Plumber in Pennyland
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Some plumbing decisions are about comfort and some are about safety, and the second group gets much less attention than it should, particularly in households with older residents, young children or anyone with reduced mobility.
This page is about those, and about one thing your water and energy suppliers offer for free that most people have never heard of.
Based in Two Mile Ash, around fifteen minutes away. Gas Safe registered, registration number 981362.
- Gas Safe registered 981362
- Around fifteen minutes from Two Mile Ash
- We would rather fit the simpler control and have it used
- Booked work Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm
Last updated
Scald risk, and the right way to deal with it
Turning the cylinder thermostat down is not the answer and can create a different risk
Stored hot water has to be kept hot. On a cylinder, storage temperature needs to stay high enough to control legionella bacteria.
The right answer is to control the temperature at the outlet rather than at the source. A thermostatic mixing valve fitted at a bath or basin limits the temperature of the water reaching the tap, regardless of how hot the cylinder is. That is how you get safe water at the tap and safe storage in the cylinder at the same time.
Worth considering wherever there are young children, elderly residents, or anyone who might not react quickly to water that is too hot.
On a combi, the domestic hot water temperature can be set at the boiler, and there is rarely a reason to run it at maximum anyway. Scale forms faster the hotter it gets.
Controls that are easy to actually use
A smart thermostat is a good product and it is not the right product for everyone.
If someone in the household struggles with a phone app or a small touchscreen, a simple programmer with clear markings and a conventional dial thermostat will be used correctly, and a system used correctly beats a clever one that gets left on constant. We would rather fit the simpler thing and have it work.
Other things that genuinely help: large clear dials on radiator valves, a thermostat sited at a reachable height, and a written note of the settings somewhere sensible so a family member can restore them if they get changed.
Low surface temperature radiators
Standard radiators run hot enough to burn on prolonged contact. Low surface temperature radiators have a casing that stays cooler, and they are worth specifying where somebody may lean against or fall onto one. See radiators.
The Priority Services Register
This is the one most people have never heard of, and it is free.
Water companies and energy suppliers each maintain a Priority Services Register for customers who need extra support: older residents, people with disabilities or long term health conditions, households with young children, and anyone who would be particularly affected by a supply interruption.
Being on it can mean advance notice of planned work, priority reconnection, alternative water supplies during an interruption, and a nominated contact scheme. You sign up directly with your water company and separately with your energy supplier, and it takes a few minutes.
If it applies to your household, it is worth doing before you need it rather than during a supply failure.
Carbon monoxide alarms
An audible alarm to BS EN 50291 near each gas appliance, tested monthly. Carbon monoxide has no smell, no colour and no taste, so there is no other way of detecting it. Cheap, and there is no good argument against one.
The housing in Pennyland
1970s and early 1980s, in the north of the city. Third generation boilers, gravity hot water in many properties, and systems old enough that the water condition is worth testing rather than assuming.
Hard water
Same Anglian Water supply as the rest of Milton Keynes, around 300 mg/l of calcium carbonate against a UK average of 207. Worth knowing that a scaled thermostatic mixing valve can stop regulating properly, so they need checking rather than fitting and forgetting. See our hard water guide.
Getting to Pennyland
Around fifteen minutes from Two Mile Ash. Fine for booked work and out of hours.
Frequently asked questions
Should I turn the hot water temperature down for safety?
Not on a stored cylinder, because storage needs to stay hot enough to control legionella. Fit a thermostatic mixing valve at the bath or basin instead.
What is the Priority Services Register?
A free scheme run by water companies and energy suppliers giving extra support to customers who need it. You register directly with each, and it takes a few minutes.
Are low surface temperature radiators worth it?
Where somebody might lean against or fall onto a radiator, yes. Standard radiators get hot enough to burn on prolonged contact.
Is a smart thermostat a good idea for an older relative?
Only if they will use it. A simple programmer used correctly beats a clever one left on constant.
Do you cover Downs Barn and Willen?
Yes, along with Neath Hill, Great Linford, Bolbeck Park and Downhead Park.
What we do in Pennyland
Where we cover in Pennyland
- Pennyland
- Downs Barn
- Neath Hill
- Willen
- Great Linford
- Bolbeck Park
- Downhead Park
Get in touch
Call 07514 312117 or send a WhatsApp. Gas Safe registered 981362, CIPHE member, fully insured.