Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

twoaspensimages t1_iuo6hfn wrote

Reply to comment by SomeoneSomewhere1984 in Local council rationing hot water and heating as cost of living bites by Sirico

I'm not sure if they are a thing over there. In the US heat pump hot water heaters are the way to go. And before someone says "what about cold climates?" I have one in my own home in northern Colorado. Yes, it steals heat from the house in the winter. It's not that many more BTUs for the air source to push in. In a 2500 sq/ft house I can't tell the difference before and after on the heating side. It got lost in the noise. Meanwhile the water heater costs me $76US a year for a family of three.

1

SomeoneSomewhere1984 t1_iuobe4f wrote

Newer apartments don't have a hot water system in the house at all, hot water systems are often centralized for apartment complexes, blocks, or even neighborhoods, and residents just get a bill for their hot water usage. That will make switching over to renewables easier because you can switch thousands of houses seamlessly by making a change in one place, but that isn't what the UK is doing here.

Many older individual apartments that were built before hot water usage was normal use a gas or electric instantaneous water heaters for each appliance or room that needs hot water. Instantaneous hot water systems are a lot more efficient than typical large tank American hot water systems because they don't need to keep water hot when it isn't in use.

1