Found a tap - says minimum 0.5 pressure do I have this?

bootman

I really need some help, I posted that I was struggling to find bath taps for my new frees standing bath that were floor mounted, but got no replies.

I have found a wall mounted one that say minimum 0.5 for the pressure. A Hudson Reed Tec wall mounted one.http://www.ultra-group.co.uk/productdetails.asp?types=1&rangeid=27&productid=1171

I have a gravity fed system, I have read how you are supposed to calculate the distance, but it seems clear as mud to me,

When it says measure from the bottom on the cold tank to where the water comes out, does it mean just the actual drop in height, or is it literally from the bottom of the tank, along the ceiling and down the walls to the tap position.

Many thanks

CliffWalker_2

It just means the drop in height, not the total distance. Its to do with the head of pressure.

bootman

So my bathroom could be 50 ft away from the tank, but the height for the calculation would still be maybe 3 metres?

beetlebum_2

You'll need 5 metres distance in height between the outlet of the water tank and the tap outlet.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Unless you live in a three story house (or higher) you wont have the pressure. (if your bathroom is on the 1st floor, like most, that is).

beetlebum_2

bootman wrote: »

So my bathroom could be 50 ft away from the tank, but the height for the calculation would still be maybe 3 metres?

In which case, you won't have enough pressure, so the taps won't be suitable.

davetrousers

0.5 bar means your tap would need to be at least 5m below the water level of your tank (this of course varies as the tank fills and empties).

You don't really need to consider horizontal distance away, say the tank is at the from of the house and bath at the back. However as stated above You're very unlikely to get that difference in height (and therefore have sufficient pressure. These taps are almost certainly only going to be suitable for "mains supplied" fittings.

bootman

Back to square one again then thanks everyone for explaining.

Wookey

As DaveT says, if you do measure up like this you also need to make an allowance for loss of pressure due to the length and sizing of pipe runs, branches etc, in the case of needing a 1/2 bar of pressure and 5m head i would allow an extra metre in a domestic situation. So ideally you would be looking for a 6m head min which is approx 20ft.

Mankysteve

B&Q do a pressure tester thingy for around 20ish I think.

keystone

bootman wrote: »

Back to square one again then thanks everyone for explaining.

Not necessarily. You could always pump it. Having said that its almost inevitable with a standard two storey house and an open vented system that you'll have iro 0.2 - 0.25bar static head. No need to measure it at all. Thats what it will be so your tap fails on minimum pressure anyway unless, as stated, you pump the supplies.

However, what is the flow rate through this tap at both minimum 0.5 bar pressure and at, say, 2 bar? That's a common cause of disappointment when the tap has a pressure greater than minimum but poor flowrate due to restrictive internals 1/4 turn ceramic discs and restrictive piping - flexi connectors and narrow bore iso valves.

Cheers.