Hot water just warm

[Roger465]

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed my hot water getting cooler. It’s still fairly hot, but it doesn’t scald you any more, and I’ve had to move the hot/cold balance lever in the shower to a warmer position – first time I’ve touched it in the 6 years since the house was built.

Is there any adjustment anywhere, or does this definitely indicate a fault? It was only serviced about 2 months ago. I’ve attached a couple of pictures – sorry about the poor quality. The boiler is an Ideal Icos. The little knob which seems to be a temperature control on the bottom of the big tank is set to 45.

Thanks

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• Roger465
• 5 Feb 2015
• 1

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• Roger465
• 5 Feb 2015
• 1

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[Madrab]

Sounds like someone's been playing with the thermostat. Cylinder stat should be set between 60 > 65degC, this minimises the risk of having contaminated hot water.

 

[Roger465]

Thanks Rob. As I'm prone to make expensive mistakes with the simplest of things when it comes to plumbing, this is the right knob? And I just turn it up to maximum? I see it only goes to 65...

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• Roger465
• 5 Feb 2015
• 1

 

[denso13]

Yep, 65 is good.

 

[Roger465]

Thanks guys, water now like coming out of a kettle, so I've backed it off again a little.

One thing which puzzles me - I thought the knob might have got moved accidentally,l but it's really stiff, so must have been turned by the plumber when he serviced my boiler - any reason why he might do that?

I hate mysteries!

 

[dominoman]

One reason to move it would have been to make the boiler cut out earlier while he was testing it. I've done the same.

He should have put it back after.

In any case you should keep it at 60 or more to avoid risk of legionella developing, which is not a nice thing to be struck by.

 

[Roger465]

One reason to move it would have been to make the boiler cut out earlier while he was testing it. I've done the same.

He should have put it back after.

In any case you should keep it at 60 or more to avoid risk of legionella developing, which is not a nice thing to be struck by.

Gotcha, thanks. I just thought it funny that the knob only goes up to 65, and down to 25, which seems strange if it should always be above 60!

I just have the kind of OCD mind that always tries to work things like that out, sorry...

No, legionella isn't high on my bucket list...

 

[Madrab]

Legionella dies above 60DegC, that's why it can be good to have the storage cylinder above that, to accommodate variations in temp.

If you feel there is someone at risk of scalding then the reg stipulate that a thermo blending valve should be used close to the hot outlet (bath/sink/basin), especially where there are individual hot n cold taps, to modulate hot water to 50deg.