Many people remain under the impression that hot water storage cylinders mean that they will run out of hot water, and therefore have to wait for the cylinder to heat up. If the cylinder is sized correctly according to the needs of the household, this should not happen. Here’s a quick guide to sizing
Obviously larger houses will have larger cylinder. When selecting the size of the hot water cylinder, a simple rule of thumb is that for a typical domestic household, you should allow between 35 and 45 litres for every occupant. That said a mains pressure system can use about 18 litres of water per minute at 40 degrees Celsius if a decent quality shower head is used. Certain brands of shower can use up to 25 litres of water per minute.
However, it must be noted that personal habits also play a big part in total hot water use. Two households of the same size can use completely different amounts of hot water, with one of them using twice as much as the other! In determining how much hot water you require you should always consult with the occupants, and consider the following:
• A bath uses 100 litres of hot water at 40 degrees Celsius (equating to 60 litres at 60 degrees Celsius)
• Showers can use about 18 litres of hot water per minute at 40 degrees Celsius (equating to 11 litres at 60 degrees Celsius)
The following average consumption values can be used as a general rule (hot water requirements per person per day):
• Low Consumption = 20 – 30 litres
• Average Consumption = 30 – 50 litres
• High Consumption = 50 – 70 litres
On this basis a typical four person household would often use around 200 litres of hot water a day and this is the figure that will generally be used under the new EU energy labelling scheme.This does not necessarily mean that a 200 litre cylinder is required as dependent on the heating system the cylinder may be partially reheated during the day. It is up to the installer to match the correct size of cylinder relative to boiler (or electrical) input to avoid running out of hot water.
Our new consumer tool- the hot water cylinder sizing calculator helps both consumers and installers select the right size cylinder for the job. Access it here.
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