I have a question about British houses

Ellie83

Hello everyone! Please forgive my very silly question but I came across something rather strange in the Home Buyer's Report we just received.

The report mentions a cold water tank in the loft space... This type of system has not been used in my home country for decades, and the house we're thinking of buying here was built in the early 2000s...

I really am baffled... I have forwarded questions regarding the use of the tank to the vendor (ie, does it only feed the central heating or does it also feed the bathroom taps) but have not heard anything back as of yet.

Is it a common system in the UK? It wouldn't be a deal breaker for us as we intend to install a combi boiler in the coming years anyway (should we get the house, obviously!). I am just a bit puzzled... Plus I wouldn't know what to budget for the yearly maintenance of such a system.

Any posts that could enlighten me are welcome :rotfl:

BitterAndTwisted

The annual maintenance is negligible. Usually the tank in the loft-space supplies the cold-water to the bathroom taps as well as the heating-system.

This sort of system is not unusual in this country although combi-systems appear to be getting more popular as you're only heating the hot-water as needed rather than heating up a whole tank at a time. I have such a system and have had it for a very long time. Not a penny in maintenance has been spent on it in 20 years or so.

dktreesea

This kind of system is fairly typical. Mains water directly comes into the kitchen (usually) and via the cold water tank in the loft for the bathroom.

Eve4ever

Same here

i have lived in a housing association flat for 16 years and they have never serviced it. It goes without saying (but I will anyway) you don't drink from the bathroom taps :-)

Ellie83

Thanks for your replies

I was worried it would cost a bomb to maintain I will just have to check that it is properly insulated, as well as the pipe work around it.

Ellie83

Eve4ever wrote: »

Same here

i have lived in a housing association flat for 16 years and they have never serviced it. It goes without saying (but I will anyway) you don't drink from the bathroom taps :-)

I didn't know that!!! :eek:

If only there was a way for me to know which taps are connected to this tank... Do you think a vendor would know such technical details? I suppose I could ask a plumber to come and tell us if we move in.

geoffky

Ellie83 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies

I was worried it would cost a bomb to maintain I will just have to check that it is properly insulated, as well as the pipe work around it.

It is one of the main causes of leaks in a house.plus the ballcock can sometimes stick ...

Ellie83

geoffky wrote: »

It is one of the main causes of leaks in a house.plus the ballcock can sometimes stick ...

Not so reassuring... I think I will have to do my homework or we would have to save really fast to install our combi...

Ellie83

And I have another question... (although it may be better to ask in the "In your home" part of the forum, but you never know!)

The EPC for the property we are buying at the moment says that the hot water tank is fed via the main water system. Isn't the tank redundant then? I am really lost as you can see

geoffky

Ellie83 wrote: »

Not so reassuring... I think I will have to do my homework or we would have to save really fast to install our combi...

It is not a major problem and i would not be worried about it but just be aware that these things can happen..

picklepick

I'd google 'removing a cold water tank' and read the responses. The water from tanks tend to be a much lower pressure than mains pressure and if you switch to mains you can discover that pipework isn't able to cope with the higher pressure and it will leak. Taps and shower heads etc might also need changing as can toilet cistern systems, apparently. So if you're thinking of changing it after you've purchased the house, it's something to consider.