Immersion (and water tank) recommendations

secretspy · 26 Mar 2018 at 14:55

Hi all,

Long story short I'm looking for recommendations for a new immersion heater and loft water tank.

A bit of background info....

Last Weds my mum's immersion heater thermostat finally went and forced scalding hot water up into the loft into the water tank. The heat caused the water tank to crack right by the overflow pipe causing water to leak back down into the spare room that houses the immersion tank and then down into the dining room. The insurance company have advised they will only repair not replace.

The immersion tank could be repaired but it's 40+ years old and the plumber that came out mentioned it has an iron bolt which apparently dissintegrate over time and then burst off. Something my mum understandably wants to avoid!

I've done a quick Google on immersion heaters but it comes up with so many different ones that I've no idea where to start!

Any suggestions of what to look for, recommended companies etc would be greatly appreciated !

TIA

mrbazmondo · 27 Mar 2018 at 00:08

The immersion element in my airing cupboard tank (the sort covered in green foam) broke not too long ago. The thermostat went so it wouldn't stop heating. I took it out an replaced it with a similar one for about £20 from toolstation.

secretspy · 11 Apr 2018 at 22:33

Any suggestions from anyone??

Definitely going down the route of a new immersion tank instead of trying to find a thermostat for 40+ yr old tank, especially if there's a risk of having problems again in the future.

samcat · 12 Apr 2018 at 08:17

Assuming its a regular hot water tank, get a couple of plumbers to quote/recommend. Zillion options out there, need the right one for the space, connections etc.
As for the immersion itself, and you in a hard water area? We have very very hard water here, and the immersion runs often (diverting excess solar energy into hot water rather than out to the grid).. Regular immersion heaters last typically 12-18 months.. Get a Titanium Immersion Heater if in a hard water area, lasts a lot longer (temped to suggest one anyway, the cost difference would soon be eaten up if it needed replacing again in 12 months.)