franc 91 wrote:
And that does bring up the topic of the dreaded "immersion"!
If you are staying in a self-catering place (or someone's home), you may hear of this terrifying thing called "an immersion." It lives in a cupboard called a "hot press," and you must switch it on a half hour or so before you want to take a tub bath or fill the sink with hot water (or possibly to take a shower...more below). More important...YOU MUST REMEMBER TO SWITCH IT OFF WHEN YOU'RE DONE! Apparently they eat through electric power like nobody's business, and can boil themselves dry, which could present a fire hazard (though I think most of them have theromastats or something to keep that from happening).
Here's Des Bishop on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52bna-tn_dYIf you're renting a place and don't know if it has an immersion or not, it's probably a good idea to ask. Or just have a look around for a cabinet with something in it that has a switch marked "sink" and "bath."
You may or may not have to worry about this with showers. Most of the self-catering places I've stayed had electric showers (which was also something new to me, though they're getting more common in the U.S. now as well). Yes...electric showers (took me a while to get comfortable with those two words together, after a lifetime of my mom telling me "never take anything electric into the shower," but I've been won over. Electric showers are lovely). You turn on the unit and you have instant hot water. Good water pressure too (unlike the one Des talks about above!)!
I should also say that the self-catering places I've stayed in have all been in rural areas, so this advice may not apply to urban areas.
Redwolf
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