I was alerted to this issue by my tenant, who called because there is no hot water, for the second time this month. The first time, we called out a plumber, who told us it was a thermostat, so we then called an electrician, who told us, oh, don't bother, it is shut off centrally, to conserve power (!). And lo, the hot water was back on the next day.
This morning it happened again. So I looked it up, and found this paper. The Centralized control over domestic hot water is called Ripple Control, and it was extensively installed during 2020 by the Central Government, because there was a trend for companies to opt out of it, due to its unpopularity. So nice of them, to do it while we were all hunkering down in our homes, because muh Covid.
The paper's authors are hoping that people will take up 'cleaner' hot water options. (Gag - also Weird, because most of NZ's power comes from hydro-dams). the hope is that homeowners adopt gas or solar hot water heaters - great for households who are living hand-to-mouth though - so I believe it is another wee stab at landlords. Many people can't really afford a new solar panel, just for the hot water. The claim is that Ripple control will be disabled when non-electric systems are installed - so, the government are trying to shape behavior, by making life a little uncomfortable.
I was alerted to this issue by my tenant, who called because there is no hot water, for the second time this month. The first time, we called out a plumber, who told us it was a thermostat, so we then called an electrician, who told us, oh, don't bother, it is shut off centrally, to conserve power (!). And lo, the hot water was back on the next day.
This morning it happened again. So I looked it up, and found this paper. The Centralized control over domestic hot water is called Ripple Control, and it was extensively installed during 2020 by the Central Government, because there was a trend for companies to opt out of it, due to its unpopularity. So nice of them, to do it while we were all hunkering down in our homes, because muh Covid.
The paper's authors are hoping that people will take up 'cleaner' hot water options. (Gag - also Weird, because most of NZ's power comes from hydro-dams). the hope is that homeowners adopt gas or solar hot water heaters - great for households who are living hand-to-mouth though - so I believe it is another wee stab at landlords. Many people can't really afford a new solar panel, just for the hot water. The claim is that Ripple control will be disabled when non-electric systems are installed - so, the government are trying to shape behavior, by making life a little uncomfortable.
As my German friend used to say: Scheiße!