10/05/2022
Pulsacoil boilers in rentals can be a problem for both landlord and tenants, even when working properly. Tenants comment to me that no-one explained to them how it works when they moved in and they were left to figure it out for themselves. I think this is because letting agents and landlords don’t understand how it works either, so couldn’t explain. Unlike a gas combi boiler which delivers never-ending hot water, the Pulsacoil is an electrically heated hot water tank which delivers high pressure hot water so the showers work properly. The problem with electric hot water is it only heats water very slowly so a tank is needed to store it up for when it is needed. With a Pulsacoil this happens overnight when electricity is cheap. (Ok, less cripplingly expensive.) This means a finite supply of hot water, then it runs out. Users are often surprised by this but there is nothing that can be done to change it, it’s ‘how they work’. To get more hot water there is a daytime “Boost” switch on the wall or on the Pulsacoil, but this uses expensive daytime electricity so costs a fortune to use. Landlords will sometimes call me saying their tenants are reporting the hot water keeps running out and can I go and fix it, and sometimes I find all that is wrong is the tenants are using up all the hot water heated by the Pulsacoil in the preceding night. When this happens the tenant’s only option is to use the “Boost” button or switch and put up with the cost, or get used to using less hot water. If the landlord or letting agent understands this and explains it to the tenants, a call out charge for a technician to go and test the Pulsacoil and explain how it works, might be saved. Users of Pulsacoils might also find it useful to understand how the “Economy Seven” electricity tariff works, which I explain in my youtube video here: https://youtu.be/ic9cFjagttk
