help us get hot showers without getting scalded (a thread about boilers and plumbing)

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

the ailing boiler in our flat was recently replaced, and we now have loads of hot water. the trouble is that we have too much of it - basically, if you turn the cold water on all the way, and the hot water on just a touch in the shower, then you get scalded. the only way to get a sensible temperature is to turn the heating on before showering, and then spend five minutes getting the hot tap on as low a level as possible (but not too low, or you only get cold water out). it does seem to be almost binary - there's cold, and scalding. the kitchen taps don't seem to have this problem.

so, the question is - is there anything obvious we could do to sort this out, or do we need to ring the landlord and get a handyman out to do something? will there be anything they can do? i'm utterly ignorant about this sort of thing. it's a worcester 24i junior, if that means anything to anyone - i could stick up a photo of the controls in a minute if that will help...

― toby (tsg20), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:41 (twenty years ago)

I'm sure you can set the temperature on your boiler, although I'm not sure how to do this. I assume you have the manual?

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:44 (twenty years ago)

It should be simple to turn down the temperature if you have access to the boiler. Post a picture if you can't figure it out.

― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:48 (twenty years ago)

thirded on the boiler temp advice. However if that doesn't work it could be a mismatch between the pressures of your hot and cold at the shower mixer. in which case you need to either replace the mixer or add a valve on the pipe leading to the mixer. (If it were a thermostatic shower, then the installer should have re-adjusted the thermostat when he did the boiler)

― Ed (dali), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:52 (twenty years ago)

it could be a mismatch between the pressures of your hot and cold at the shower mixer. in which case you need to either replace the mixer or add a valve on the pipe leading to the mixer. (If it were a thermostatic shower, then the installer should have re-adjusted the thermostat when he did the boiler)

adjusting the boiler temp doesn't seem to make any difference. but this could be it, since i had to replace the shower myself, and did a pretty crappy job (there's still some water that shoots out of where the shower cord connects to the tap), so it could be that maybe? especially considering that i don't know what a shower mixer is/looks like, so i doubt i took this into consideration when replacing the handheld bit and hose...

― colette (a2lette), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:54 (twenty years ago)

there should be a valve on the boiler to adjust the flow of hot water. usually its red.

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:57 (twenty years ago)

Was the old boiler a combi? Your new one is, and combis produce hot water at main pressure (which is why the kitchen tap is fine). So it's very likely that Ed is right, and it's a pressure mismatch.

― spontine (cis), Monday, 25 July 2005 13:31 (twenty years ago)

mains pressure, even.

― spontine (cis), Monday, 25 July 2005 13:34 (twenty years ago)

i think the old one was a combi (does that mean hot water and heat both?), but it wasn't very good and didn't put out much heat or hot water.

so if it's a pressure mismatch, is it easty to fix ourselves, or is this something i should have a professional do?

(sorry to take over from toby, i was the one living there when the shower died and when the boiler was replaced, so figured it'd be easier)

― colette (a2lette), Monday, 25 July 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago)

I'd lean toward getting a professional in, but, er, I'm just like that. Fixing it would probably involve installing a (new?) thermostatic shower valve, and I don't know how easy that is offhand.

― spontine (cis), Monday, 25 July 2005 15:08 (twenty years ago)

Try adjusting the pressure on your boiler up a bit. There should be a lever or screw to enable you to do this. The faster the water travels through your boiler the less hot it will be. I have opposite problem - my shower is too cold unless it's on just a smidgen so the pressure is never great. The guy from British Gas said he always advises people to get an electric shower if they have a combi boiler because you always get these problems.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Monday, 25 July 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)

Why is it that Americans never, ever have to think about these things?

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 25 July 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

"Boilers"?? Do you people live on olde tyme steamers or something?

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 25 July 2005 17:40 (twenty years ago)

A combi boiler is quite exciting. When you turn on the hot tap it whooshes up a blue flame which heats the water as you use it. I assume over there you have magic to do this kind of thing.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Tuesday, 26 July 2005 05:48 (twenty years ago)

Are you just changing the temperature and then immediately trying the water? Or are you changing the temperature and then seeing if it gradually changes? Cuz I think there'd probably be some really hot water still left over.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 26 July 2005 11:40 (twenty years ago)

"Boilers"?? Do you people live on olde tyme steamers or something?

what the buggery do you lot call them, then? this is a potentially ~~dull~~ fascinating new twist on the UK/US cultural divide ...

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 26 July 2005 22:01 (twenty years ago)

It's usually called a "hot water heater" in the US (the redundancy helps us, I guess). This is a resorvoir of water that is maintained at a set temperature rather than an instantaneous heater, which is considered high-tech here.

― nickn (nickn), Tuesday, 26 July 2005 23:23 (twenty years ago)

Actually I spose the new "hi tech" is on-demand water heaters, which is a similar idea to the shower units I saw in the UK but they're stationed out of sight, in the basement or a cabinet, and they're pretty highly powered. For instance, you might put an on-demand heater in only for your steam shower or your jetted tub while running the rest of the house off your old system, so there's never any lack of agua caliente for your luxury baaaahthroom.

― Laurel, Tuesday, 26 July 2005 23:37 (twenty years ago)

Yeah we have the large tank-like hot water heaters in AU as well, they usually sit in one's laundry or outside next to the wall, and hold 2 or 3 baths worth of hot water and just refill whenever depleted.

Ive lived in places with the smaller on demand gas units and hated them - you have to turn your hot tap on and let it run for ages before the water even gets hot, it seemed really counter-intuitive and a waste of water :/

When I went to the UK I got very confused by all this "you have to turn on the immersion heater 10 mins before you use the shower" stuff.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 00:06 (twenty years ago)

Yes, but this original query is coming from a country in which people think it's a good idea to install WALL-TO-WALL CAPETING in their bathrooms. Ie, the UK. Mildew, mildew everywhere.

― Laurel, Wednesday, 27 July 2005 00:38 (twenty years ago)

eleven years pass...

Hi.

I'll check the settings and etc and etc when i get a chance, but any chance anyone can tell me why the hot water only gets hot when you turn it on fill blast..?

Also the thingy that switches between bath and shower seems to be limescaled shut but i don't suppose you can help with that.

― virginity simple (darraghmac), Saturday, 29 April 2017 16:39 (eight years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.