Can I install a small unvented water heater in a rental property?

[Gary111]

Hi, I wondered if it would be legal to fit a 10 or 15 litre unvented water heater to a rental property?

Or do I need to get someone qualified to do it?

Also would building regs need to be notified?

Thanks

 

[terryplumb]

No ,building regs don't need to be notified.
Get a qualified plumber to install it.
What currently provides hot water at the property ?

 

[Gary111]

Thanks Terry, there is currently a 80litre unvented heater fitted by the previous owner.
Am I correct in thinking that should be serviced yearly?
I am thinking a smaller one may be safer, not sure 15litres is enough for a shower though.

 

[Mottie]

I am thinking a smaller one may be safer, not sure 15litres is enough for a shower though.

Should be fine if you're in and out in about 45 seconds!

 

[terryplumb]

Yes ,the existing one should be serviced yearly.
But 15 litre would be useless as a sole supply of hot water.

 

[Gary111]

Thanks Terry, I will perhaps have to get an electric shower as well if I go down this route.
Do the 15L water heaters also have to be seviced every year?
Do they tend to be safer than the larger ones?

Many thanks

 

[terryplumb]

No they don't need servicing yearly ,but they do need to be installed professionally in my opinion. In terms of safety ,a large UV cylinder has the potential to go off like a bomb if things go very wrong. A 10/ 15 litre wouldn't ,but can still flood the place as any mains water pressured pipe / appliance could .

 

[Mottie]

Yes ,the existing one should be serviced yearly.
But 15 litre would be useless as a sole supply of hot water.

Although…I have one in my workshop under a butler sink that we wash our greasy hands in. It also feeds the basin in the toilet to the left AND the sink in the mini kitchenette to the right. All sinks are within 1 metre of it. Couldn’t use all three at the same time though!

 

[Justin Passing]

IME they're unreliable things, in that they don't last long. I would make sure I had a spare one, identical, ready to repace it fast and easily with, in case it goes wrong. I have 8 of them in an hmo - three different makes now. And a few spares...
Install it yourself if you have a brain. Far too many people, plumbers and otherwise, seem to think that thermal expansion can be accommodated within a copper pipe. No it can't! Read the instrs and make sure you don't think it says otherwise! So you will almost definitely need an expansion vessel. Educate yourself on how they (and the big ones) work, if you can. Otherwise use a G7 trained plumber.

You can store the water in the unvented at high temp as long as you have a thermostatic mixer before the tap. So you get a multiple of the thing's capacity for a shower at 38°C . All electric showers, as a guide, allow about 4 litres/minute. So from a 15litre , with a suitably small head fitted, you could have say 8 minutes shower. Usable, but norra lot. If the tenants are paying for their own leccy, they would probably be happy. 50p or so per shower. That's (15 x 4.2 x 70 / 3600) , x 35p per kwhr.
The 2kW ones seem to last a bit longer than the 3kW.

 

[winston1]

Are you the landlord or the tenant? If the latter you need to ask the landlords permission before you do anything.

 

[Gary111]

I wonder if there's a legal reason why I can't install two 15 litre ones in one flat myself?
And adjust the size of the expansion vessel accordingly?

 

[Gary111]

Or just 2 expansion vessels

 

[dilalio]

Otherwise use a G7 trained plumber.

What's that then?

 

[ianmcd]

What's that then?

Feck me more money to pay out

 

[dilalio]

Feck me more money to pay out

G7 - Wikipedia

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