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Chauff-eau


Kate Campbell

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Hello, sorry but this topic has probably been covered a hundred times before but I need an answer to a question quickly. Are chauff-eaus supposed to lose a certain a mount of water each day into an overflow which comes as part of the security kit?

Thanks in advance. 

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Yes is the short and quick answer!  Not sure of the technical details but I am sure someone will point you in the right direction if you need them. Quite often plumbed in to waste drainage but we collect ours for the garden.
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Ours has a safety valve and overflow plumbed in but I have never seen any water come out of it;I presume that  when the water expands as it heats it displaces water back up the supply.
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Unlike most UK hot water systems, the French use mains pressure for hot water. The chauffe-eau has a relief valve (known as a groupe de securite).    There is usually a pressure regulator adjacent to the stop-tap to bring the incoming pressure down to that required by the chauffe-eau.  Our pressure regulator went poorly and caused the groupe de securite to evacuate excess water all the time as the incoming pressure was greater than the "blow-off" setting.  In normal use, as the water expands when heated, the groupe de securite will open to release the pressure, hence the flow you mention. 

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A warning for folks here. If there has been major works carried out regarding the water supply in your vicinity, check your chauffe-eau as quite often when the pressure is returned to the supply, it can blow the groupe as we have found several times with different clients when works have been done near to their homes and the returning pressure has been higher than they received previously.
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