BEAMA

Turning a cylinder thermostat to a higher setting will not make the water heat up any faster. How quickly the water heats up depends on the design of the heating system, for example, the size of boiler and the heat exchanger inside the cylinder.

 

The water heating will not work if a time switch or programmer has switched it off. And the cylinder thermostat will not always switch the boiler off, because the boiler sometimes still needs to heat the radiators.

 

Cylinder thermostats are usually fitted between one quarter and one third of the way up the cylinder. The cylinder thermostat will have a temperature scale marked on it, and it should be set at between 60ºC and 65ºC, then left to do its job. The temperature needs to be this high to kill off harmful bacteria in the water, but you should note that this is still a scalding temperature and the hot water should be mixed with cold water for safe bathing, washing etc. For extra safety consider installing a thermostatic mixing valve which will automatically ensure that hot water is at a safe temperature.

 

If you have a boiler control thermostat, it should always be set to a higher temperature than that of the cylinder thermostat. In most boilers, a single boiler thermostat controls the temperature of water sent to both the cylinder and radiators, although in some there are two separate boiler thermostats.