[G & M]

Does anyone use an immersion heater to preheat the water before they set off to work or heat it overnight and if so how is it working out?  How long does it take to heat 650ltrs of water and does the water stay hot enough all day?

[Jeff Brimble]

The water will stay above 25 degrees if preheated  to  38 with a little insulation. A  towel rail heater is quite good for maintaing/tpping up  the heat when needed rather than an immersion.

[matt]

i might go down this route, insulate the tank in the van

our hot water cylinder has the water heated for 2 ours in the morning and stay hot till its heated again for 2 hours at night, that has a bit of foam insulation around

[seandyer2003]

got a heater in the trailer that comes on at about 4 degrees to heat up trailer in case of freezing, but still if really cold its the hose that freezes!

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I was doing it for a while.  2 hours of the immersion would get the temperature up to about 32C.  I've stopped it at the moment as the heater packed up.  I think the best route is a gas heater in the van.  To run the immersion for a couple of hours will only cost a couple of quid but you only get luke warm water.  I;ll do it again in the bitter cold as I believe any increase in temperature is a benefit, but if I has a van instead of a truck I'd go down the lpg boiler heater route.

Simon.

www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=51045.0

[G & M]

Thank guys, I am going to buy a new van and I was thinking of putting in two 400ltr upright tanks and insulating them. I have a gas heater in the van I use at the moment(thanks to Nathanael's know how)   but was thinking that an immersion might be a good way of doing it if the water stayed hot. Is the towel rail electrically heated?