Upgrading/sizing hot water tank without putting in solar?

batman1

Our water tank is the small copper cylinder type traditionally found in Irish homes. It is factory insulated but we do find it on the small side as we can get maybe 1 or 2 showers as well as normal hot water use. Definitely wouldn't get a bath.

We are considering getting a bigger tank but have ruled out solar for numerous reasons. We have oil boiler and boiler stove.
My question is would it be sensible to upgrade the tank and would this then have a knock on effect on the central heating if it has to heat a bigger tank first?

RJF

A typical copper cylinder found in Irish homes should have no problem providing enough hot water for a bath, especially a factory insulated one. What is the actual size of your cylinder?
If you only get enough water for 1 or 2 showers, then you have a problem with your heating usage or setup.
Can you provide some info on usage and setup?
e.g.
How long do you heat the water and how often.
Do you use oil, stove or immersion?
Is the balancing valve and thermostat set properly on the cylinder?
How much water do you need on a daily basis?

A larger cylinder will mean you are trying to heat more water inefficiently if your current setup and usage is not right.

batman1

Unsure of tank capacity. Maybe 3 ft high !

At present we mostly use the stove in winter and immersion in summer. We are having the heating controls upgraded so we can use the oil boiler to heat the water in summer .
The problem seems to be that even with the stove lit all day, water the next morning is lukewarm at best. Not enough to shower and quickly runs cold. The stat is set at 55/60 on the stove pipe. No other stats other than the one on the oil boiler.
As an example our ensuite shower is a mixer shower, no thermostat, and with the stove lit for hours the shower needs to be on max red to be suitable for a shower.
My thinking was that a larger tank may keep a better store of water throughout the day but obviously it will take longer to heat.
So I'm left wondering if we should leave the current tank and see if the new setup is better or not.

RJF

Can you heat the full cylinder using the oil?
How many kw is the boiler on your stove rated for?
Is there rads run off it also? Can they be isolated?
Is the pipe run to the copper cylinder insulated and how long is the run?
Is the circulation pump operating well?

Wearb

Turn off all your rads individually. Run your boiler for an hour. (Near the end of this hour check that no rads are heating or solid fuel boiler is heating).
After an hour (should take less but for this test use an hour) see if this makes a big difference.

Calahonda52

batman1 wrote: »

...
The problem seems to be that even with the stove lit all day, water the next morning is lukewarm at best. Not enough to shower and quickly runs cold. The stat is set at 55/60 on the stove pipe. No other stats other than the one on the oil boiler.
.

In addition to the other ideas posted
Perhaps, and only a perhaps, the absence of a stat on the cylinder coil allows the stove water to still pass through the coil even after it goes off, the pipe stat will start and stop the pump but the water will still circulate, especially if the cylinder is above the stove.

Iderown

May not be relevant. Some years ago we had a double coil cylinder installed. We had thought about having a solar heating arrangement along with the oil boiler. Originally the upper indirect coil was heated. Grandson came to live with us and we needed a larger volume of heated water every day. It was an easy task to connect both coils in series so that near the full height of the cylinder was heated. The thermostat had to be moved down to a new position in the region of the lower coil. Works a treat. I should mention that the system is two-zone (hot water and space heating), with motorised valves to appropriately direct the heated water flow.