Increasing Hot Water Pressure

steve_r123

This may sound a bit simple to the discussion taking place, but are you sure the main inlet (stopcock or whatever it's called) is fully open?

Mine wasnt, and even though the cold water seemed fine, the hot getting up to the bathroom was very low pressure. I checked the main inlet under the kitchen sink and it was only half open. Opened it fully and the hot water upstairs instantly went up to what I would class as 'normal'.

Sometimes it's easy to overlook the simple things.:D

Cardew

steve_r123 wrote: »

This may sound a bit simple to the discussion taking place, but are you sure the main inlet (stopcock or whatever it's called) is fully open?

Mine wasnt, and even though the cold water seemed fine, the hot getting up to the bathroom was very low pressure. I checked the main inlet under the kitchen sink and it was only half open. Opened it fully and the hot water upstairs instantly went up to what I would class as 'normal'.

Sometimes it's easy to overlook the simple things.:D

That shouldn't affect our systems as the HW is gravity fed.

The cold water simply fills a header tank which effectively provides the pressure for the hot water system - the 'head'.

In my system the HW pipes in question went up(to the attic) and were not much below the level of the header tank. Also long pipes and restrictions lower the pressure.

steve_r123

Sorry. I didnt add that I have a combi boiler, and was responding to the OP. I didnt check the date on the first post.:o

dogshome

Re Low pressure on an upstairs shower. I had this problem which even raising the storage tank couldn't resolve. Had a look at the loft pumps on sale and didn't fancy the noise from this industrial sized kit or the possibility of a leak problem. However my local 'Proper Plumbing Shop' supplied a SHOWERFORCE BOOST pump, this is a low voltage pump with cosmetic cover that is fitted high up in the shower cubicle, (transformer in the loft - double pole pull cord isolating switch just inside the bathroom door), between the shower mixer control valve and the outlet rose, so that it is in fact pulling both the hot and cold through the mixer valve with a pressure sensor so that it only works when the shower is turned on. It solved the problem and has been working OK for 6 years with the benifit to my peace of mind in that if it does spring a leak, all the water will be contained within the shower enclosure.

sammie6

Hi there,

Looks like I have found this a bit late so you may have already had this sorted. (I am a plumber, by the way).
Note: generally your h/w suppy can only be as good as your c/w supply!
If you have a combi then you are limited in your options although there are some good boilers now that deliver h/w at high pressures and flow rates.

As you have a gravity fed system there are a few options, the most effective, cheapest solution is to raise the height of the c/w storage tank in your loft, if you can get another 1 - 1.5m height, great.

Or you can have a pump fitted on to the c/w supply pipe from your c/w storage tank to your cylinder. However, you WILL run out of hot water much faster than usual and you will have to wait for the new water to be heated or use your immersion.

carrigov

I have a similar problem and would appreciate some advice. I have a gravity system and have fitted a new bathroom suite with a mixer valve that feeds the bath and shower. The room also has a sink with a mixer tap that is fed by seperate hot and cold pipes.

After fitting the bathroom suite the hot water pressure is very low and is little more than a trickle. However, the hot water flow to the kitchen below (which is taps into the bathroom piping) is fine.

The hot water feeder tank is in the loft and the cylinder (hotwater) is in the bedroom at the other side of the house - preventing the feed tank from being directly above the cylinder. I have noticed that the pipe coming from the feeder tank is not completely level and i had to fit gate values between that feeder tank and the cylinder to get sufficient pressure to fill the cylinder at all (using a build up of pressure to push the water through).

Does anyone know how i can resolve the problem of low pressure without installing a pump?

Cardew

carrigov wrote: »

Does anyone know how i can resolve the problem of low pressure without installing a pump?

From an earlier post

As you have a gravity fed system there are a few options, the most effective, cheapest solution is to raise the height of the c/w storage tank in your loft, if you can get another 1 - 1.5m height, great.

:

That wasn't possible for me so the pump was the only solution.