April 25th, 2018 by Chris Chapman

Water Heater Ideas for Home or Work

Whether we’re at home or at work, enjoying hot water is something we expect on a daily basis. The problem is, using hot water can get pretty expensive pretty fast, especially if you use a lot of it. If you live in a busy home, or work in a large company, the cost of all the hot water you’ll use could be building up without you realising! Our quick guide will give you a few tips on how to get hot water cheaply and quickly, so read on!

Catering Urns

The Swan 10L Catering Urn If you’re a business, this one’s pretty much a no-brainer. A catering urn takes a little while to heat up depending on the model, and how much water is in it, so it might not seem like a particularly energy-efficient method at first. However, it’s much easier to keep water at a set temperature than it is to constantly keep re-boiling it, so a catering urn can be far more energy efficient (not to mention quicker and more practical) than using a kettle repeatedly. For more detailed advice on which catering urn is the one for you, click HERE to read our in-depth article on them!

DIY

If you fancy getting your hands dirty, there are any number of ways to create a cheap water heater. They’re not necessarily quick, and they may not heat your water to boiling point, but they can give you a steady stream of hot water for use in the garden, or for washing the car! One simple approach is to create a solar water heater using a wooden board, some tinfoil (or some old mirrors) and a long length of black hose. Wrap the tinfoil around the board and attach the hose to it in a coil shape. And… that’s it! As the water travels through the hose, sunlight will be absorbed into the black material and heat it up. By the time the water comes out of the other end, it’ll be nice and hot! Depending on the length of the hose and the amount of sunlight, your temperature will vary, but it’s very possible to get your water to around 60-70C. As it’s solar energy, it’s completely free to heat your water, although you will need some DIY skills to pull it off!

The Old-Fashioned Way

Sometimes, the old fashioned water heaters are just what you need! If you’ve got a stove or a fire around winter time, pop a saucepan of water on top of it. The water will slowly heat up and will eventually become hot enough to use for the washing up, or for a hot water bottle! It’s certainly not quick, and it can take over an hour for the water to heat up depending on how much you’re going for, but it’s a great way to avoid using more electricity than you need to.

Instant Water Heater

Perfect 35 Undersink Instant Water Heater, 3.5KW If those last two methods aren’t quick enough for you, an instant water heater is an amazing and versatile option for heating up your water. You can hook them up above or below your sink, at home or at work, and they do exactly what it says on the tin – they give you instant hot water! Instant water heaters use a heating element to warm up water while it’s travelling through the pipe to your sink. This means not only are you never waiting for hot water, you also only heat up the water that you use. Unlike with a regular boiler system, which heats up a tank of hot water and is prone to running out with regular use, an instant water heater will never run out of hot water! This is why they’re often called “tankless water heaters” or “tankless boilers”. The convenience and small size of instant water heaters makes them ideal for remote areas, such as garages or sheds. Installing one is a simple job for a qualified plumber and after that you’ll have a waste free, stress free supply of hot water! You can even find one that’s disguised as a tap! For more info on our range of instant water heaters, click HERE. You can browse at your leisure and use the live chat function for personal advice about which water heating solution works best for you.