would you say these are working? 31 December 2012 at 11:07AM in House buying, renting & selling 3 replies 706 views

atarisrocks

i have 3 electric radiators (so old they are yellow) 1 only half the panel heats up and the other 2 doesnt work on 5 of the settings out of 6 so we have the choice of boiling hot or off. also on all 3 the timer doesnt work so we have top manually turn it on and off at the wall.

we been told as they turn on nothing needs fixing.
does the heating just have to turn on to be called working or does it have to be fully functional?

in the kitchen we only have luke warm water (28c last time checked) come out the tap so have to boils the kettle to wash up. the plumber came out and said the problem is the heater is so old it doesnt get the right pressure anymore to provide hot water in the kitchen.
the landlord knows about this but says as we get heated water once again nothing needs fixing.
is there a minimum temperature the water must come out as to be called hot water?

tim123456789

atarisrocks wrote: »

i have 3 electric radiators (so old they are yellow) 1 only half the panel heats up and the other 2 doesnt work on 5 of the settings out of 6 so we have the choice of boiling hot or off. also on all 3 the timer doesnt work so we have top manually turn it on and off at the wall.

we been told as they turn on nothing needs fixing.
does the heating just have to turn on to be called working or does it have to be fully functional?

in the kitchen we only have luke warm water (28c last time checked) come out the tap so have to boils the kettle to wash up. the plumber came out and said the problem is the heater is so old it doesnt get the right pressure anymore to provide hot water in the kitchen.
the landlord knows about this but says as we get heated water once again nothing needs fixing.
is there a minimum temperature the water must come out as to be called hot water?

Thermostats on electric heaters are very unreliable so manually having to turn a heater on/off to regulate the temperature in the room is normal.

I doubt that not having a working timer is a sufficient failure to be able to force the LL to replace.

Is cold water in the kitchen really that big a probblem, it's only for washing up, presumably your bath/shower is hot enough.

Though having said that, an electric wall heater is only going to cost the LL about 30 quid to replace, so you obviously have a very lazy LL,. This could be more of a problem if bigger things break in the future.

tim

G_M

Are the rads the only heating in the house? If so, they should work.
Is the kitchen water heater the only hot water heater?

Personally I think the LL should repair/replace both, but it is uncertain whether there is a legal requirement for this. He has a duty "to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water." (Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 ) hence my Qs about alternative sources.

'Proper working order' is undefined, so if heat comes out of the rads (albeit not on a timer/thermostat) it could be argued it works...

Ideally get the LL to agree via friendly negotiation. But follow up with a (still friendly) written letter so there is a record.

Ultimately if no joy, you'll have to contact Environmental Health who may have their own interpretation, but can take enforcement action.

But LLs don't like this so make sure you have a secure tenancy (ie 12 month contract!) or you might sudenly get a S21 Notice!

candycow

My concern on the water is that it is not reaching a sufficient temperature to kill any germs, not only does that have implications for keyring your environment clean, but also for possible bacteria growing in the tank. Environmental health might be a good place to contact to ask questions.