Safe water heating…

After a hard day at work, when little one is in bed, what do we do in the evening?

Well, last night Mr Tara Plumbing and I must have spend an hour or so discussing water heating systems in light of the news coverage of the tragic death of Rhianna Hardie, the little girl who was scolded by boiling water which cascaded through the ceiling.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3168458.ece

Firstly, the news coverage on radio and TV was very hard to follow. One report said a boiler had exploded in the roof, on the T.V. a reporter told us there was a fault in

“a boiler just like this one.”she was pointing to a copper hot water cylinder, most people who have gas central heating will be confused by this report, surely.Luckily Mr T.P. was on hand to explain it all to me in ordinary English.The water was being heated – by an electric immersion heater – in the cylinder.

There was no gas boiler in the house – even though some diagrams on the news had shown a system which included a gas boiler heating the water.

I think we all understand that there was a faulty thermostat, apparently modern thermostats include safety cut out devices. Which is why when considering safety in homes it is not a question of whether the thermostat is working but whether it is up to date with safety measures in the event that it fails in the future.

Mr T.P. told me that these copper cylinders have also been known to explode when the water has over heated. In a hard water area you may expect to replace such a cylinder every 10-12 years or so. He also told me fascinating things about the sacrificial anode – that’s another story – let me know if you are interested!

When so much boiling water was forced up to the tanks in the roof obviously these are COLD WATER STORAGE tanks, never designed to hold a large amount of boiling water. So perhaps it is not surprising that they melted and split, letting all the water pore through the ceiling.

I asked Mr T.P. whether people ever have their tanks replaced (as they have a 10 year warranty) – he told me it would be routine for them to be inspected and replaced periodically (perhaps at the same time as having a new boiler).

There are other things we discussed:

• gas combi’s are ideal as there is hot water when you need it, but no hot water being stored;
• the family were tenants - this could so easily have occurred in an owner occupied home;
• that home owners often take great risks – not having appliances checked or replaced.