Hi Folks,
Following on from my ‘boiler’ question - below is a photo of my water heater. It is pretty old and may date from the late 1980’s.
As I know nothing about these things - literally nothing - and as it doesn’t seem to have a simple on-off switch, I assume I need an electrician to get it working for me. The diagnostic says it was working properly before being switched off or whatever.
However, given its age, should I be looking at having it replaced? The budget is tight so does it make sense to keep this old one and get an electrician to put it back in service?
TIA.
I replaced one that we had installed in 1989, back in 2012. It was an Atlantic and I replaced with a Thermor which is a good make and got a plumber to do it, unfortunately they have changed the shape now to a more dumpy shape so had trouble fitting the door round it but to be honest, I was worried about the age and not knowing how long it would last or whether it would rust etc so bit the bullet and replaced it. It was also situated in a first floor bedroom so any leaks would damage the room below! I paid nearly €1000 back in 2012 for the best one I could get (Thermor) so that I would not have any problems for many years to come but you can get much cheaper makes and models. My son just replaced his old chauffe-eau on the garage wall with a floor standing pompe à chaleur type that he got in Leroy Merlin with €500 knocked off as the outer casing had some dents in it but cost normally over €1700 new. He fitted it himself (he is qualified in electricity in France) within a few hours and it has worked fine since February. Moral of my story, if it worries you and at the age it is, I would personally replace it for years of trouble-free hot water to come.
I’d switch it back on and if it works leave it alone until it doesn’t, then replace it.
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It’s a simple job to check if its working, but if you’re not confident get a plumber and/or electrician. If it works, then why not use it.
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ditto the boiler. maybe a service on the boiler - the neighbours may know who does / did them.
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Definitely worth opening it up and doing a “détartrage”. In the process you will discover if you need to change it or not.
If it needs changing, you’ve saved yourself from unpleasant surprises later. If it doesn’t need changing, at least it received the necessary maintenance that it likely desperately needed.
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