Storage heaters and water question

[picklemepumpkin]

My elderly mum has electric storage heaters.
Her hot water is too hot for safety, and we don't know where to turn it down.

Any ideas? I've looked at the tanks, but can't see a thermostat on them anywhere.

How long is she leaving the water heater switched on? Maybe have it on for less time so the water heats up less?

What does this heater look like? The make and model will allow the instructions to be looked up.

Or photos at least

There is pretty sure to be a thermostat that can be adjusted or replaced.

Do you mean a hot water cylinder with an immersion heater? Or an over-sink or under-counter heater?

Ask around for an experienced local electrician or plumber, by personal recommendation.

Advertising websites are not a good source.

Does electric storage heaters mean she has no gas? In which case what heats the water? Just an electric immersion heater? If so, we can’t turn the temperature of ours down - we just pop it on for half an hour or so when we need it.

All electric immersion heaters have a thermostat.

Maybe yours is faulty, maybe you don't know how to adjust it

This is very dangerous and has led to horrible accidents.

One too many

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7179092.stm

Two too many

www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/02/2

How it happens

www.diynot.com/diy/threads/in-the-news-again-death-from-boiling-water.118483/

It is very rare and an improved thermostat had been used for at least ten years, but it must be treated with utmost seriousness.

Thank you piglet john. Yes, we have two large insulated tanks, 32 years old I think. I can't tell by looking, where the water is being heated.

My Dad built the house and knew everything about it. Sadly he died in January.

I'll have a look tomorrow when it's light, and take some pictures of anything I can find.

I can't tell where the timer is or anything. So frustrating.

There might not be a timer. It might just be an on/off switch to heat the water

Do you mean tanks or cylinders?

Cylinders I suppose, with built in insulation. Huge, 8ft high. Maybe 1m diameter?

They are definitely on s9me kind of timer because they only heat at night- economy 7. Unless that's to do with the circuit? We have immersion heaters in there as well, but we only use them to boost it.

We have electric heating and a large tank with no timer. It could be the thermostat inside the tank needs replacing. We did this a few years back but the ended up replacing the tank the following year when the thermostat went again. The tank was so old and full of build up.

It's the storage heaters that will be running on economy 7 as they store heat during the night to use the next day. Are there any switches near the cylinders?

I don't think the immersion heater will boost the radiators, is that not for the hot water? The radiators should have controls to vary how much heat they store and the rate of output

they might be hot-water cylinders but are abnormally large. They could be thermal stores which are not common. They might be heated by off-peak electricity if you have no gas boiler. Please photograph the electricity meter and "fusebox" which may give clues.

If the heaters could be anything up to 30 years old the thermostats might have failed.

I thought thermal stores usually had blending valves to mix the hot water with cold to avoid scalding, but I don't know, and yours may not be like modern ones.

See if this looks familiar.

Yes pixie, the storage heaters heat up overnight.

But the water does too, to take advantage of the cheap rate.

The water wouldn't need to heat all night though. My sister used to be in a house that was electric and her timer and control panel thing was in her kitchen.

Pickle I know what you mean. My flat has electric storage heaters and a hot water tank, the water heats at night when it's cheap and the tank keeps it warm all day. Only need the extra heater if it runs out.

The temperature control of ours was on the tank?

Thanks queen!

Here are some pics...

Is the cylindrical cover where the temp control would be? There are two on each tank, one at the top and one at the bottom. The top ones appear to be off at the switch, the bottom ones are on.

The label says 'switch off electric before removing'.

There are these taps, too. If I turn one part way, would that help in the short term by restricting the flow, while she is waiting for a plumber?

Thank you so much for your input everyone.

The cylindrical caps are typical immersion heater covers. There will be a thermostat beneath each, which can be adjusted. They may however has seized with age. Unless they are an unusual type, the thermostat can be replaced with new. The one at the top may have a shorter life, as it gets hotter, than the bottom one.

The bottom one will be fed with the off-peak supply, there will be a timer somewhere, probably in or beside the electricity meter. The upper one runs on peak-rate electricity and is more expensive to run, it can be left switched off unless the cylinder runs cold after a lot of use during the day, so leave them switched off.

Any experienced plumber will have done hundreds of these. You don't need a gas engineer.

Although the thermostats are replaceable easily and cheaply without needing to drain the water, if the immersion heater itself eventually becomes faulty, the water has to be drained to change it. Experienced old plumbers know some techniques to get them out, they screw in and the old thread can be very tight and jammed after many years.

I don't think it will help to tinker with the valves.

If necessary, you can get temperature-controlled taps, but put that idea aside for now.

Thank you! That's great! It's so much easier when you know what to ask for, and reassuring.

So should I try and adjust it first, or just assume that the thermo has gone?

Most of the taps are mixer taps so she hadn't noticed there was a problem, apart from the shower which she couldn't get right.

If it is a mixer shower, modern thermostatic ones have an anti-scald setting.

It is not difficult to adjust a thermostat. Live terminals are exposed when you remove the cap, so as well as turning off the switch, turn off the power at the consumer unit as well before removing the cap.

You turn the adjuster a little with a screwdriver. Use a torch and you should see the temperature scale.

Thank you!