In message , Will burbled:

The older type thermostats used to control upto about 85°C, so
the chances are that yours was set higher than recommended. The lower
temperature that you are reading at the tap is likely to be partly due
to heat losses in the delivery pipework.

The thermostat should not switch in its mid-point at room
temperature, perhaps it had not fully cooled from its time in the
tank? The fact that you have two stats that operate very closely to
each other indicates that they are unlikely to be faulty as such,
unless they both came from a faulty batch...

The thermostat that was switching at room temperature was the new one from
the box (which is now also giving 56°C water), so hadn't been near the tank
yet. That 56°C is measured at a tap close to the tank having run the tap
for a few minutes (to let the pipes heat up and everything).

I just think something's funny when I can't even get to the "factory preset"
temperature of 60°C when I have the thermostat up full.

is there a chance I might need an 11" thermostat? I don't know how big the
heater is, but I read somewhere that using the wrong thermostat can affect
its operation...?

--
Ian Cowley
Bishop's Stortford/Cambridge, UK

www.iancowley.co.uk/contact