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Why does the hot water tap get hotter when the flow is reduced?
Anonymous user 09/03/2024 - 2.54 PM
Please, if anyone can help. The hot water coming to the hot water tap in my bath is about 10 degrees lower than the other taps in the house (60 degrees as opposed to 70) so the bath is effectively lukewarm. It's not a mixer tap and I've got a Baxi combi boiler. It started happening about 3 months ago. When I reduce the flow it goes up to 70 degrees. I read that this means the water has more time to be heated, I don't know if that's right but what do I need to do to return it to normal? Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.
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1 Answer
Harris Building Facilities Management Limited
Rating: 4.9 out of 5
Good Afternoon Danny,
Yes you are correct in your question. If the water flow rate is reduced on a combination boiler the hot water temperature is increased as the cold water passing through has more time in the heat exchanger to be heated. Another factor that can affect the temperature of the water in a bath is, the bore width inside the bath tap is wider and quite often the pipework is larger so the water flow rate on the bath is higher than any other hot water tap in the property.
To resolve the issue it can be advised to reduce the cold water inlet pressure to the property to a adequate level that is suitable throughout so the water is heated up more.
Matt
Answered6 December 2017
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