marshian

Doesn't the top twist to turn it off? Hence the ON being visible - the top turned then should reveal an "OFF"

Well it's certainly not right - if HW request from any tap doesn't result in HW delivered to the tap - I'd be pushing WB for further investigation/repair/replacement What good is HW on Demand (AKA combi boiler) if you have frig around at the boiler to get to to kick in

Is it just for a shower that it fails to provide HW? Does a bath/sink tap on fire it up?? How many litres per min does the shower flow (and what temp do you have the shower set too) some modern shower heads are capable of giving a good shower at very low water flows - down to as little as 6L per min I don't have any knowledge of combi boilers (i've stuck with a tank and intend to continue with one) but I would expect that they have a min flow required to kick the boiler into action - if the water temp is set to say 50 deg and the cold coming in on the other side is at 10 deg then to get a 35 to 40 deg shower at a 6L per min flow the boiler is only going to be asked for say 4 L per min (rough math)

All of mine are easy to access with the front of the unit coming off and giving good access - All are fitted with isolation valves because the fill valves are a regular consumables

I disagree with the statement that the flushing mechanism leaks - I've not seen that (yet) my experience is that modern flush valves also incorporate a cistern level overflow that would have previously been out thro the wall from the side of the cistern - as a result you quickly knew you had a ball valve failing and letting by because you could hear it dripping or your neighbour told you!!!! I'm pretty sure that the issue of integral overflows in toilet cisterns is compounded by householders setting the level as high as possible in order to get a little extra water in the cistern and improve the flush (I've done this to try and improve the flush but the extra 500 ml doesn't make much difference) Modern side fill valves seem to last a very short time before the diaphram fails or fails to seal My loft tank has a ball valve to control the fill and has only had one new washer in 40 years of use - I'd say that that mechanism is about as reliable as a Nissan Micra or Toyota Yaris (cockroach cars I call them - incredibly hard to kill)

OK that's a "relief" (sorry) - it seems I'm not alone in finding modern toilets flush volume "piss poor" (sorry again)

I was trying to keep the thread clean (unlike the damn toilets) but you are 100% correct - those old thunder flushes were a pull once and never need to check if it needed another

I have the tank stat set to 60 Deg - I only heat HW for ~20 mins and it gets to ~48 to 52 in that time - as a result the Tank Stat is never satisfied (unless it's Mrs M's Bath night in which case I heat it to 60 (legionaires cycle same day) and then it's satisfied After she's run a bath it's not so when the CH ends it calls for HW for 1 min and the valve returns to rest

I'm going to have to get my head round that - thanks for posting I heat water to much less than the tank stat is set too so my std practiced is to set the HW to 1 min after the CH cycle has ended and of course the tank stat is not satisfied so it returns the valve to the rest position of HW I was thinking about changing the valve round (and wiring) so CH is rest and HW is powered then it would always be at rest when running CH but then when you are only heating water the valve would be constantly powered on because CH is never called for.

All different manufacturers (probably all made in same factory) I think we bought one from Soak, one from plumb world and one from Victoria Plumb

All three loos suffer from similar issues All are within 1 m of the main soil pipe, are direct coupled to 110mm soil pipe (ie not some flexible concertina adaptor) and have decent falls to the soil pipe (considering the short distances involved The two stage button works a cable mechanism - push the large part for partial flush and the small part for a full flush (both parts of the button go down as a result) Partial flush when fitted is approx 3 L full flush is 6 L (I have experimented with increasing the partial flush volume by adjusting the settings but I end up with the unit set to give 6L regardless of button pushing (hardly a water saving feature if you have to set it up that way) The pans are all different makes (each loo was upgraded over a few years) and each time the performance is not as good as the previous close coupled unit with syphon based flusher and a 10 L cistern Hence my thinking that it's not enough water being flushed - increase the cistern size and I can revert the flush to being a two stage again with 4L for a part flush and 8-10 L for a full flush. All the water feeds to the cisterns are gravity fed from loft tank (not mains supplied) none have flow restrictors in the inlet so they do fill up again quite quickly but I'm not seeing how often needing to flush twice is saving any water.

I've got three toilets in the house. All have the same concealed cistern arrangements with a reduced water content (6L) and a two step "water saving" flush functionality Am I alone in thinking this reduction in cistern capacity combined with "water saving part flush" doesn't save any water at all because regardless of the requirement Mrs Marshian hits the full flush button every time (because a partial flush doesn't clear all the no'1's and leaves toilet paper behind) If it's No' 2's it frequently needs a full flush twice. I'm wondering If I should fabricate some stainless steel 8 - 10 L cisterns to fit in place of the plastic 6 L max ones. I've definitely got space inside the built in units to fit larger tanks......... Or is this a bad idea and we should consider drink less and reducing the level of fibre in our diets Oh and what EU directive or building regs would I be breaking 😉

Euuuwww that's not nice either!!!!

Neither - but I do get to borrow a bit of the garage occasionally (when I need to have a sort out) as well as have use of the driveway as she no longer has a car (just a mobility scooter lives in the garage) and she likes to see a car on the drive as it looks like someone is home. Husband passed away 3 years ago from Parkinsons/dementia but up to about 5 years ago they were best neighbours you could wish for - looked after our cats and the house whenever we were away and so this sort of activity is just paying back for previous good deeds. If it's icy I salt the driveway and paths I put the wheelie bins out on the days they are collected and bring them back in Cut the front grass when it needs cutting Still a good neighbour just not as mobile these days

Sorry if I've ruined your day - but the Rat had a worse day all things considered

Neighbours gutters on the garage were constantly overflowing onto her patio - she’s 85 and needs a walker to get about - not much chance of her getting up a ladder to clear out the gutters so as it stopped raining I thought I’d get it done for her…… Whole length was full of moss/leaves and general detritus Took off the end caps and stuffed a car cleaning sponge down the downpipe and washed them all out into a couple of 35 litre builders buckets Extracted the sponge and the downpipe was blocked up as well so off that came and rodded out a 2 feet of muck but it wasn't all leaves and moss Washed it down and found what was blocking it up I’ve heard the expression “raining cats and dogs” but never heard “raining rats!!!!”

Love that - looks superb like a geological sample

I've done the same in the past (but in one room I drilled the tiles and then screwed them to the boxing (and used colour matched screw caps) and grouted the tiles normally (easy enough to get grout out) and in the other used metal plates and magnetic units to hold a complete tiled panel Both did the same and I still don't know which I like best

I used automotive Sikaflex to do the same job - the tricky thing was making sure you didn't apply too much cos it's messy - mine you had to put the glass into the seal and then the seal into the frame and then fully insert both and there was very little clearance for additional adhesive and it goes off quite quickly..... I chose to apply sikaflex to the seal and then fit the seal to the glassand squeeze out any excess (two long battens and multiple clamps) - then when the sikaflex had gone off cut away any excess and then fit glass with seal to the frame using the good old fairy lube assist. It's been done 5 years and hasn't moved at all but one thing I would say (without doing that) is don't leave the shower screen in a position where it isn't supported for long periods of time because that is very likely to be your primary cause for the glass coming out of the seal of the seal (and glass coming out of the frame)

I don't understand how an immersion can pull 2.7kw and not generate any heat - that makes no sense in my head - it's using power it's generating heat somewhere even if not in the tank.

I agree - I've done the heat engineer heat loss calculation - as long as can set aside a bit of time to measure wall dimensions and window apertures, have a good knowledge of the fabric of your house (Floors, Walls, Ceilings and Windows) it can give very accurate assessment of overall house heat loss at -2 The only thing I think it overstates is the ACH element - some of the default values for ACH is frankly unrepresentative of even 80's housing stock that has had elements of the building upgraded

Good lord!!! My average over last 12 mths is 22.1 (For both CH and DHW) Summer is 3.5 kWh per day (just DHW) Heating Seasons it's between 17 & 50 but that hides the impact of a really cold spell Peak daily for 2022 was 90.9 Peak daily for 2023 was 85.1 Peak Daily for 2024 is 81.6 So I think I can say even my peak usage is improving

LLH = Low Loss Header CCT = Close Coupled T's

My only advice is to avoid this type of low height wastes https://www.hartplumbingspares.co.uk/product/slimline-90-hi-flow-shower-waste-extra-low-profile/ They aren't very good the "reed" type valve restricts flow - they are most definitely not hi flow!!!!

You need to think very carefully about the water level in the pipes in an open vented system Those tanks that feed the CH system and HW system have a level of water in them - the same level of water will be in the expansion pipes (they will be at equilibrum with the tank levels So draw a line from the tank level to the pipes and insulate to just above that point If un-insulated then they will contribute to heat loss from HW tank or the CH circuit - it might be small but heat rises as a general rule so heat will be lost. I moved my CW tank and CH header tank 3m away from the loft hatch because I always caught my back on the support frame and it gave me a more usable loft space - However this meant I had to extend all the pipework by the same 3m (as a result I have quite long runs in the cold loft space) I insulated all the pipes with thick wall pipe insulation OD for both 15mm and 22mm is around 62mm which means my pipe lagger mitre box can be set up to work well with either size insulation Happy to be corrected on this by more knowledgeable contributors