Adusting mixer taps

mattyfez

mattyfez

mattyfez

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Joined
12 Apr 2007
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Hi all,

Just moved into a new place and the bathroom has taps like this:

L-2015-1-27--15-10-2-424.jpg

So when the handle is far left, it's cold, turn it right and it's hot.

The problem is though, if you even turn it a teeny bit to the right from the fully left position (so basically evey time I turn the tap on) I can hear my boiler fire up, really I'd like it to be pure cold unless the handle is turned say 50% or more to the right, is that an easy thing to accomlish?

cheers.
 
Not really, that's how mixer taps work. The only way would be to replace it with a tap that has separate hot and cold taps.
 
When you turn the tap all the way to the left, it is only opening the cold water side. When you have it in any other position there is some hot water input too. Your combi boiler sees flow and so switches on. This is working perfectly normally.
 
im certain turning to the left is always usually hot isn;t that like the first rule of plumbing!?

plumber got his hot and cold mixed up lol I was hoping you were going to ask for a fix on that....


but as above this is working perfectly normal... :)
 
psd99 said:
certain turning to the left is always usually hot isn;t that like the first rule of plumbing!?
Click to expand...
There's normally a blue/red little indicator on the tap isn't there. Can't say I've ever noticed which way around it normally is.

Edit just checked my kitchen mixer, cold is on the left too. It has a little coloured indicator saying that as well. Whereas upstairs I have separate taps for both sink and bath, and cold is on the right.
 
Could try winding down the flow restrictor on the hot feed, it may then take slightly longer for the boiler to sense the call for hot water.
 
Surely that's not very good /efficient in these energy crisis times?
50% of the time I just want cold water in the bathroom sink without 'waking the boiler up' and jiggling the tap back to the 'home' position... That doesn't make much sense to me.
 
mattyfez said:
Surely that's not very good /efficient in these energy crisis times?
50% of the time I just want cold water in the bathroom sink without 'waking the boiler up' and jiggling the tap back to the 'home' position... That doesn't make much sense to me.
Click to expand...

Just turn the lever all the way to the left before lifting it up.
 
You're in luck - modern mixer taps are designed for exactly this problem.

E.g.

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"You save hot water and energy every time you lift the lever. The cold start function avoids the unnecessary use of hot water for daily rituals like washing your hands or brushing your teeth."

Edit: as a short term fix what you could do is swap the hot and cold feeds. Then it'll have the opposite issue to what you have now.
 
Gav_r26 said:
If you only want cold water just leave the tap pushed to the left...... then your boiler wont come on. Not exactly rocket science.
Click to expand...

Yes I realise that, but the reality is, in the current configuration, I lift the tap lever up to get water.

The very act of lifting it up is enough to activate the boiler, even if the tap was 'parked' the 'cold' position' as I will undoubtedley move the lever even 1 or 2mm radialy so I have to lift up and then turn it back to cold, and it still wakes up the boiler... that seems completley absurd to me.
 
dLockers said:
You're in luck - modern mixer taps are designed for exactly this problem.

E.g.

Products - Discover Our Full Range Of Furniture And Homeware

Browse our full range of products from dressing tables to complete modern kitchens. Click here to find the right IKEA product for you. Shop online and in store today.
www.ikea.com www.ikea.com

"You save hot water and energy every time you lift the lever. The cold start function avoids the unnecessary use of hot water for daily rituals like washing your hands or brushing your teeth."

Edit: as a short term fix what you could do is swap the hot and cold feeds. Then it'll have the opposite issue to what you have now.
Click to expand...


Awesome, thanks. I'll have to investigate if I can do this without replacing the tap.
 
SoliD said:
a £90 tap will definitely be cheaper than the 0.01p of gas you use firing up your boiler 3 times a day....
Click to expand...

This is what i'm trying to establish... if I can tune my tap via it's internal valve and/or/ adjusting the valves on the hot/cold feeds, or if I need a new tap.
 
You should be able to adjust the hot feed to the tap down so it takes longer for your boiler to recognise there is demand but you'll have much less pressure and thus hot water when you really want it
 
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