emersion vs gas to heat tank.

omad65

I havent done any of the calculations etc to try and find out what is the cheapest way to heat the water in the tank for a shower etc. Sometime I switch on the gass with the thermostat set to zero (if I dont want radiators on) and sometimes I turn on the emersion. However this got me thinking as to which is the most efficient/cost effective way to achieve this. Obviosuly this depends on how much water is being heated, at what time, effecencey of the system etc, but in general and for a modern system, anyone any ideas/thoughts???

landydef

the best way on any particular cylinder that i can think of doing this is to attach a digi-thermostat to a low part of the cylinder and using both the gas and the elec on different occasions wait until it gets to a nominal temperature (say 55 degrees). use the readings off the elec and gas meters and calculate it with the price/unit from your last bill
i would imagine that there would be loads of different factors on each cylinder that would influence this!
i would imagine that the central heating would be a lot quicker and would heat a larger amount of the cylinder,i'd also say that it would be a small bit cheaper too

omad65

cheers,
I actually do have a little temperature probe that I could use, might give it a try over the weekend if i get a chance.

gsxr1

I use the gas to heat the water after i watched the electric meter when the immersion was turned on. Twas like a small helicopter the way it was spinning

. like boiling a massive kettle.