Immersion heater as a temporary fix?

[greg.harvey]

Hi,

My wife and I are without hot water because our old gas combi boiler has given up the ghost at last... heating still works, thankfully! But no shower or bath because the hot water circuits are all furred up and the boiler parts are no longer available.

It occurred to me it might be possible to get an "over-the-side" type immersion heater that would be suitable for heating a bath of water in a domestic situation, just as a stop-gap while we're waiting for a plumber to come and fit a new combi boiler. Any suggestions? Has anyone done something similar in an "emergency" situation?

Cheers,

G

 

[JohnD]

I really don't like that idea. Portable electric equipment is not suitable for bathrooms.

However, you might be able to get something like a tea-urn that wil heat a few galls of water. It will be very slow though.

Or, as you are now a Combi household, you might consider having an electric shower fitted, it will be handy next time the boiler breaks down

 

[greg.harvey]

I agree it's not very safe. But then neither is carrying boiling pans of water up the stairs and there are no kids in the house. Tea urn is perhaps a better idea though. I might drop lucky on Freecycle...

 

[htgeng]

had you looked into descaling the hot water side? or is something else faulty with it?

 

[greg.harvey]

I think there's something else. As I understand it, it's a really old design. It has some kind of diaphragm in it which is sucked to one side when a hot tap is opened and water starts to flow through the hot water system. So far as I can tell, this movement of the diaphragm by the water pressure does two things:

1. allows the boiler to fire by way of a push-pad on the end of a metal rod contacting with a simple push-to-make switch and ...
2. somehow allows the water to be redirected in to the heat exchanger

This diaphragm had been giving up the ghost for a while but now appears to no longer function at all, so even if the boiler is already on (something which worked for quite a while - turning the heat on giving hot water, even if the diaphragm didn't move enough to activate the push-to-make switch) no water passes through the water heating circuit, wherever it may be, so the water is barely warm, even if the boiler (and heating) is running hot.

I've tried holding the swich on to no avail, so there's obviously more to it than just the electrics.

It's an Ideal Sprint F - very old combi boiler.

 

[Gasguru]

AFAIK it uses a standard Giannoni diverter valve. The diaphragm kits about a tenner and is probably a simple diy job.