Here in the UK, we’ve traditionally heated and stored hot water in upright copper cylinders. Other storage vessels are available, but cylinders are still a popular and efficient way to provide hot water in the home.
In many homes in the heating season the gas or oil boiler will also provide the hot water. When the heating is turned off it is often more cost-effective to use electricity to heat the water by using an immersion heater. This heats up the water stored in a tank and can be controlled manually or with a time switch.
You can also install twin immersion heaters or dual element single immersion heaters to take advantage of cheaper off-peak energy tariffs. These systems ensure that a small quantity of hot water, heated at the normal electricity rate, is always available, but that most hot water is heated during off-peak periods to save you money.
How it’s installed
Electric hot water installations must be carried out by a registered, qualified installer.
*If you are unable to view our pdf booklet then please go to adobe.com and download Adobe Acrobat Reader. It’s free of charge and will only take a few minutes to install.