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If you have gas heating but with an electric element in it......
Then buy a whole new tank...get a plumber to fit it....and a new element along with it
The latest tanks have double coils inside for the hot water and the speed it heats...particularly when a new boiler joins it... Now or future....is impressive.
I had mine changed several years ago....and had the boiler changed two years later
The sheer volume of chalk in the tank was unreal
Trying to avoid s new tank, but if it comes to that, I'll be fitting it myself!
I really need to fit a water softener, but I'm a bit short of space under the sink where he main water supply comes in.
The immersion works, but it is furred up (judging by the noise)
I really want a tank with a heating coil and top and bottom immersion heaters, but I think I'd have to have that made to order.
You could try one of the magnetic water softeners. In my last house (built it myself) I had two 200L copper tanks, one downstairs and one upstairs linked together in a loop. The bottom one was heated by the log burner and the upstairs by immersion heater. I had magnetic water softeners strapped to the cold water inlet pipes of the bottom tank and one on the outlet to domestic hot water on the top tank. I also had one on the rising main and in 13 years never had a scale problem anywhere.
As for twin immersion heaters, there are plenty on the market just like the one you describe - in my bottom tank I had one immersion and two heating coils, in the top one I had two immersions, one in the tank bottom for economy 7 heating and one in the top for fast hot water top up.
I'ne never seen a convincing explanation of how those magnetic conditioners work. They don't soften water in the way a chemical ion exchange resin does, but are claimed to change the composition of the hardness so it doesn't form hard scale. But I've never seen an a convincing explanation how. But thank you for the info about hot water tanks in general. :)
And just found this site
http://www.gasapplianceguide.co.uk/D...IRECT_CYLINDER
which allows the tank to be built to a custom spec, allowing the fittings and connections to be placed so that the cylinder is a direct replacement. Makes the plumbing simpler!