Combination cylinder in Dublin apartment - Alternatives?

Archimero

Hi everyone!

I've scanned the existing threads hoping to find some answers but only got partial info.

I live in Dublin in a 2 bedrooms apartment. It is currently fitted with a combination cylinder with a gigantic cold water tank and 2 immersion heaters. The whole thing seems over sized for its use and I noticed some heat loss in the evenings (independent from the hot water consumption so must be some insulation problem).

Ideally, I'd want to downsize the whole thing to get back some storage space and improve efficiency. My handyman even said we could fit an electric boiler (no gas connection in the building) and produce hot water when needed instead of storing. Do you have any thoughts on this?

I've been in touch with a few plumbers who all told me the same, i.e there is no point changing the whole thing if it's not broken + electric boiler isn't possible if only for hot water production (needs to feed heaters too) + regulations in Dublin requiring a cold water tank.

For the regulation piece, I've found something on thebuildingregulations.ie (can't share URLs because I'm a new user...). Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks!

Sleeper12

Building regulations state that you must have a cold water tank.

Electric boiler that can heat water instantly requires 3 phase electricity. You don't have 3 phase electricity. It's more for commercial premises

There are under sink heaters that heat & store a small amount of hot water but these are bulky. Any storage under the sink will be gone and possibly the press beside it too. This won't be suitable for a shower so you'd need an electric shower too.

John.G

A 105 litre combination cylinder will have ~ 85 litres of HW with 20 litre cold water storage, I presume you can throw that out and replace it with a very modest well insulated HW cylinder, fed from the CWST.?

Lenar3556

Archimero wrote: »

Hi everyone!

I've scanned the existing threads hoping to find some answers but only got partial info.

I live in Dublin in a 2 bedrooms apartment. It is currently fitted with a combination cylinder with a gigantic cold water tank and 2 immersion heaters. The whole thing seems over sized for its use and I noticed some heat loss in the evenings (independent from the hot water consumption so must be some insulation problem).

Ideally, I'd want to downsize the whole thing to get back some storage space and improve efficiency. My handyman even said we could fit an electric boiler (no gas connection in the building) and produce hot water when needed instead of storing. Do you have any thoughts on this?

I've been in touch with a few plumbers who all told me the same, i.e there is no point changing the whole thing if it's not broken + electric boiler isn't possible if only for hot water production (needs to feed heaters too) + regulations in Dublin requiring a cold water tank.

For the regulation piece, I've found something on thebuildingregulations.ie (can't share URLs because I'm a new user...). Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks!

I would be inclined to agree with the advice you have received. While there are several electric water heating solutions, none will provide as good an arrangement as you have at the moment.

Stored water is a building regulation, so I would be slow to remove it. There may also be knock on impacts on the remainder of your installation if you do so. It’s just not worth it.

Bear in mind any heat loss is primarily into the apartment, so it’s not a total ‘loss’. It’s unlikely to be that great in any case. You could consider adding a lagging jacket to what you already have.