Balanced pressure, what does it mean to balance your water pressure. When a plumber tells you that you need to move your PRV (pressure regulation valve).
Balanced pressure – (to make your hot and cold water equal pressure.) Previously, homes were piped with the cold water feeding directly from your municipal water supply and your geyser (hot water) had a pressure regulation valve installed just before feeding the geyser. So all of your cold water taps were fed from the municipal line and all of your hot water taps were feed from the geyser which is regulated pressure due to the PRV.
Now manufacturers and SANS regulations require balanced pressure, which means your pressure control valve needs to be moved to the main supply feeding your home so that the cold water may be regulated as well.
In saying this, there are a lot of benefits in doing this, as it protects your geyser and its components, as-well as your homes sanitary and fittings, But there are precautions to take when doing this, because another SANS regulation states, that no valve (been a shut off or a non return valve) may be between the pressure regulation valve and the geyser, so make sure this is also removed if one exists, or else your geysers warrantee will be void.
For more information on Balanced pressure, we have added a link to the IOPSA (institute of plumbing south Africa) showing the SANS regulations 10254 and 10252, concerning geyser installations and balanced pressure.
Let’s talk about Guarantees and the scary truth of what happens when a geyser is not installed correctly. Here are 3 important must know points.
1. Most newly installed geyser will come with a 5 Year Warrantee.
BUT, if not installed correctly, you can find yourself in a frustrating and costly situation. These warrantees get voided on a daily basis because they were not installed correctly. This is then followed by arguments with the plumber who installed it and insurance companies involved. As the customer, what do you know about correctly installing a geyser right. You trust it will be installed correctly by the plumber, only to find it is not. Don’t find yourself in these situations. Use trusted installers that back up their work and are willing to take the risk away from you.
2. Components are the valves, elements and thermostat around the geyser, these all have a 12 to 24 Month Warrantee depending on the component type.
Pressure regulation Valves (PRV) (24 Month Warrantee) – not always changed on a geyser replacement, this is because nowadays the PRV is installed on the main supply for balanced water pressure and is not near the geyser. If you don’t have balanced pressure, it is a good idea to make your plumbing reticulation balanced pressure, this brings many benefits to protect your sanitary, geyser, geyser components, all saving you in maintenance costs.
Any other valve installed between the PRV and the geyser will void the warrantee, this is the main cause of warrantees been voided, make sure that who ever does the balanced pressure, knows what they are doing. Also very important is to make sure the pressure rating is safe for the geysers pressure rating, or the geysers warrantee will be void.
Vacuum Breakers (12 Month Warrantee) – x2 must always be replaced on geyser replacements. Again if not installed right or there are valves between the geyser and the vacuum breakers, this will void the warrantee of the geyser.
Elements and Thermostat (12 Month Warrantee) – These components have started fires inside of homes way to often. This is due to the electrical connections not been tightened. Loose connections cause heat and spark and can burn down your home. Some manufacturers will void a warrantee of the geyser if the element or thermostat is not an approved component for the geyser.
Temperature and Pressure Safety Valves (24 Month Warrantee) – this is installed on the geyser, the rating of this valve has to be the same rating as the geyser and PRV, incorrect rating is a voided geyser warrantee. Some have capped/ blanked off this valve, which is extremely dangerous and there are cases where the geyser actually exploded, which ruins a home and can easily take someone’s life. The over flow also needs to be installed to a safe discharge area, if this valve opens to discharge high pressure or high heat, it can cause huge damage to your home and worst, injury or death to a someone.
3. Plumbers Guarantee
Most plumbers don’t offer a guarantee on a geyser installation and this is something that is neglected. A geyser installation is an essential part of your home and well-been, it can also be a bomb in your house, if not installed correctly. Make sure that the plumber is willing to back their work with a guarantee. After all, you are spending the money.
A plumbing COC explained.
A plumbing COC should be issued on every geyser installation. This is a guarantee that the geyser WILL be installed to SANS Regulations and SABS Approved parts are used. IOPSA and PIRB audit a percentage of geysers, which keep bad plumbers out and good plumbers in.
SAFETY. At the end of the day, it is all about the safety of the customer, because a geyser installed wrong, can cost the homeowner thousands of Rands, it can also cause serious injury and death.
LAGGING INSULATION. A COC further helps people to think greener, by making Lagging insulation a requirement for a plumbing COC to be fully compliant, but this wont affect the warrantee of the geyser, this will only help save on electricity by retaining the heat in the geyser.
CORRECT MATERIALS. It also ensures that SABS approved materials are used, remember a geyser boils and cools down, the materials around the geyser, that support the proper functioning of the system, needs to be of the highest quality to protect the home owner.
BALANCED PRESSURE. As explained previously, balanced pressure is important for protecting the geyser from bursting and other sanitary parts in your home.
Churchill plumbing issue a plumbing COC on every geyser installation we do. We believe that it brings more value and piece of mind to our customers and to us. Churchill plumbing also offers more rock solid guarantees and the most competitive price in the market.
We take geyser installations very seriously, to prove this and stand by our workmanship, we have put Guarantees in place for your piece of mind:
- If your geyser bursts within the 5 Year Warrantee, and the Warrantee is void, we will cover the full cost of your geyser replacement.(if installed by us and no changes by someone else has been made to the geyser)
- On completion you will receive a COC which is approved by PIRB and IOPSA. These institutions take customer safety as the most important aspect.
With these 2 rock solid guarantees we provide you, you have a geyser installation done correctly and safely! Enquire below and we will contact you regarding your geyser.
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