How long for hot water to come through from boiler?

sev112

we got a new boiler this winter up in the loft, combo, no tank kind of thing.

how long should it take for hot water to come out of the kitchen sink tank (I.e. 2 floors down from the loft) ?
at best , at full bore , it is 35 seconds at best - that’s a huge amount of water bearing in mind the thread on hosepipe bans, which started me thinking more about this.
ive tried running the tap at say 1/4 bore to save wasting so much water, but it just doesn’t get hot, even after 90 seconds 

is this reasonable? Is this the same with others with combi boilers?  If so I can’t imagine the EA and water companies haven’t said much about it.

and any suggestions on how to save / store the water water instead of sending it down the sink?

spark240

That’s not too bad ....our boiler is in the garage, just a few meters from the sink , and takes probably 20s.  Don’t forget the boiler doesn’t store any hot water, it senses flow, fires the burners, heats it then pumps it to the tap, 

sev112

spark240 said:

That’s not too bad ....our boiler is in the garage, just a few meters from the sink , and takes probably 20s.  Don’t forget the boiler doesn’t store any hot water, it senses flow, fires the burners, heats it then pumps it to the tap, 

Cheers, that’s what I’ve deducex up to now. Am just getting fed up with how much water is being wasted 

darthed1981

Yeah same here - the boiler just makes water when it needs it and it will take a little while to get hot.

mrkb

Some combis have a small water reservoir that they keep hot, to allow hot water whilst the boiler is firing up - but our latest one also has a "Economy" mode that doesn't use that option so it takes ages. Does your combi have any economy settings?

sev112

I’ll see what the manual says 

WezV

Yeah, apparently it’s normal for Combi boilers.  

You may notice it’s a bit longer when the central heating is on.

JezWynd

WezV said:

Yeah, apparently it’s normal for Combi boilers.  

You may notice it’s a bit longer when the central heating is on.

I find the reverse. ie. hot water runs sooner if heating is on. Makes sense as boiler is running anyway.

WezV

You may be right, I have not had the heating on for a while but I know it makes a big difference to the speed of the hot water 

Adam_MD

My combi boiler is the same.  

vale

remember all the water between your tap & the boiler won't be heated because it's already passed the heater element. so you have to clear that first.
then the cold pipes between your tap & boiler will cool the first warm water that gets heated.
finally when warm water is flowing through warm pipes you will get warm water.

things you can do about it are;

check the water pressure in the boiler is good. i think my combi is 1.5 to 2 bar (general zone). if for any reason it has dropped below that it may be slow to trigger the boiler into ignition.

also (more a winter thing) make sure your hot pipes between boiler & hot taps are lagged-insulated. in winter they will get colder & cool the water between boiler & tap more.

if you have houseplants or a garden maybe run that first water that's too cold into a bucket & use it later.

i'm lucky maybe but if i plug the basin & run just the hot tap to fill it, that mix of early cold & hot makes just the right temp for me to wash. i don't need to use the cold tap at all, so that 'cold hot' isn't wasted.

Fortheloveofguitar

My Worcester boiler has a setting whereby it’s always  keeping the water side hot this uses more gas but it means that I have instant hot water with seconds 

EricTheWeary

I reckon our combi is under 20 seconds from cold to fully hot full blast. Compared to the water my son's waste it's a bit of a drop in the ocean TBH. If you use it soon after someone else then it's basically instant so with a bit of family organisation that's a potential water saver. 

notanon

vale said:

remember all the water between your tap & the boiler won't be heated because it's already passed the heater element. so you have to clear that first.
then the cold pipes between your tap & boiler will cool the first warm water that gets heated.
finally when warm water is flowing through warm pipes you will get warm water.

things you can do about it are;

check the water pressure in the boiler is good. i think my combi is 1.5 to 2 bar (general zone). if for any reason it has dropped below that it may be slow to trigger the boiler into ignition.

also (more a winter thing) make sure your hot pipes between boiler & hot taps are lagged-insulated. in winter they will get colder & cool the water between boiler & tap more.

if you have houseplants or a garden maybe run that first water that's too cold into a bucket & use it later.

i'm lucky maybe but if i plug the basin & run just the hot tap to fill it, that mix of early cold & hot makes just the right temp for me to wash. i don't need to use the cold tap at all, so that 'cold hot' isn't wasted.

^^ this. You will never get around that wait for hot wait if there is a long run of pipe between you and boiler. If everybody is waiting for hot water to say have a shave then that is a huge amount of water.

Electricity is more expensive than gas I think but that is why the instant hot water mini boilers are popular next to small wash basins. They should save some energy too because you have also heated all the water back to the boiler when you turn off the tap.