Immersion heaters.

[Moon bunny]

"New house" is almost livable in, except that it has one of those old fashioned "fires with a boiler" in the kitchen for hot water. It seems to take all day just to heat enough water to have a bath. The long term, i.e. by summer, plan is to fit a gas boiler, as a stop gap the hot tank has a plug which I believe is for an immersion heater, also the cable to the fuse box works. So are immersion heaters easy to fit? Are they all standard sizes?

 

[Archie_tect]

Should be.

 

[Brains]

They are, but I would strongly suggest this is not a DIY job. 240 volts and water can be a lethal mix.

 

[Night Train]

They are, but I would strongly suggest this is not a DIY job. 240 volts and water can be a lethal mix.

This^^^^
At the very least you would need to make sure all the pipework is cross bonded to current electrical regs.

I would recommend getting an electrician in to do the job, and test that it is all safe.

There are usually two lengths of immersion element, a short one for use in the side of the tank, or a longer one to use in the top of the tank, depending on where the spigot is.

 

[Sandra6]

Also, immersion heaters are massively expensive, and you only get as much hot water as the tank will hold - which isn't always enough to fill a bath.

 

[Archie_tect]

Good back-up though if your boiler goes off one Saturday night or Christmas Eve.