no hot water from kitchen tap only from combi boiler.

[fizzgig]

I am looking for advice about a problem with hot water from the kitchen tap. We have an Ideal Logic 30 combi boiler, It was installed in our new build house 1 year ago. We are having problems with the hot water from just one particular tap. It had worked fine before, but in the last couple of weeks has got progressively worse to the point there is no hot water. All other taps in the house trigger the demand for hot water on the boiler instantly, but when you turn on the kitchen tap the boiler just sits there on standby. It is the furthest away from the boiler and being a new build eco friendly house the tap has a flow limiter fitted. The mains water pressure has seemed to have dropped recently, maybe because more houses have been attached to the water system in our large estate and the mains water pressure is low here anyway. When the hot tap is turned on fully the water comes out at less than 2 litres a minute, the cold is exactly the same. Is the problem with the “save the world” eco tap? Or maybe a problem with the boiler itself? It does seem to me even though I am uneducated in the world of plumbing to be an issue with the tap as if it was the boiler, the other taps would have the same problem.
The hot water sometimes comes out red hot then goes cold, but it has always done that, even though a bit more frequent recently, is that a low water pressure problem also.
Any help or info will be greatly appreciated, as the only way to get an hot water from the kitchen tap is to set it running and rush off to another tap, turn that on to fire the boiler and if we are lucky the boiler then keeps running and we get hot water…….and it is now driving me mad.
Many thanks for your help.

 

[Charnwood]

Eco taps are a bag of kak. All they do is reduce the flow rate from the tap, not how much water you use.
Reducing flow rates can cause problems with flow-dependent devices.....such as your combi providing hot water to taps.

 

[chantelle]

as the only way to get an hot water from the kitchen tap is to set it running and rush off to another tap

Water authority is legally bound to provide you with a minimum water pressure of 1bar.I would have yours tested.You can do it yourself if you want but it will mean purchasing a pressure meter,fiver BnQ. Call someone in will cost at least 60.

 

[fizzgig]

Thanks for the replies. Mark, your description of “eco” taps is pretty accurate, and confirmed to us that the tap was to blame, so seeing as we will replace the tap anyway, decided to take the tap apart to find the dreaded flow restrictor and take it out. The tap now splashes everywhere but…. The boiler now fires up when the hot tap is turned on, but at least we are splashed with warm water and not cold now.
Testing the water flow rate now without the flow restrictor (cheap bit of plastic!) we now have a rate of over 10 litres an minute! So much for the new building regulations and encouraging the builders to make houses so eco friendly they are not fit for purpose. I am all for saving money, but I would prefer stuff to work properly first. Thanks again for replying.