Boiling hot Water from cold taps?!

peachyprice

jhsam wrote: »

we have just been using the +1 boost on the boiler (I put it on when in from work and it seem's to be enough for 2 quick showers and 1 bath (i make the kids share) and a bowl of washing up so we will just keep on doing this till we can get someone out for the Immersion heater

You should be able to set the timer on the boiler just to heat the water. We have this on for a few hours in the evening and a few hours in the morning which gives plenty of hot water for 4 adults and a child. The boost/override button is only if you run out of hot water outside of these times. This is completely independent of the immersion.

So it's a plumber that I need then and not a boiler engineer? << Kind of answered my own question, since the boiler seems to be working as it should, i.e heating is working baring 2 rads and the water heats when it's boosted, so yes I will need a Plumber won't I. This is going to cost isn't it!

If the timer on the boiler isn't working so that you can get enough hot water for your daily needs you will need a heating engineer. If it's just the immersion you will need a plumber, but there is no reason whatsoever why you can't just turn the immersion off and leave it for now, it's not something that needs fixing urgently and should only be there as a back-up if the boiler breaks down, not to provide daily hot water. Fixing the immersion shouldn't be too costly at all.

peachyprice

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

I thought all taps were supposed to dispense potable water, so direct from the main rather than from a tank. Or is this a modern thing (or of course I could be entirely mistaken).

I've never lived in a house with all cold water taps fed from the mains, only the kitchen tap.

Biggles wrote: »

The regular setup is mains water direct to all cold taps - but especially the kitchen tap. Any tap fed from the loft tank would probably have to be permanently marked 'Not drinking water'?

Nope, never had any taps marked as such.

macman

Why do you need BG? There is no fault with your boiler-the only problem you have is a failed thermostat on the immersion heater.
However, BG will doubtless find a lot wrong with it, and tell you parts are not available, so they can give you a quote for a nice new one (typically at a 40% premium). BG pay a referral commission for this, BTW.

Owain_Moneysaver

If you need any tradesman it's an electrician to replace the immersion heater thermostat.

In 99% of cases this is a simple job with no need to drain down the system as the stat simply slides into a pocket inside the heater.

Get a new one with a secondary overheat cutout requiring a manual reset.

A baby died in 2006 from this exact cause.

The cylinder thermostat (strapped on the outside of the cylinder, which controls the gas boiler) should also be checked for setting and safe operation.

Alfrescodave

I'm amazed at some of the comments regarding "all taps to dispense potable water" and " taps fed from loft tank to be labelled -not drinking water" Is this a wind up ? or is it troll talk?

Owain_Moneysaver

Alfrescodave wrote: »

I'm amazed at some of the comments regarding "all taps to dispense potable water" and " taps fed from loft tank to be labelled -not drinking water" Is this a wind up ? or is it troll talk?

No, it's people who aren't used to any domestic plumbing installed before about 2000 :-)

Biggles

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

No, it's people who aren't used to any domestic plumbing installed before about 2000 :-)

I guess you mean 'installed after about 2000', to which the answer is no, I'm not. It does look like some new installations can be the indirect system, where cold water is supplied from the loft tank, which would explain why the upstairs cold taps could get hot. But I certainly wouldn't want to brush my teeth in such a bathroom. Just think of Basil Fawlty and the dead pigeons in the tank....

Ectophile

Biggles wrote: »

I guess you mean 'installed after about 2000', to which the answer is no, I'm not. It does look like some new installations can be the indirect system, where cold water is supplied from the loft tank, which would explain why the upstairs cold taps could get hot. But I certainly wouldn't want to brush my teeth in such a bathroom. Just think of Basil Fawlty and the dead pigeons in the tank....

What about houses built in the 1960's?

I grew up in a house built around 1964. That had a cold water tank in the loft, and that tank fed all cold water taps except the one in the kitchen. That's the way it was originally installed.

The house I live in now was built in 1968. This also has a cold water tank feeding all the cold taps, except the one in the kitchen.

It's the standard arrangement for "conventional" hot water systems with hot and cold water tanks.

It's only the modern combi boilers or sealed pressurised hot water systems where there is no cold tank and all the cold taps are fed from the mains.

ed110220

Ectophile wrote: »

What about houses built in the 1960's?

I grew up in a house built around 1964. That had a cold water tank in the loft, and that tank fed all cold water taps except the one in the kitchen. That's the way it was originally installed.

The house I live in now was built in 1968. This also has a cold water tank feeding all the cold taps, except the one in the kitchen.

It's the standard arrangement for "conventional" hot water systems with hot and cold water tanks.

It's only the modern combi boilers or sealed pressurised hot water systems where there is no cold tank and all the cold taps are fed from the mains.

Not necessarily, our house from the 1940s does not appear to have ever had cold water from the tank. It only provided pressure for the hot water cylinder, the cold taps being fed from the mains.

srm1

Ectophile wrote: »

What about houses built in the 1960's?

I grew up in a house built around 1964. That had a cold water tank in the loft, and that tank fed all cold water taps except the one in the kitchen. That's the way it was originally installed.

The house I live in now was built in 1968. This also has a cold water tank feeding all the cold taps, except the one in the kitchen.

It's the standard arrangement for "conventional" hot water systems with hot and cold water tanks.

It's only the modern combi boilers or sealed pressurised hot water systems where there is no cold tank and all the cold taps are fed from the mains.

We have a combi boiler central heating system from around 1995.

Cold tap in the kitchen = mains cold water.
Hot taps, kitchen & bathroom = hot water from the combi boiler.
Cold taps in the bathroom & feeds to the toilet = from a loft tank.

So agree!