A long time ago before the age of piped water, cave men had to bathe in the rivers and lakes, that is if they even bathed at all and unfortunately there is no-one around that I can ask.

A few centuries later and houses had water that could be pulled out of a well and carted to a receptacle which was then used to wash the body, either while the water was still cold or had been heated up on a fire. People used to bath infrequently because it was too much effort to boil up lots of kettles of water and carry them to the bath tub, fill it up and then when it had been used to wash someone, carry it all back out again and dispose of it. What a chore.

Then came the advent of piped water. Luxury – you could now have a tap inside the house that when opened allowed a certain amount of water to flow into the receptacle placed conveniently beneath it. It still needed heating though and there were many ways of doing this. All rather time consuming. The most common method was to have a large tank situated in a corner somewhere out of the way that was filled with water, heated up by electricity or gas, geothermal power, wind, or one of many other ways.

The disadvantages of this large tank, apart from the obvious one of the amount of space required to stand it in, are many. The water in the tank is always needing to be heated up. Whether you use any of it or not, what is sitting there waiting to be used is going to eventually go cold unless it is constantly being topped up by the energy source. This means that if you do not use it for a few days, you are paying for the energy to keep it hot regardless.

Now we have piped water that can be heated at the same time as it is coming out the tap. It can also be heated by the energy means mentioned above but there is no need for the large tank that requires a big space to sit in. The water will come out hot almost as soon as you turn on the tap because it will be heated right near to where you want it and instantaneously. This means you will never run out of hot water because it will always be ready just to heat up the instant you want it. It also means you are not keeping a large tank constantly on standby for whenever you decide you want to use it. There is also no hot water left in the pipes because all the water will be cold until just before it comes out the tap.

Instant hot water or stored hot water? This is the question on many people’s lips. You really need to look at all the advantages and the disadvantages of both systems and decide which suits your requirements and space the best. What is right for one family or house may not be right for another. Maybe you are looking for a commercial solution. I hope you will find all the answers to your questions and concerns right here.

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