Should I Leave My Boiler On All The Time?

Question

I live in a flat and have a boiler!
Im always running out of hot water and have just been told recently that it would prove cheaper for me to leave it on rather than keep turning it on and off after a couple of hours....

Please advise!!!!

This is a brand new flat by the way,
I have a big tank in a closet with two switches. This box thing on the wall has some kind of timer and also has a boost button???

Answer 1

what you have is economy seven heating and hot water, the two switches in the hot tank cupboard are for the two immersion heaters in the tank, one is for over night water heating and the other at the top of the tank is for a small boost during the day if you need a top up.
The switch on the wall with the timer is just that, a timer for the hot water, this should be switched to on at all times, the clock on it should be kept at the right time of day, just turn it clock wise till the time lines up with day, it will be preset to swtch on during the night on the cheaper off peak rate and will switch off in the morning when the normal rate comes back on, this opperates the bottom heater in your tank, ( both these switches at the tank should be left on at all times )
The button marked boost should be pressed once and a red light will come on, this is to give your hot water a one hour boost during the day, if after one hour you still need more hot water then press this button again for another one our boost, but remember the more you boost during the day the more you pay on the normal day rate.
try doing your washing during the night with you washing machine loaded ready to turn on, via a plug in timer to take advantage of the cheeper night time rate, also remember everything that you use during the night is half the cost of the day time rate, not just your heating and hot water.
Hope this explains the situation for you.

Answer 2

Hello! You really should have a manual with your system to explain it to you! Ask where the manual is I would sy it will reveal a lot of tips on how to run the system efficiently.

Now it sounds like you have two storage tanks one above the other, hence two switches, and it is not gas powered.. The main tank will be best heated up for two hours during the night. Then if you press boost you will pay more, as you are demanding more again. Just stick to a timed few hours each night say between 3am-5am, and see if you can get cheaper night rate electricity from your supplier!

Hi there, you should explain what system you have is it modern and efficient? If not get your landlord to upgrade it. If you rent. Assuming it's a gas boiler has it been serviced??? Is it running efficiently and is it modern and suitable for your needs?

So what is the problem here is it too costly to run? Or it there not enough hot water? These are two different things anyway.

It depends on the type of system you have, it sounds like an old hot water storage heater from 1980's, when the tank becomes empty your hot water has run out. This will have a switch that you can flick on when the tank becomes empty (e.g after running a bath) to give you more hot water.

Turn it off whenever you are out for more than a few hours. It should go off anyway when it reaches a nice temperature. Try going onto economy 7 night rate elec and heat it up with a plug in timer at night if its an old old system like that.

If it is a modern combi system then you should just leave it on when the outside temerature goes near freezing.

Answer 3

yes it would be cheaper in the long run to leave it on....what you have to remember is that the tank fills up with cold water when the hot water is called for, thus if you turn the boiler off, the water becomes cold so in turn will take much longer to heat up (when you put it back on) thus using more energy.

Hope that makes sense

We have started to leave our C/H on 24/7 and just turn the stat down at night when we go to bed, or if we go out....the house doesn't get as cold as what it used to when it was turned off completely.

Answer 4

mine's on all the time. It has a temperature regulator/monitor that turns the whole thing on if the hot water is running out. It's automatic, you shouldnt be turning it off and on by yourself. Let it do the work for you.