Which is the more efficient way of heating water, an immersion heater or the gas boiler?

Question

The heating system i have has a hot water tank.

Answer 1

EFFICIENT and CHEAPEST are not always the same.

The most efficient way is to use an immersion heater because with a well lagged tank you loose very little heat since the element is surrounded by water.

The cheapest depends on the price of gas, currently its cheaper to heat with gas than electricity in most areas. Of course when you heat with gas much of the heat passes by the heat exchanger and out of the flue, so its not efficient in that sense.

From a broader environmetal standpoint the electricity is probably made by burning gas in the first place at a power station.

So if its cost to you alone use gas.

Answer 2

If you are not talking about a combi boiler I would say electric. The element is hoter than the hot water in the heating pipe and in direct contact with the water, you also don't have the electricity the pump is using (Though this will only be about 100 ~ 200w). I doubt there is any noticeable difference at the end of the day anyway. (The average heating element is 3kW) Once the tank is up to temperature it's suprising how little the element switches on and off, especially if it is well insulated.

If the central heating is run from the same boiler, heat the tank up with that water though.

Answer 3

I reckon the immersion heater might win out (ignoring environmental considerations). If you fire up your gas boiler, you have to heat up the metalwork of the boiler the water in the pipes leading to and from your storage cylinder, and the pipework itself. Mind you, that probably doesn't count as waste at this time of year, because it is warming your house up a bit. What is wasted is the heat in the exhaust gas from the boiler, though modern condensing boilers are much better at recovering that lost energy. Now I've said all that, I'm not so sure!

Answer 4

Gas is the cheapest.

Inside your home, an immersion heater is a more energy efficient method of heating the water because none of the heat goes up the chimney. However, a lot more heat is lost at the generating station and gas is more efficient overall.

Answer 5

Here in California, most of us use a natural gas heated hot water tank. I can't know if they are more efficient than an immersion heater but they work really well.

Answer 6

Took the fuse out of my immersion heater years ago. Gas fired boiler wins hands down.

Answer 7

Definitely the gas boiler. The immersion should only be used if you need hot water quickly as it costs a small fortune to use.

Answer 8

The question you should ask is heat water for what an apartment, a house, a building, a store, a complex, an industrial plant, a condominium? Then people could tell you what is better for a particular place and size of the place to heat water of what ever type of system.

Answer 9

gas boiler by a long way, immersion heater is like a giant electric kettle heating your water

Answer 10

Most definitely the gas boiler.