hot water options

Hi B.

The majority  of Apartment  have  electrical  Boilers. There is  normally a  small Red light  visible,  When  you  use Boiler  first  the Red light will  remain  on until  the entire  Contents  of Boiler   the water in Boiler  is Hot, it  will remain  hot, if  use  some Hot water  the Red light  will come again but only  heat  amount  you have used.

The Boiler  only uses Power when  heating  the  water it is not using Power when Red light  is off.  They are very economical  to use, There might be a Sticker on Boiler  indicating  the engry  Rating of Boiler,

I  recently  removed  a Gas boiler  just not too my likings, and not  interested  in Carrying  a cylinder of  Gas up  1 floor

Assuming there are just two of you it sounds to me like your problem may be the size of your boiler not the fact that it's electric, that and the temperature you run it up to.

I have a 120lt boiler which I run up to 70deg and with power on for a couple of hours in the early morning it provides ample hot water for two for the following day.

I have only an electic boiler for hot water in my villa, situated down in the pool pump room. It has a good insulation jacket. I have a timer which means it comes on twice a day, morning and evening, for 90 minutes at a time (best combination found through trial and error).

The water stays piping hot through the day, although it runs cold for 30 seconds when the tap is first turned on and it hasn't been used for a while, until new hot water is pumped up from its location down below. The hot water in the pipes obviously gradually cools down if it isn't used straight away.

We use ours on a timer to work in conjunction with our cheap electricity periods and rarely run out of water. There are two of us and we have a 80 litre boiler. As Herefordjack mentions there is a small delay before the hot water is at the tap but that happens with any stored hot water.

An instantaneous, over the sink, water heater would probably use more power than you are contracted for (5.75 Kwh?) and would trip the fuse.

If you have internet access then these smart plugs are a good option for timing and switching on/off the boiler while you're out & about. https://www.amazon.es/TP-Link-Tapo-P100-Inteligente-Concentrador/dp/B07Z5JD3T4?tag=cstareg0f-21

Hi Beryl

I do exactly the same as Peter Pan. In fact, i replaced the previous (very old) 50l boiler with an 80l one only two days ago, and fitted it with a similar timer - which means that I can if necessary turn it on from anywhere in the world via the internet - love it! It also tells me how much it costs to use.

Cheers

Steve

Good  information 👍   but sadly  some of  us including  myself  such  Technology  would  only  make matters worse.  Yes  hooking  up Water heater  would be in my  remits 

We had a gas boiler with the gas situated outside our finca. During the Winter we suffered water temps of max 36deg so changed to an 80l electric water heater. It is on constantly and set at 45deg, which is more than adequate for showering without needing to add cold water. The water heater is extremely well insulated and even having it on constantly we are still saving money compared to the gas alternative. 

I think as long as you don't have the temp set too high it won't be expensive. 

Electric boilers are supposed to be left on. They have a thermostat that regulates the water temperature. If you turn it off, the water gets cold and you will have to wait for quite a while before you again have got hot water. Heating water from cold to hot takes a lot more energy than to heat from warm to hot or hot to hotter.

Most electric water heaters store hot water ready for use. Gas heaters/boilers are different.

The thermostat should be set to between 60 and 80°C, or "eco" if that is a choice on your heater/boiler. If the thermostat is set to under 60°C you risk legionella  to develop. If it is set to high you risk the water to actually boil, which you do not want  That might damage your equipment. Unless you go away for several days it is usually most economical all over to leave the heater/boiler on 24/7. 

Electric used correctly gives you water with stable temperature, and you don't have to worry about gas bottles or gas leaks.

Electric water heaters/boilers comes in a lot of sizes, also very small.And now also as smart-units.

I have lived without gas for more than 60 years. To me it is the gas system that seems complicated. 😊

Hi Bibba

Electric boilers have an internal thermostat that prevent the water from actually boiling for obvious safety reasons. The manual thermostat is to allow you to choose a temperature lower than 80.

Also, your comment makes no allowance for different electric tarrifs - I have my boiler timed to come on only in cheap rate - which for me is €0.05 per kWh as opposed to €0.16 otherwise! And modern boilers have good insulation.

Cheers

Steve