HW / Boiler Assistance

[Ando]

Hello, I’m trying to get my head around the boiler / HW set up in house (moved in at turn of year) prior to the price increase. 

When we moved in an issue with the mains fed shower was that the temp could never be altered - it was hot enough to shower in but couldn’t cool down or heat up - the dial made no difference on the shower itself. The flow on this shower is high - it’s v powerful. 
 

A plumber came out and I thought he had fixed issue - however it turned out all that had happened was the electric immersion switch had been left on. This led to roasting hot water 24/7, the temp dial on shower was working as it should, and a large electrical bill. 

Since turning that off and using timer for hot water to come on / off from boiler - I can never seem to get the water to the level it was through the electrical immersion. I can get the shower hot, but the dial to vary temp has minimal impact. 
 

Have now delved into instruction manuals for the boiler and HW tank but a little lost and have no idea what optimal settings should be for my usage (2 x morning showers, 2 x evening showers and a bath daily). 
 

Thought I would post here prior to getting plumber out this week, and tips / advice greatly appreciated. 
 

Have attached some photos of HW tank / boiler / boiler settings from manual etc. I’m also interested to know what the small tank on wall is next to HW one and also the thing up above it all near the eaves. 
 

 

 

[TonyT]

What’s the temp set on the dial on the cylinder/hot water tank?

[Ando]

21 minutes ago, TonyT said:

What’s the temp set on the dial on the cylinder/hot water tank?

60 degrees 

[TonyT]

Any problems with the hot taps temperature  in the bathroom next to the shower?

[JohnMo]

Your boiler flow has to be higher than the set temperature of the cylinder.  So if you want 60 degs in the cylinder, the flow temp coming from the boiler will have to higher.  That the first thing to check.  If the flow temp is 50 the cylinder will only get to 50 if direct or lower if indirect (heats via a cylinder coil).

 

[Ando]

The temp coming out the tap is 47. I have no idea what it should be. 
The boiler flow temp is set to 74 so shouldn’t be a problem there. The max it can be set to is 82. 

[Ando]

On 28/08/2022 at 12:23, JohnMo said:

Your boiler flow has to be higher than the set temperature of the cylinder.  So if you want 60 degs in the cylinder, the flow temp coming from the boiler will have to higher.  That the first thing to check.  If the flow temp is 50 the cylinder will only get to 50 if direct or lower if indirect (heats via a cylinder coil).

 

Turned boiler up for todays hot water and had timer on for only 30 mins - did the trick. Shower nice and hot this morning and again this afternoon. 
 

My understanding following a long day of searching this forum / googling / you tubing yesterday is as you say high setting on boiler for efficient HW heating. But the opposite for the central heating system - a low setting for lower flow temp to avoid cycling (literally the only way I have ever used central heating previously). 
 

I don’t think my boiler is compatible with the clever systems that allow HW priority / load bearing / weather monitoring  etc.. so need to now try figure out if any savings from that technology make it worthwhile to replace the boiler with one that is compatible.