• Liquids are incompressible
• Water expands when heated, so pressure increases
• Water pressure must be released somewhere
• The safety valve allows a small amount of water to leak, so as to relieve the water pressure, as it cannot be released anywhere else

The membrane-type safety valve is guaranteed to operate properly and relieve the water pressure throughout the life span of the water heater.

ELCO recommends the following installation schematics in order to properly install your water heater, to avoid the valve dripping and also to protect your home's plumbing:

1. Mandatory installation of a PRESSURE REGULATOR at the beginning of the plumbing circuit, set at 3-4 bar, as well as a special ELCO 6 bar relief valve. This way all the house plumbing is protected from over pressure. If a pressure regulator is not installed, the relief valve will drip if the water pressure in the pipe circuit exceeds 6 bar.

2. Installation of a PRESSURE REGULATOR and an appropriate expansion tank (for cold water). The expansion tank is selected according to the size of the water heater as shown in the following table:

3. Installation of a PRESSURE REGULATOR and a special ELCO 6 bar relief valve, in combination with an 8 L expansion tank in order to avoid water problems caused by modern mixing taps.

NOTE: A special ELCO pressure regulator with an integrated adjustable relief valve will be available soon.