Hot water boiler on all time or just when needed?

But if you use the superb site facilities for showering it saves using your own hot water and filling/emptying tanks so often.

Our hot water is instant so we dont waste water by running off cold and have no need to boil a kettle for dishes, or to wash our hands in luke warm water. 

this thread isnt about site showers is it?....nice though they may be..

however, would i want to get out of bed, get dressed, walk to a shower block (certainly not this past fortnight in our interesting english weather..needing an outdoor coat for the artcic winds and lashing rain/snow) get undressed, shower, get dressed incl said overcoat, return to van, remove overcoat etc....when i can slip out of bed straight into the shower and only get dressed once for breakfast...

what sort of 'instant hot water at each tap' system is available in vans....? some domestic kitchens have them. so, i take it that you dont have an Alde or Truma system like most other vans?

irrespective of what boiler system is used to heat the water, any water in a pipe from that boiler to a tap some distance away will cool if the tap is not used for some time.

perhaps all your water pipes are lagged? 

either way, the OP (like you and i) is at liberty to choose which way they operate their van. i have just provided a little more info to help them make that decision.

as it happens, this past three weeks, i have used the 'leave it on all the time' approach.

i cant say its better or worse, for some it might be more convenient to have the water in the tank hot all the time, for others its not necessary.....for them to choose.....

but once you've had your showers (two in our case) the hot tank will be cold.

so, if it were left on permanently, then each day, the water has to be heated fully from cold (and maintained at that temperature) even though you arent necessarily going to use it.

if the next time you need hot water from the tap is the following morning (we wash up using a kettle) its more efficient to heat it once the next day (morning) than have it heat/cool/heat all day when its not needed.

however, if you wash up from the hot tap, or must have hot water in the washroom sink, then you might as well keep the water boiler on as TW says.

the thing is, as the water in the hot pipe cools quickly after use, it then takes a while for hot water to make the trip from boiler to tap, so when washing hands or doing washing up, much cold water is wasted while waiting for the hot to come through, hence our use of a kettle to wash up, only using whats required.

im happy to wash hands in cold(ish) water.....rather that than watch litres run unnecessarily down the waste...

here endeth the first lesson

just extra info, Corners....no more, no less.

BC we usually switch ours on in the morning and switch of at bedtime or if we leave the van for several hours.  The heating system is quite efficient so doesn't take long to heat from cold

We pay for the electricity, in the pitch fee (that is always higher on a CC site than a commercial site, in our experience of caravan ownership) so we will use it!!  That was the reason for joining the Caravan Club, with 16 amp supplies; the electric ring on the cooker to boil the kettle in place of gas as in our previous motorhome. Full heating throughout the caravan, c/w hot water tank and shower. Why pay for gas when you've paid for the electricity in the pitch fee? 

We have had more nights away over the winter than last summer, so have used the heating.

When the heating is required, it is on all the time on electric. Whilst occupying the caravan we put the temperature up to a comfortable level, turn it down overnight, and down when out for the day. Usually on 1Kw setting, after initial warm up on 2 or sometimes 3Kw.

When hot water only is required, ie in the summer; we only put it on 3Kw to heat sufficiently to shower x3, then turn it off. Takes 20 minutes to heat sufficient quantity of water.

The remaining hot water in the kettle from making a drink, on the electric hob, is used to wash up.

In case readers can't interpret the context of this post, there are some comments in jest 

BC - just do what suits you best. I've given you some info long accepted by the industry, some have given you the benefit of their own experience and some have enjoyed writing.

Only you can decide what's right for you.

must admit we always turned it on when we pitched up and switched it off when we left , it 's what suits you ...............

As the boiler takes about 20 – 30 minutes to get the water hot from cold and I can’t predict exactly when I will need hot water I leave it on all the time. As others have said, the boiler is thermostatically controlled so is not consuming energy all the time.

BC - just do what suits you best. I've given you some info long accepted by the industry, some have given you the benefit of their own experience and some have enjoyed writing.

Only you can decide what's right for you.

hope you enjoyed writing this as much as i enjoyed reading it

We've always switched off things that we are not using. Probably comes from our childhood. I'm not a member of the 'I paid for it so I'm going to use it' brigade. There doesn't seem to be much harm in leaving it switched on so you can make your own mind up.

BC - just do what suits you best. I've given you some info long accepted by the industry, some have given you the benefit of their own experience and some have enjoyed writing.

Only you can decide what's right for you.

hope you enjoyed writing this as much as i enjoyed reading it