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Fitting a Chauffe-eau


overmonnow

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Hello I am new to the site and France, having just bought a house in Creuse for renovation and eventual escape.

The house has no hot water system at present, but there is mains water and electric on site so I have bought a chauffe-eau and have an english electrician to fit it, but there are a few questions that I need answers to before it gets installed.

The unit seems to be self contained, apart from inlet and outlet water pipes, are there any other fittings that I need to be aware of, such as venting and/or pressure release valves. Or is this internal to the unit?

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I bought one recently from Leroy Merlin. Next to it was a selection of kits. One for the pressure release to connect it to the drain (you should bleed it every month to get rid of sediment). Another was a tripod to support it. Finally there was a kit with connectors to connect it to the water system (in and out) which are to stop electrolytic corrosion which it says you must have else the warranty is invalid. It also came with fitting instructions in French, German and English.

Hope this helps

Chris
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The kit of houses normally includes a trap with an air gap so that you can connect the drain / expansion / pressure valve to the waste water system. Ours puts out about a half pint when first switched on each visit.

The electricity should be connected to a dedicated disjointer which cuts both poles on the tableau d'electricite. The maximum power will be less than a similar size UK hot water cylinder,
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Amber,
We had a 200L upright one fitted on a tripod on the ground floor.
The height above ground can be important as you then might need a drain to the main soil pipe from the pressure relief valve
Although it may never happen, as suggested earlier, do ensure you have easy access to the heater and thermostat, ours failed on arrival at the house tripping out the RCD.
It turned out to be lots of rust flakes from the steel tube into which the (bare) heating element slides, which were shorting to the coils of the element.
It was easy to fix by cleaning out with a pan scourer shoved up the tube on a stick.
I can only think it happened due to the newly laid concrete floor giving off lots of moisture to the room, and it has not recurred.
Did also have a loose connection to the thermostat on another occasion.

franc.
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