Answer to a maiden's prayer ?

[robgraham]

I got an email flier in from TLC this morning including an Instant Hot wate r Handwash Tap from Redring @£49.

Has anyone any experience of these ? Our house is single storey so the gra vity feed DHW is at low pressure, compounded by the kitchen mixer tap which I think is designed for mains pressure feed.

There has been several options considered to resolve this but this tap at t his price looks a good one, apart from putting a suitable hole through the SS sink.

The questions I'm thinking of are will the flow rate be throttled back sign ificantly to allow the water the heat up, and will the tap cope with fillin g the washing up bowl with hot water ?

Thanks for any help Rob

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

I've no experience, but it does look interesting. I notice it mentions in an offhand way that an electric feed is required, which might be easier said than done.

[GB]

It has a 13 amp plug on, so that presumably needs to be cut off if you are installing it in a bathroom. :)

[Syd Rumpo]

Washing hands, yes, but a pretty slow rinse. Filling a bowl? Eventually, but 2.4kW isn't much.

Cheers

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

My immediate thought was that it might be useful in our bathroom, but never having seen anything like it before, I was wondering which regulations would cover the wiring. I expect things aren't so strict in the kitchen, but is there even a precedence for anything like this? Would you not feel just a tiny bit worried washing your hands under it :-)

[Brian-Gaff]

Well how else would you heat it. I'd be worried about the long term reliability of it and also if its well protected from getting too hot. Brian

[Brian-Gaff]

Well people use those instant heat shower units, so I'd not think it any worse. One assumes it would cut out if it shorted to ground. I'm worried about the lime scale build up on such devices. Surely the way to use this is as a mains feed tap, anything from cold to hot without a mixer? Brian

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It runs off a 13 amp supply. How long would it take to heat water in your kettle to fill the washing up bowl? It won't be any quicker.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Fit a pump.

Pretty well all mixer taps seem to be designed for high pressure these days. So a pump is the only option. I did just this ages ago.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

I got a bristan mixer that works at low pressure for our upstairs sink. The missus is italian, and can't cope with non-mixer taps :-) The bristan thing works well enough, but I did have to fit a pump to the bath mixer.

[damduck-egg]

Its designed use is what is suggested by the name,handwashing. A neater version of the mini instant water heaters often found in workplaces where hand washing facilities are required such as a small staff loo or under a pub bar top . Their presence will then satisfy the health inspector that hot water has been provided but every one knows that in practice the output is so derisory that busy staff end removing more dirt from wiping the hands on a ragged towel after attempting to wash hands under tepid water. For washing up crocks it will be useless.

G.Harman

[Scott M]

One of my more obscure xmas presents to a friend was a water heater for her stable yard's kitchen. It was when I noticed that many of the more old fashioned over-sink heaters were nothing more than electric shower units with a zig-zag spout nailed to the output flange that I realised I could fit one for 2s6d & a pickled egg - my average xmas pressie spend.

So I sourced a cheapy shower unit and plumbed it up to the otherwise unused sink hot tap (disabling the ability to turn it off, natch) and, bingo, hot water for washing both hands and up.

It was a 7/8kW job and it fills a bowl at a modest rate (say 3 mins for a decent depth) and provides a reasonable stream for doing hands. This is more than acceptable at a stables. OTOH, the TLC one at a third of the power and in a domestic setting would be, IMO, absolutely diabolical.

[Andy Burns]

I'd want to see what the flow rate was like (any youtube videos?) the other instantaneous electric hand washing taps I've used give spray outlets like a couple of Jif lemons.

[robgraham]

water Handwash Tap from Redring @£49.

Many thanks guys; I should have thought it through logically before posting !! I think Scott M's story about the electric shower conversion says it a ll.

This is not the answer then to my wife's complaint about the lack of pressu re - at my age I have a lack of pressure too, but that's a different matter and not for discussion here.

A pump is probably the solution and perhaps I'll put up a new post about th at.

Thanks again Rob

[Roland Perry]

In message , at

14:48:08 on Wed, 24 Jun 2015, Etaoin Shrdlu remarked:

Those somewhat-out-of-fashion waste disposal units mounted below sinks have a mains supply too. As would a water softener.

For hot water in kitchens:

[Harry Bloomfield]

robgraham a écrit :

2.5Kw - it will be a terribly slow way to fill a bowl and not very hot either at 50C.

If your HW pressure is low and from a tank, why not add a pump to boost the pressure?

[Big Les Wade]

Harry Bloomfield posted

One reason might be that it might unbalance the HW/CW pressure to your shower thermostat unit.

[John Rumm]

It will run at about 1 lpm in the winter and a little bit quicker in the summer. (assuming a final 40 deg temperature)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You can add a pump to the mixer feed only. Just to overcome the resistance of a high pressure only tap.

Sadly, low pressure mixers aren't that common these days - and may not be available in the design you want, look wise.

[Chris French]

If you are just looking at improving the kitchen tap hot flow, how about one of those small unvented water storage heaters? Basically a small tank with immersion heater near the sink supplying water at mains pressure. eg:

(Note you can get larger ones, but above 15L you need the appropriate certification to install it)