How Many Showers

[baldlimey]

Hi,

 

We have a 55 litre calorifier but we barely get one shower out of it, this is heating off either the stove (lockgate) or immersion.

 

Is this just the way it is or does it sound like a problem?

 

It is mounted horizontally so presumably the incoming cold mixes quickly with the outgoing hot but this morning (for example) I ran out of hot during the first shower.

 

If is does sound like a problem anyone got any ideas?

 

Thank (yet again)

 

Peter

[ditchcrawler]

Hi,

 

We have a 55 litre calorifier but we barely get one shower out of it, this is heating off either the stove (lockgate) or immersion.

 

Is this just the way it is or does it sound like a problem?

 

It is mounted horizontally so presumably the incoming cold mixes quickly with the outgoing hot but this morning (for example) I ran out of hot during the first shower.

 

If is does sound like a problem anyone got any ideas?

 

Thank (yet again)

 

Peter

We have a vertical calorifier and the wife and I both have a shower each morning when we get up, that's water that was heated the day before and some had been used for washing up during the evening. I do wonder with a horizontal one, is it mounted in the right plane with the heating coil at the bottom. and hot take off at the top.

[NB Willawaw]

Do you normally get more showers out of it or are you leaving the shower to run longer ?

 

It might be 55 Litres but I guess it depends on how much water you use ??

 

I'm sure I use more than that as I like long showers.

 

Also, is your calorifier mounted in he engine space (i.e. outside)

[Naughty Cal]

Our calorifier is small (the water tanks holds 16 gallon and the calorifier is 10 gallon 45 litres) however we can still get two showers and wash pots whilst having a little hot water left over for the breakfast washing up. That said our hot water gets very very hot and the shower head (mixer tap type) is the type where you have to press the lever down to squirt the water (think posh water hose rose) so the water isnt left running whilst lathering up.

[koukouvagia]

Hi,

 

We have a 55 litre calorifier but we barely get one shower out of it, this is heating off either the stove (lockgate) or immersion.

 

Is this just the way it is or does it sound like a problem?

 

It is mounted horizontally so presumably the incoming cold mixes quickly with the outgoing hot but this morning (for example) I ran out of hot during the first shower.

 

If is does sound like a problem anyone got any ideas?

 

Thank (yet again)

 

Peter

 

We've got a 55 litre vertical calorifier which takes about 2 hours to get hot. We usually leave the diesel stove on tickover over night and the water is piping hot in the morning. I don't know how long it takes to empty a calorifier of this size but we always have plenty of hot water left after a couple of showers.

 

Are you sure the hot water from the fire is circulating properly through the calorifier? Does it make any difference if you switch off the radiators? Is there an airlock somewhere? (NB there are previous threads dealing with airlocks - can't find them at the moment, though.) Is the fire producing enough heat this cold weather - things do take quite a bit longer to get nice and warm.

[nb Innisfree]

In winter we finish heating our internal 50lt cal about 7pm and if we close coil valve to prevent back syphon we have two piping hot showers next morning + some hot water for the rest of the day. If we leave valve open then we get two reasonably hot showers.

[NB Willawaw]

I read somewhere that 35 litres is the optimum shower, but I don't know how they get to that figure.

[Naughty Cal]

I read somewhere that 35 litres is the optimum shower, but I don't know how they get to that figure.

 

Depending on how hot your water gets though that wont all be from the calorifier as it will be mixed with cold from the water tank.

[steelaway]

Hi,

 

We have a 55 litre calorifier but we barely get one shower out of it, this is heating off either the stove (lockgate) or immersion.

 

Is this just the way it is or does it sound like a problem?

 

It is mounted horizontally so presumably the incoming cold mixes quickly with the outgoing hot but this morning (for example) I ran out of hot during the first shower.

 

If is does sound like a problem anyone got any ideas?

 

Thank (yet again)

 

Peter

 

 

Hi

 

You will only get hot water above the source of the heat.

If your heating coil is high in the tank it will only heat the top half of it.

If the immersion heater is 12" from the top you will only get 12" of hot water.

Also consider the ambient temperature at the moment, the cold water to the shower (& calorifier) is going to be very cold.

 

Alex

[Laurie Booth]

I have a 10ltr tank. Takes 15/20 mins to reach very hot !! with the engine running. This gives two showers no problem, because you have to mix in the cold water, making the tank in effect 30 ltr.

As we are travelling along we could have a shower every 15 mins.

I lot of people make the mistake of getting a large tank, you don't need it.

[zenataomm]

How Many Showers? ............................ one plastic bowl in the galley sink!

[Grace and Favour]

How Many Showers? ............................ one plastic bowl in the galley sink!

 

You were lucky - - - -

 

Our dad used to beat us with iron bars . . . .. . . . .. .

[becks101]

We have a horizontal calorifier in the engine bay, but are having problems keeping the hot water hot. We heat it via the Alde 3010, which is on for an hour in the morning, and there's enough hot then - just - for two showers. But by evening, there is absolutely nothing to do the washing-up with.

 

Does it sound like a problem, or is it just something to live with?

[NB Willawaw]

In the type of weather we have at the moment, heat is lost very fast from calorifiers in engine bays (e.g. cruiser sterns).

 

When we had our boat build, we wanted to cruise most of the year, so we had the calorifier, batteries, tanks and pipework all fitted inside.

The only thing "outside" is the engine and diesel heater because of the risk of fumes.

 

Its paid dividends as the only thing that freezes up is the waterpoint taps !!

Edited January 7, 2010 by NB Willawaw

[Laurie Booth]

How Many Showers? ............................ one plastic bowl in the galley sink!

Well enought to wash my teeth

[carlt]

I used to have a 5 litre killaspray pump-up bottle, with a shower head attached to the spray hose, when I first moved on to Le Shack.

 

It worked fine but I decided to upgrade to a bilge pump in a bucket, after a while.

 

Note! do not use second hand killaspray bottles.

[ChrisPy]

You will only get hot water above the source of the heat.

If your heating coil is high in the tank it will only heat the top half of it.

not quite right.

it is true that a heater fitted at the top of the tank (coil or immersion) will heat the top of the tank first, and a heater fitted at the bottom will heat the whole tank evenly, but even with a top coil, if you keep applying heat the whole contents will get hot.

my vertical twin coil calorifier has the engine water coil at the bottom, the Squirrel stove loop coil at the top and a top mounted immersion heater.

[Swallowman]

We have a horizontal calorifier in the engine bay, but are having problems keeping the hot water hot. But by evening, there is absolutely nothing to do the washing-up with.

 

Does it sound like a problem, or is it just something to live with?

Is it a vertical type that someone has mounted on its side?

[alan_fincher]

We have a horizontal calorifier in the engine bay, but are having problems keeping the hot water hot. We heat it via the Alde 3010, which is on for an hour in the morning, and there's enough hot then - just - for two showers. But by evening, there is absolutely nothing to do the washing-up with.

 

Does it sound like a problem, or is it just something to live with?

Is it a two coil calorifier, with one coil heated by the Alde, and one by the engine, (if run ?).

 

If so is it possible that the circuit connected to the engine is thermosyphoning, and trying to heat up a cold engine, at the expense of taking heat from the calorifier ?

 

These are the kinds of problems that sometimes have to be solved either by adding some kind of non-return flap valve, (or sometimes just introducing high and low spots in the pipe to prevent thermosyphoning.

 

We used our boat with a horizontal calorifier on New Years day, then left the boat unheated before returning over 48 hours later. Although it couldn't have been described at "hot" after that time, there was still plenty of "warm" water there. A calorifier should not lose all it's heat between morning and evening, I would say, but I agree that if it's in an engine bay under a cruiser or semi trad stern it will do so faster than were it "indoors".

[sharpness]

We have a horizontal calorifier in the engine bay, but are having problems keeping the hot water hot. We heat it via the Alde 3010, which is on for an hour in the morning, and there's enough hot then - just - for two showers. But by evening, there is absolutely nothing to do the washing-up with.

If youve heated the calorifier with the Alde for an hour, ready for your 2 showers, unless you put more heat in from the Alde after your showers, you've got no chance with the washing up. The hot water used for the shower will have been replaced by cold and in the engine space what little heat was left in the calorifier will have dissipated by washing up time. If it hasnt then you havent got enough ventilation in your engine space!!

 

Steve

[wrigglefingers]

I used to have a 5 litre killaspray pump-up bottle, with a shower head attached to the spray hose, when I first moved on to Le Shack.

 

It worked fine but I decided to upgrade to a bilge pump in a bucket, after a while.

 

Note! do not use second hand killaspray bottles.

 

Hey Carl,

 

I didn't realise you'd lived on our knackered Dawncraft and had a shower! Still can't work out what's wrong with a Killaspray bottle meself, a 10 litre bottle will do two showers and you can put perfectly judged warm water into it.

[nb Innisfree]

Hey Carl,

 

I didn't realise you'd lived on our knackered Dawncraft and had a shower! Still can't work out what's wrong with a Killaspray bottle meself, a 10 litre bottle will do two showers and you can put perfectly judged warm water into it.

 

No flies on you

 

COAT!

[wrigglefingers]

No flies on you

 

COAT!

 

Nope, still seem to be breathing