Solving the problem of low hot water pressure from a gas heater

When problems arise with heating and water supply, for example, suppliers must solve them and recalculate for poor quality services. One of the most common complaints from residents of an apartment building about the work of housing and communal services is warm water in the hot water tap.

The temperature of hot water must comply with the standards established by law; if it flows a little warm, should the consumer pay for such a service? Tariffs for hot water in Moscow, and in other localities, are high; they must be justified by a good level of supply.

When you get warm water instead of hot water, where can you complain? Is it possible to seek a recalculation or not pay for such a service at all?

If the reason lies in the pipes of an apartment building

Residents of such houses most often encounter a situation where there is low water pressure in the apartment. What to do with such a problem and how to help yourself?

It is no secret that the water that comes through pipes into houses is sometimes of very poor quality. Over time, the impurities contained in it settle on the inner surface of the pipe. Rust appears and a coating forms, which reduces its clearance, which provokes weak water pressure in the apartment. What to do, where to go in a situation that cannot be resolved by the residents?

So, if the riser itself was clogged, then the worn-out pipes need to be replaced in time. It should be noted that it is recommended to replace the riser completely, not partially. Sometimes adjusting the pressure using equipment installed in the basement of an apartment building will help solve the problem, but this is only effective in some situations.

If the Criminal Code does not solve the problem?

Low water pressure in the apartment - where to complain?

Everyone knows that management companies do not always work well. Many complaints from residents of the buildings they manage remain unanswered or unsatisfied. What to do in such cases?

If there is no reaction to the application or the solution to the problem is delayed, then you can write a competent, substantiated claim.

Even if there is no response to it, it can become additional evidence when resolving the dispute in court.

Going to court is a last resort and can take a lot of time and effort, but sometimes there is no other option.

Through the court, you can demand that the management company fulfill its obligations or reduce payment for a poorly provided service. Another way to influence the management company may be to contact the housing inspectorate.

Poor condition of pipes in the apartment

When there is low water pressure in the apartment, what should you do? This is the first question for residents who want to deal with this problem. Often the reason is not the poor performance of utility workers, but the poor condition of the pipes directly in the apartment. Moreover, this is the most common reason for insufficient water pressure.

As experts note, most often, clogged pipes and a decrease in water pressure occur due to rusted joints of plastic and metal pipes. Fortunately, the problem is easily solved. The main thing is to have the necessary finances and time. To restore pressure, it is necessary to clean the pipes. If this procedure turns out to be useless, then it is recommended to completely replace the metal pipes with plastic ones.

Poor water pressure in the apartment - what to do?

Where can I go to get the problem resolved?

The solution to the problem of poor water pressure depends entirely on the causes of its occurrence.

First, you can try to install them yourself. First of all, you should check with neighbors from nearby houses to see how things are going with their pressure.

This information will help determine whether the problem is in the main or public pipes. If residents of all nearby houses complain about water pressure, then there is probably a problem in the water pipe system on the main line.

Or maybe the mixer is to blame?

Sometimes it happens that the mixer is the reason that there is low water pressure in the apartment. What to do and how to increase the water pressure in this case?

So, the mixer can influence the force of the water jet only if its cartridge or faucet axle has failed. The operation of these spare parts is affected by settling dirt or mechanical damage. All this leads to the fact that the mixer begins to flow poorly and the pressure decreases. This problem can be solved very simply. It is enough to check and change these parts, and if desired, you can completely change the mixer.

By the way, an aerator, which costs mere pennies, can also improve the pressure and flow of water. True, sometimes it gets clogged. Therefore, from time to time it is necessary to clean it, rinse it, or install a new one, since a small and thin mesh can be not so easy to clean.

Variety of geysers used

The operating principle of speakers from different manufacturers does not differ significantly. Specifications vary.

By what indicators do the models differ:

• Performance;
• Type of burner;
• Degree of security;
• Ignition method;
• Flue gas removal method.

Classification by ignition type:

• Manual. Found on older models. Most modern manufacturers prefer not to use this type of ignition. To turn it on, you need to light the burner yourself with a match.
• Piezo ignition. To turn on the heater, just press a button. Within a few seconds the water from the tap will be hot.
• Electronic ignition. Allows you to save gas, as the automation turns off and turns on its supply.

Based on the type of burners installed, there are two types of heaters. At constant power, manual temperature adjustment is required. With a variable, automatic adjustment occurs. Modulating burners supply water at a uniform temperature.

Speaker power is one of the main selection criteria. Minimum value -16-19 kW. Maximum – 28-32 kW. A heater with low power will heat up to 10 liters of water per minute. This is not enough for a large family. You can only wash the dishes. Average indicators increase the volume to 20.

In order not to encounter the fact that there is no water pressure in the gas water heater, you should choose trusted manufacturers. The German and Italian companies have gained trust in the market. But there are domestic popular brands. The Neva geyser combines proven quality and an affordable price.

Incorrect plumbing diagram

If the apartment has low water pressure, what should you do in this case? It is likely that an incorrect circuit was used when connecting the devices, which reduces the flow of water.

For example, a family of four lives in an apartment. One is taking a shower, the second decided to wash the dishes, the third flushed the toilet, and the fourth loaded the laundry in the machine. To ensure that such a number of devices does not affect the water pressure, the entire circuit must be drawn up sequentially. If a person cannot even wash his hands when washing clothes, this is direct evidence that the plumbing system in the apartment requires urgent improvement and it’s time to contact a qualified specialist.

What to do if lukewarm water comes out of a hot tap?

Let's figure out how not to overpay for extra cubic meters.

– In our house there are often such cases that a little warm water runs out of the hot water tap. I measured: 30 - 40 degrees. And this happens 2-3 days every month. You have to skip it. Accordingly, we use much more hot water and overpay. I have a small child, and I fill a whole bath every day, so it costs a lot. Where can I go with this question?

The “Hygienic Requirements for Ensuring the Safety of Hot Water Supply Systems” (SanPiN 2.1.4.2496-09) sets clear requirements for the temperature of hot water: it must be no lower than 60 and no higher than 75 degrees Celsius. At the same time, another document - Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354 “On the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in multi-apartment residential buildings and residential buildings” - establishes permissible deviations from these standards. So, at night - from 00:00 to 05:00 - the water temperature should not differ by more than 5 degrees, and in the daytime - from 05:00 to 00:00 - by no more than 3 degrees. It is noted that before determining the temperature, you need to run the water for some time, but no more than three minutes.

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From these requirements, according to the same resolution, the terms of payment for the services provided also follow. So, if the water temperature is below the established 60 degrees, then the payment for hot water is reduced: for every 3 degrees of deviation from the permissible deviations, the payment for hot water in that month is reduced by 0.1% for each hour of violation. If the water temperature is completely below 40 degrees, then payment for the total hours of such a violation should be made at the rate for cold water supply.

Why is hot water lukewarm?

The reasons for insufficient water temperature can be very different.

Firstly, the problem may be in your own faucet: low-quality plumbing sometimes breaks off the partitions, and instead of hot water you get lukewarm water.

Secondly, your neighbors may be to blame. So, an incorrectly installed water heater or heated towel rail can affect the water temperature in your apartment.

Another reason may be improper regulation of the water supply. Simply put, your resource supply company does not sufficiently heat the water that goes to the apartments.

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Developers who incorrectly installed the pipes, or even the pipes themselves, or rather cracks on them, growths inside or depressurization, may also be to blame.

However, there may also be external reasons. For example, your home may be the last one on the hot water line. That is, first several high-rise buildings in front of you take hot water, and only after that the water supply goes to your house. If this line is not looped, then it turns out that in such a dead-end branch the hot water cools down, or even does not warm up to the required temperature at all.

What to do?

First of all, it is worth noting that there is no point in taking measurements of the water temperature in your apartment yourself - they will not be taken into account by specialists anyway. Therefore, Andrey Vorobyov, an expert at the Public Chamber of the Kirov Region, advises immediately contacting your management company:

– We must not forget about the right of every consumer to contact his own management company; no one will do this for you. After applying, you will have to measure the water temperature and draw up a corresponding report. If the temperature is lower than permissible, then by law you will be required to recalculate.

However, the following situation may arise: if your problem with cold “hot” water is not constant, but arises only from time to time, then by the time a specialist from the management company arrives, the temperature in the tap may well be close to the standards. Therefore, Andrey Vorobyov especially notes that in this case, only installing a meter with a temperature sensor can help: such a device considers it as cold when the water temperature is below 40 degrees. Accordingly, you will not be able to overpay for pseudo-hot water.

However, if you make such a decision, you may encounter some resistance from the management company. But the maximum that they can do is express their prohibition verbally, but it will not carry any legal force.

– In 2012, the Criminal Code of the Leninsky District decided to challenge in court the decision of the prosecutor’s office, which canceled the Criminal Code’s ban on installing meters with a temperature sensor. But the court did not take the management company’s side,” says Andrey Vorobyov. “Since then, I don’t know of a single case where a management company would refuse residents to install such devices.

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If you decide to install a meter with a temperature sensor, you need to proceed as when installing a regular meter: write an application to the Criminal Code about your desire to install a new meter and indicate the desired installation date. If representatives of the management company come, they will have to put a seal and draw up a commissioning certificate. If no one shows up at the specified time, then you can install the meter yourself: the main thing is to do this in accordance with the meter’s passport, especially since in this regard it is no different from any other, so it is not so difficult to do. If no one from the management company came or contacted you about rescheduling within three days, then after 15 working days from the date of submitting the application to the Management Company, the meter is considered automatically put into operation - without certificates or sealing.

However, keep in mind that if interruptions in water temperature occur 2-3 times a month, then a meter with a temperature sensor will not help you - it simply will not pay for itself. Its installation makes sense if, due to insufficient hot water temperature, you lose at least 3 - 5 cubic meters per month.

And one more important point that also needs to be taken into account. Let's imagine a situation that all your neighbors, who are experiencing similar problems with hot water, decide to install such meters. In this case, less hot water will flow through individual hot water meters, but the indicators of the common house meter will not change. That is, all this “underheating” will go into the “heating” line and will be distributed as general house needs across all apartments. It turns out that residents will pay less for hot water and more for heating. And here the one who consumes the most hot water will save the most. And some may not save anything at all.

However, Andrey Vorobyov notes that if such a situation arises, it will be regulated at the legislative level. This was the case with general house needs for electricity, cold and hot water, when costs were transferred to the management company.

– For example, the current standard for common house needs for cold and hot water supply is 0.04 cubic meters per square meter of common property area. If you spend more, then the management company must pay the difference between the standard and actual consumption. The same scheme could be introduced for heating, says the expert.

Another solution to the problem of insufficient hot water can be a water heater. Modern equipment allows you to set and maintain the temperature you need. True, really high-quality equipment is quite expensive, and in this case it will no longer be possible to save the family budget. However, this is better than living without hot water at all. Therefore, in combination with a water meter with a temperature sensor, you can get, if not savings on the family budget, then at least the guaranteed availability of really hot water for the same money.

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Andrey Vorobyov also talks about a third option for solving the problem with hot water supply: you can approach the issue globally and start reconstructing the water supply system. In this case, you will need to hold a general meeting of residents, make an appropriate decision at it with ⅔ votes and choose an option for financing this issue: either raise additional money for the reconstruction of networks, or include their renewal in a major overhaul.

In addition, we cannot exclude the possibility that problems with hot water arise due to the management company’s desire to save money. These are especially common in the summer, when people do not use hot water as actively. Everything happens roughly according to this scenario. Housing and communal services workers shut off the valve on the riser supplying hot water so that boiler houses do not operate at a loss. At this time, the hot water supply switches to a cold flow system, and cold water flows without circulation and constant heating.

As a result, when you call a measurer to draw up a report, hot water may suddenly appear, and after a while the situation may repeat itself. In this case, it will be very, very difficult to prove that you are right.

If you suspect your management company of dishonest performance of duties, then you have a direct path to the meeting of owners - to decide on the issue of changing the management company.

And now the most important thing - briefly:

• The standard temperature of hot water is 60 - 75 degrees.
• For every 3 degrees deviation from the permissible deviations, a recalculation is required for every hour; at a water temperature below 40 degrees, it is considered according to the cold water supply tariff.
• The cause of insufficient water temperature may be your own plumbing. If everything is fine with her, you need to contact the management company.
• If you lose at least 3 - 5 cubic meters of water per month, it makes sense to install a water meter with a temperature sensor, which automatically considers water below 40 degrees as cold.
• If the problem of hot water supply in your home has external causes that do not depend on the management company, a water heater may be the solution to the problem.

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How to find the cause of low pressure?

So, a person has already encountered a problem when there is low water pressure in the apartment. What to do in this case and is it possible to find the cause of the problem yourself?

There is a certain pattern.

1. First, it is recommended to visit neighbors on the floor below and above. If these apartments also have low pressure, then most likely the problem lies in a clogged riser.
2. To make sure that it is the riser and not the main that is clogged, you need to visit several apartments from neighboring buildings. If there is also a weak stream pressure, then the reason lies not in the riser, but in the worn-out pipes of the main water supply.
3. If the neighbors did not notice a change in water pressure, then the reason is in the pipes, which are located directly in the apartment.
4. After this, you need to understand whether the water supply is completely clogged or not. To do this, you need to check all the taps. If poor pressure is observed both in the bathroom and in the kitchen, then we are talking about all risers.
5. The pressure is bad, for example, only in the kitchen - the problem is in the mixer.

Reasons: why hot water does not come from the water heater

We will look at several reasons why your water heater is not producing water. Some of them are associated with malfunctions of the equipment itself, and some with other components of the water supply system.

REMEMBER THIS! It is not recommended to carry out maintenance yourself unless you are a professional. Otherwise, your actions may lead to permanent damage to the expensive unit.

Solve the problem yourself

There are several ways to fix the problem if there is low water pressure in the apartment. What to do and how to increase it with your own hands? It all depends on the cause of the weak stream:

• If there is a problem with the mixer, you need to replace it. If you don’t have the money to buy a new one, you can try to wash it or repair a broken part;
• If the pressure is poor due to a clogged aerator, then you also need to clean it with a needle and blow out. If the aerator is very clogged, then it is easier to buy a new one and install it on the tap.
• If you need to change pipes, then only specialists will help. The owner is only required to purchase the necessary materials. It is worth noting once again that it is better to change the riser completely, otherwise due to the joints the pressure will weaken again soon.
• A pump that increases the pressure in the apartment or on the riser will also help solve the problem. Installing a pump on the riser is necessary only when complaints to the housing office are unsuccessful. A sump pump is expensive, so you need to work with your neighbors to purchase it.
• If the diagram is incorrect, you need to change the sequence of connecting the devices to the water supply. Only a specialist will help in this matter.

How to fix the hot water overflow problem?

Sometimes situations occur when only hot water flows from two water supply taps at once. To avoid such a situation, it is necessary to have a check valve on every riser in every bathroom in the house . This phenomenon will not only cause inconvenience in the operation of installed devices, but can also lead to injuries and burns not only in the current room, but also in neighboring ones.

For example, if there are about 30 apartments in a building, and in at least one of them there is no valve on the riser, then there is a risk that in one of the neighboring apartments, when opening a cold water tap, a resident may be scalded. Therefore, you should consider installing such a valve for safety reasons. If there is no check valve on the riser, then the cause of squeezing can be any device that supplies both hot and cold water.

During the installation or replacement of plumbing fixtures, if shortcomings are found in the operation of the devices themselves, in the absence of a check valve, the entire responsibility for overpressure will lie solely with the owner of all devices and installations. Installing a check valve is something that needs to be done in order for the devices to work correctly and for the correct supply of water from cold and hot water taps.

Weak pressure? Where to contact?

So, there is low water pressure in the apartment. What to do in this case has already been described above. But where and, most importantly, how to complain so that the problem is noticed?

All complaints must be submitted to the Housing Office only in writing and only in duplicate. On one copy, the specialist must put his signature and stamp on incoming letters. If after this no action is taken, then the complaint can be sent by registered mail, to which the managers of the utility service are required to respond within 10 working days. If in this case the question remains unanswered, then the owner of the apartment has the right to demand a reduction in the amount for utilities, since they are not provided of the required quality. Of course, the amount on the receipt can only be reduced through the court.

Litigation, and especially with utility companies, requires very large physical, moral and financial costs. Of course, if the apartment owner wins the court case, then all monetary expenses will be reimbursed to him.

If poor water pressure is observed on all floors, then it is necessary to file a lawsuit together with your neighbors. In this case, the chances of winning the case will be much higher, and financial issues will not be so pressing, and morally it will be much easier, because utility services have experienced lawyers on staff for such cases.

Eight ways to increase water pressure

• Check the valves and, if necessary, tighten or tighten the devices;
• Thoroughly clean pipes, filters and mixers or replace this equipment with new one;
• Replace valves and faucet axle boxes and mixer;
• Install an electric pump in a separate apartment. It will increase the pressure, but will not increase the volume of water in the riser. It is recommended to turn on the device when water consumption begins. However, this is a radical method that is used only in extreme cases. And remember that the electric pump reduces the pressure in neighboring apartments in an apartment building or in a neighboring house if you live in the private sector;
• Install several pumps in the basement of the house or in the entrance. Thus, you will significantly increase the water pressure in all apartments of the entrance or house;
• Install water pipes with a larger diameter, which will reduce flow resistance;
• If the problem is in the plumbing, you can clean the aerator and shower head openings with a 9% vinegar solution or using a specialized cold descaling and sulfate remover. To do this, leave the products in the composition for a few minutes. How to clean a bathroom drain with your own hands, see here;
• Replace or repair the common riser and main water supply pipes. To do this, you need to write an application to the housing office or the management company that is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of this house.

Ways to increase pressure in apartment water supply

You can tackle the question of how to increase the water pressure in your apartment and thereby improve the water supply to your own home, without waiting for the management company to respond to your applications and complaints. To ensure that hot and cold, as well as mixed warm water, comes from the taps of your apartment with good pressure, you can use several techniques.

Using larger diameter pipes in the apartment's plumbing system

The pressure with which water moves through the pipes depends on the hydraulic pressure that is created in such pipes. The value of this parameter is higher, the smaller the diameter of the pipe and the higher the speed of flow of water that moves through it. Accordingly, if you reduce the hydraulic pressure in the water supply by installing pipes of larger diameter, the speed of fluid movement decreases and the pressure increases.

This is the method of increasing water pressure that many apartment owners use. However, it is not possible to achieve a significant increase in water pressure using this method.

Use of pumping units

Installing compact pumping equipment is another way to successfully answer the question of how to increase the water pressure in the water supply of your apartment. Today, purchasing such pumping equipment does not present any problems. For such devices to operate effectively, even low pressure and fluid flow in the apartment water supply is sufficient.

A powerful centrifugal pump can significantly increase the pressure in the water supply system

The most powerful models of such compact pumps allow you to increase the water pressure by 1.5 atm, which is quite enough for comfortable operation of the apartment water supply. Such powerful devices are usually installed immediately behind the root valve.

To provide sufficient water pressure to household devices that especially need it, place the pump directly in front of them. For such purposes, less powerful devices are used that can increase water pressure by 0.8 atm.

It should be noted that increasing the water pressure in a single apartment, carried out using compact pumping units, is a fairly effective way to solve this pressing problem for many. When installed in conjunction with a water pressure sensor, the pump can operate in automatic mode, turning off at the moment when the pressure in the water supply corresponds to the required value. When switched off, the pump does not interfere with the movement of fluid through the pipeline system.