly to the mains water supply, whereas vented cylinders are connected to a cold water tank and get their water supply from this instead. Cold water storage tanks are generally located in the loft of your home, whereas hot water cylinders are commonly found in an airing cupboard.
How to know what size of hot water cylinder I need?
Choosing the right size of hot water cylinder for your home can be somewhat of a daunting task, as you could have a situation whereby if it is too small, you are left needing hot water on an occasion where you are hosting guests or family.
A hot water storage cylinder that is too large is also an issue, as this will create sitting water that isn’t being used and will waste a lot of energy by heating up this excess.
The capacity of a cylinder will change depending on whether it’s being heated by an indirect heat source ( a boiler) or whether it is being heated directly. The cylinder capacity is always measured in litres, which can be confusing when thinking in terms of how many showers, or baskets of washing up that equates to. However, the easiest way to figure out what size and capacity you’ll need is by assessing the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and showers you have. If you want to be safe, we suggest that you give our qualified heating engineers a call on 020 8997 0614 and we will talk you through your options.
If I add an extension to my home do I need a new water cylinder?
If you extend the size of your home, say you add a loft conversion or downstairs bedroom with an en-suite to your home. Does this mean that you will need a new water cylinder entirely? As you have an extra room to factor into your home's water usage, this could mean that you may think you need a new cylinder. However, the solution would be to temper your water. Essentially, tempering means raising the temperature of water in the cylinder, mixing it with a tempering valve to achieve a lower water temperature output, thus producing more hot water from the same size cylinder.
In most cases, hot water cylinders store water at around 60-65°C. Let's say, for example, you increased this to 70°C, this would mean more water would be delivered at 55-60°C as the valve mixes both hot and cold water, which provides an increase in the capacity of the cylinder. Mixing the hot water with cold means that less hot water is drawn, increasing its capacity and the amount of usable hot water for the home for longer.
The domestic hot water cylinder can meet household hot water demands from multiple places, even if your demand for hot water increases, providing a great solution in comparison to other products on the market which can’t continue to work under the pressure of heightened demand.
Contact us today for your central heating needs
If you would like to get in touch with us here at Boiler Boys London, get in touch by calling us on 020 8997 0614 and we will be happy to help. We offer boiler installation services throughout Ealing, including Hanwell, Northfields and Pitshanger Lane. You can also email us at info@boilerboyslondon.co.uk or message us using our contact form.
