One day, the hot water stopped flowing. This was the case in both the kitchen and the bathroom. This didn't affect the shower because it's an electric shower and the hot water is heated as it comes through the little heating unit that the shower head is attached to. The cold water was working fine and the radiators heated up as usual, so it seemed to me, ignorant as I am about plumbing, that there must be some blockage somewhere, but this seemed odd. I notified the guy who manages the place and he said he'd get the plumber here. Today, the plumber arrived. He checked the press (the cupboard/closet where the hot water tank sits on a shelf with the water to be heated by either the oil burner when we have the heat on or using electricity). He checked the taps. He got his ladder and climbed into the attic to check the tank that lives up there. This is a common feature of dwellings here, which we learned about in our first Irish apartment. We had no idea why there was dripping water outside one of the bedroom windows in the middle of every night. We told the landlord at the time and he said he'd send someone, but although we reminded him several times, no one ever showed and the dripping continued, much to the annoyance of our neighbors, who finally complained to the people managing their business premises and apartment. In the meantime, I was describing the problem to someone and they explained about these water tanks. Water comes from the mains and fills the tank, which has a float mechanism, like in a toilet tank, which prevents overflowing. In the case of our first apartment, it didn't work so the tank overflowed outside.
Today when the plumber came back down, he said there was water in the tank, which was good. He said he had a gadget that should solve our problem. He did what he did and we heard a noise. He asked if we'd heard the gurgle. He tried the taps and they worked. He went back up into the attic to check the tank again, came down, and handed me this:
8 comments:
... pleased you have hot water again.
All the best Jan
Thanks, Jan. We're happy too. The cold water is very cold at this time of year!
I think you have the basis for a first rate novel here, Shari, or at the very least a long ode to the vicissitudes of Irish plumbing. I shall look forward with great anticipation to reading it. In the meantime, all the very best to you and Bill for Christmas and the New Year, with health happiness, yarn, books and brack. David xo
Thank you, David. And very happy holidays to you and Miriam with all the same wishes, except fabric instead of yarn for Miriam and sadly no brack. ;-) Definitely health, happiness and books, though! And many beautiful outings in nature with wonderful friends.
We had a back up with our dishwasher this past week and it seems some part of the bottom filter had broken off and was blocking the drain. You couldn't even see it except my husband stick his fingers in the drain and found it. he couldn't retrieve it so I stuck my fingers in and did. I write this because sometimes the strangest things cause the problems. Glad you got your hot water back. Happy first day of winter.
Glad you were able to remove the blockage! Happy winter to you, Erika 🙂
Glad that the problem is fixed but I'm also wondering what the heck that is and how it got in there.
I know, right? It's a mystery.
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