Hot water system - Temperature regulations

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Originally Posted by davidt

We have been warned that the Council (Kuringai in Sydney) will check the bathroom temperature,
David

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Thanks David, that's a great help.

We suffer under the same Council, apparently either first or second on the 'worst council in NSW' measured by DA waits, regs, Land @ Environment appeals etc.

I could list my, my neighbours and my friends horror stories with these people, but the post would consume all available storage.

If you live within their area, the concept of 'property ownership' and the reasonable rights to determine one's own environment (without in any way effecting others) does not exist.

Most appeals to Dept L&E are upheld, but the time and $$ involved usually preclude this avenue.

Surely these tempering valves require a cold water feed to regulate the temperature. Can't you just cut it off or crimp it down?

Bodgy,

we have the extra joy of heritage listing - I know all about the vagaries of Kuringai Council (DA required to put kitchen and 2 bathrooms back in the location of the originals etc). We bought our house as "Gordon bombsite" and have had to jump through hoops to get the place sorted out (or at least on the road to sorted). This has not been assisted by the fact that the previous owners launched into a variety of illegal works (including gutting said kitchen and bathrooms, bricking up 7 doorways...) and were stopped by council.

David

Wildman
"can't you just cut it off or crimp it down?"

no, they are too smart for that.

If the cold water supply is cut, the valve blocks altogether.

I went through this whole excercise recently. I am building a house with solar hot water and solar power. Hot water has boosting from wood stove. For me, the issue is that IF the solar has little input on one day or I don't run the fire long enough, the water temperature in the tank might only be 40 or 50 degrees. Unfortunately, the way these tempering valves work, they ALWAYS bleed in a bit of cold water, whether it is necessary or not. So if the hot water in the tank is 45 degrees (plenty hot enough for a shower) the damn valve will add cold water down to about 35 degrees. (Min temp drop is 10 degrees). The valves are designed on the assumption that the incoming water will be 60 degrees minimum. So for a solar hot water system without gas or electric boost, they are a real pain. I had a bugger of a job explaining all this to the plumber.
The good news is that there is an alternative. You can also get a device to attach to the tap (or between the shower rose and the wall) which instantly blocks the water flow if the temp at the tap exceeds 50 degrees. I bought one to try in my existing home, I think it's great. If triggered, it still allows a tiny dribble of water through, so that you can reset the taps and as the cooler water reaches the sensor, it resets and lets full flow through, takes about a minute to reset. We have low pressure gravity feed and it still works fine. The gadgets cost about $30 each and you need one for each outlet in the bathroom, there are specific ones for basin, bath and shower. Kitchen and laundry are unaffected.

They are NOT recognised as a legal replacement for a tempering valve in Victoria but I haven't told the plumber that. (Hope he doesn't read this site)

I phoned the mfr for info and he got quite agitated, saying that they were not legal to sell in Vic and demanded to know where they were for sale, which is wrong, they are legal but cannot be installed instead of a temp valve, but in older installations where a temp valve isn't required, they are legal.
I had a bugger of a time finding this all out, in fact I had better get down and buy the ones for the new house before they get withdrawn from sale.
Yes I know it isn't 100% legal but it does the job and won't give me cold showers.
Chris

We have a dux hot water system,and it has a small triangular shaped control,with which you can adjust the water temp.When we first moved in the water in the kitchen was only luke warm,would not melt grease,fat from fry pans etc, after adjustment it is plenty hot, you need a small spanner which fits this valve and the valve can be turned in or out to adjust the temp.