Hot Water Pressure

mycar37

I would like to increase the pressure on my hot water system from gravity feed to at least 1 bar. My hot water is provided from a gas-heated hot water tank (vented). Is it possible to have a pump installed to achieve this?
Thanks.

Cardew

I would be interested in opinions on this as well.

I did look at this for my house, but it was some while ago and there could be new developments in equipment now..

Apparently it is fairly straight forward to fit a pump for a power shower.

I have a large bath which takes an age to fill, so my requirement was simply for a faster flow rate and I was advised that this was much more complicated.
I was also told that all of these pumps are very noisy and it is very difficult to supress the vibration.

My plumber suggested that raising the cold water tank a fairly modest amount can have quite an effect.

mycar37

Thank you, Cardew. There must be a problem with this procedure. None of the experts want to comment.

moneysavingplumber

I'm happy to comment, I just rarely look in at this part of the board!

There are all sorts of options available to increase hot water pressure. The best is to simply go unvented. For this you need to have reasonable mains pressure as well as a good mains flow rate. This would involve eliminating the cold water storage tank and having all domestic water direct from the mains and replacing your existing vented hot water cylinder for a purpose made unvented such as, for examples, Range Tribune, Heatrae Megaflo, Oso, Titan Flomaster. The outlay on this might be more than fitting a pump, but if you want a good quality, quiet pump then you really need to go for a Stuart Turner Monsoon. The problems with pumps are that they require periodic maintenance (the ones that can be maintained that is), they use power and they need an adequate supply of stored water to ensure they don't run dry (and they have to be fitted correctly to prevent air damaging the impeller). If you have any less than 50 gallons stored in the loft then forget it.

There are cheap pumps available but most are for single point use only (i.e. usually shower only), are noisy (all 'regenerative' pumps are very noisy), will almost certainly leak at some point in the future, usually require RCD electrical protection.

A Stuart Turner Monsoon 2 bar single ended positive pump is about £200 plus about £150 fitting costs assuming a straightforward fit.

mycar37

Thank you Moneysavingplumber for that input. While I agree that an unvented system would be the best option I hate to dismantle a system that has given me untroubled service for a very long time. I am one of those people who believe in the old adage "If it ain't broke don't fix it". That said I would like to have more pressure for single point use, namely, a Washing Machine that requires more than 1 bar of pressure to allow the machine to fill more quickly. It works fine on the cold water inlet.
I will contact Stuart Turner for perhaps more info. Many thanks again.

Nicholas

I have a Stuart Turner Monsoon pump. My set up appears to be similar to what you are after. They are a bit noisy- but what isn't these days (new gas boilers are not exactly quiet either!).

My pump is set up in the airing cupboard next to the immersion tank. The pressure is brilliant, and it powers every hot outlet in the house. This does not include our washing machine, however, which is cold fill only - apparently these do a better job of washing your clothes.

We have a large shower bath, and it only takes about 3 minutes to fill, and the shower is incredible.

moneysavingplumber

Nicholas wrote:

I have a Stuart Turner Monsoon pump. My set up appears to be similar to what you are after. They are a bit noisy- but what isn't these days (new gas boilers are not exactly quiet either!).

It's always a good idea to mount the rubber feet on part of a paving slab as this helps to deaden the vibration.

Nicholas

moneysavingplumber wrote:

It's always a good idea to mount the rubber feet on part of a paving slab as this helps to deaden the vibration.

Thanks for the tip. I think someone else mentioned this to me before.

As the pipes that connect to the pump seem to be flexible, does that mean that I can just lever a bit of slab under the rubber feet?

ps. You also mention about pumps needing routine maintenance, but in my handbook it says that it does not need routine maintenance

moneysavingplumber

Nicholas wrote:

Thanks for the tip. I think someone else mentioned this to me before.

As the pipes that connect to the pump seem to be flexible, does that mean that I can just lever a bit of slab under the rubber feet?

ps. You also mention about pumps needing routine maintenance, but in my handbook it says that it does not need routine maintenance

Even though the pump is connected via flexible connectors, they should not be placed under duress. It should really be disconnected, the copper or plastic inlets and outlets shortened to the required lengths and then reconnected in its higher position on the slab.

Stuart Turner actually sell service kits for the Monsoon pumps, around £40 but they will only service one side of the pump. Its usually the hot side that goes first, weeping from the end. Maintenance is not a DIY job, it's a specialised job. I usually totally remove the pump, take it to a local pump specialist and they service it on the workshop bench and charge about £80. With the Stuart Turner brass-bodied pumps this may only be necessary once every ten years, which isn't bad when you consider that most cheaper plastic pumps cannot be maintained at all, once they leak, you have to get a new one fitted, and don't often last longer than five years, especially in harder water areas.

gpah20

Hig just read this and tought that unvented fits have to be fitted by qualified plumber and have to have anuual service. You can get decent pumps with 3 year guarantee wouldn't that be cheaper

mute_posting

gpah20 wrote: »

Hig just read this and tought that unvented fits have to be fitted by qualified plumber and have to have anuual service. You can get decent pumps with 3 year guarantee wouldn't that be cheaper

UN-vented mains pressure hot water systems need notifying to building inspector and an annual test/inspection AFAIK.

You can get VENTED mains pressure hot water systems - I have a Gledhil pulsacoil that I'm very hapy with, but the same as the unvented solution - there is a big up-front cost to buy install it.