Insulating the water tanks in your home is a simple, affordable way to save on energy costs and minimise your home's heat loss.
Hot water tanks
Your hot water tank will supply your home and family with all the hot water they need. If you don’t already have insulation on your hot water tank, you should make this a priority. It’s easy to do the work yourself, will cost less than £20 and save you around £25 per year on your heating bills.
- Go to your local hardware store and buy a British Standard tank jacket.
- Wrap the jacket around the cylinder so it covers as much of the tank as possible.
- Don't tie the jacket too tightly as this will reduce the effectiveness of the insulation.
If the hot water tank is being used to heat an airing cupboard, any insulation will reduce its effectiveness. Un-insulated pipes will naturally release some heat, but you may need to slightly open the cylinder jacket to allow heat into the cupboard.
If you're considering replacing your hot water tank, cylinders are now available with factory applied foam insulation, which is considerably more effective than an insulating jacket.
Cold water tanks
If you have a gravity-fed water system, you will probably have a cold water tank that feeds water to your hot water tank and all the cold water taps in your home. This will generally be located in your loft.
Cold water storage tanks must also be completely insulated against the cold. The best way to do this is to buy a jacket. The jacket should extend down to the insulation on the loft floor – additional loft insulation matting can be used to fill any gaps.
Consideration must be made for water tanks in the loft that include an overflow return. Provision must be made for the overflow to feed back into the tank; this is usually achieved by a funnel contraption fitted through the top cover of the tank.