Your hot water will stay hot longer, and you will save money heating it, if you insulate your hot water cylinder. In fact, you can reduce heat loss from the cylinder by up to 75% by fitting a cylinder jacket. This is easy to do yourself, as they are cheap to buy and widely available. If you dont want to do your own, you can ask an installer to do it for you.
Even if your tank is already insulated, if it is less than 3" (75mm) you could save even more money by fitting another jacket around the existing one, or replacing it.
Hot water pipes lose heat right the way along, so insulate them wherever you can. The most important pipes to insulate are the ones between the boiler and the hot water cylinder. You should also insulate the pipes in the loft to stop them freezing in the winter but dont insulate under the cold water tank in the loft - it needs warm air rising from below it to stop it freezing.
Save hot water and save money too!
You should also check that none of your hot water taps are dripping. Replacing a worn tap washer can cost just pennies, but a constantly dripping water tap could fill a bath in a day - thats a whole bath full of hot water wasted.
Also, dont wash your hands or dirty dishes under a running tap - fill the sink with hot water instead. Youd be amazed at the amount of water wasted by washing this way!
Costs for the improvements
If you do the work yourself, fitting a hot water cylinder jacket and insulating your pipe work will cost £15 - £20, and will save you around £40 per year on your heating bills.
Hot water
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Last updated:
08/12/2014
Assigned review date:
22/02/2017
Awaiting page content review by the allocated team
Page Section:
Resident
Energy Efficiency
08/12/2014
Assigned review date:
22/02/2017
Awaiting page content review by the allocated team Page Section:
Resident
Energy Efficiency
