The hot water and heating pitfalls that installers can help home renovators avoid
Andrew Ogden, Technical Director at Kingspan Water & Energy - Hot Water Storage, shares his views on the hottest home improvement trends...
...along with the associated hot water and heating pitfalls that installers can help their customers avoid.
The news that there’s a 36% growth in the amount spent by UK homeowners on home improvements compared to pre-pandemic levels1 won’t be a surprise to every booked-out plumbing and heating engineer or bathroom installer.
But what are people spending their money on, and what implications does that have for their home’s hot water and heating?
Unsurprisingly, kitchens and bathrooms remain popular home renovations, but the scale of upgrades is increasing. Average spend on remodelling a kitchen has risen by 15% from 2019 to 2020 to reach £11,500; for bathrooms that figure is up 20% to £5,0001. The story is similar in Ireland, where almost a quarter of home renovators spent between €5,000-20,000 on improvements in the first year of the pandemic2.
It’s clear from these figures that many homeowners are thinking big.
With many people spending more time at home in the last two years, what householders need from their homes has changed. This has resulted in a well-publicised race for space, highlighted as the number one priority in The Rated People Home Improvement Trends Report 20213. Although some have scratched the space itch by moving to bigger properties, fuelling a housing boom, repurposing or increasing space in an existing home has been the chosen option for many.
Popular home renovation trends
Of course, many home remodelling projects need plumbing and heating work to make the homeowner’s vision a reality. That’s borne out in the figures too – 47% of 2020 home renovations involved hiring a plumber1.
Examples of that trend in action include a bedroom or office loft conversion with a new en-suite shower room, an extension for a kitchen that includes a new utility or boot room, a bathroom remodel featuring a rainfall shower for an ultimate spa-like experience, or a ground floor office extension with an add-on of a downstairs loo and sink.
Making sure the hot water and heating system is up to the job
There’s a good chance that a renovation project on this scale will result in either more hot water outlets, more space, more rooms to heat, or a combination of all three.
For the installer, this should prompt the question: is the existing hot water and heating system capable for meeting the demands it could face?
This is where an installer can really add value. For the homeowner, this may be the first time they’ve ever had an extension built or upgraded their bathroom, and there could well be hot water and heating system considerations that haven’t crossed their mind.
The installer can be the customer’s hero if they can understand their needs, plan for, and resolve any such issues before they arise.
Key hot water and heating considerations
Understanding a homeowner’s needs, the space they will have available and future plans will help define the best solutions for their hot water and heating. For example:
How is the home used? Are people at home all day, do children or other visitors stay often at weekends? This will help guide how much hot water will be used, if several people are likely to be using hot water at the same time, and where smart controls or a smart immersion heater can add value.
Is low water pressure an issue? This needs to be considered, particularly if the existing heating comes from a combi boiler and you’re adding bathrooms or other hot water outlets in – for example – a new utility room.
Research carried out by the Hot Water Association (HWA)4 with 300 householders in new-build properties revealed 26% of them lost hot water pressure when they used more than one hot water outlet at a time, particularly in showers and upstairs bathrooms. Of those, 72% had a combi boiler.
What’s the spec of new bathroom and kitchen hot water outlets? Homeowners may not have considered that not all taps and shower types work with a combi boiler. That lovely rainfall shower may unwittingly end up more of a light drizzle …
Given the answers to the above, is the existing combi boiler - or hot water cylinder - up to the job? If more water outlets are being added, it may be appropriate to recommend an upgrade from a combi boiler to an unvented hot water cylinder. Cylinders can handle multiple uses of hot water at the same time without loss of pressure. Similarly, it’s worth sense-checking that any existing cylinder will have enough hot water storage capacity to meet the demands of a larger home. A home of up to four bedrooms with one bathroom and one en-suite would need at least a 150-litre indirect cylinder. If using a direct model, the capacity required goes up to 210 or even 250 litres5.
Are the main hot water components in the best place and space? Can that new bathroom really work with the current boiler location and still comply with Building Regs? Or would it be better for the boiler to be moved into another room or an unconverted loft? Similarly, installers can advise customers on hot water cylinders that make the most efficient use of their airing cupboard or loft space: such as those with an in-built thermal expansion vessel, or slimline and horizontal versions.
Will any radiators give off the right amount of heat where rooms have been extended or reconfigured? Customers may need additional radiators, or ones that will give off more British Thermal Units (BTUs) if the amount of space they’re heating has changed.
Is this a one-off renovation project, or are future renovations likely in years to come? For example, the customer might have a three-year plan to replace their roof and add solar panels. In which case you might want to start planning now where a twin coil hot water cylinder might go. Or, if you’re quoting on a ground floor project but know there’s plans for a new upstairs en-suite, there may be prep that could be done now – getting pipework in place, for example – that could make that next renovation easier.
Summary
People’s opportunities to spend hard-earned cash – for example on holidays or entertainment – have diminished or been made harder by the pandemic. This seems likely to continue well into 2022, meaning the trend to spend on home improvements shows no sign of abating.
These renovations can be a huge investment for householders, who may not always have the experience or know-how to get them right. Trends for more complex improvements such as fancier kitchens, spa bathrooms and home office spaces therefore present continued opportunities for plumbers, heating engineers and bathroom installers to take the big picture view to help customers avoid hot water and heating pitfalls, both now and in the future.
Sources:
https://st.hzcdn.com/static/econ/UK2021HouzzandHome.pdf
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/construction/irish-homeowners-spent-11bn-on-renovations-in-past-year-research-shows-1.4625641
https://www.ratedpeople.com/blog/home-improvement-trends-report
The Hot Water Association conducted a Heating and Hot Water Satisfaction online Panelbase survey with over 300 householders in new-build homes (2010 onwards).
British Standard BS 6700 recommendation for domestic hot water storage.