Plumbing Query- Hot water tank

Roundabouts

Hi, my house has a direct plumbing system i.e. there is no water tank in the attic. I have a problem with my current hot water cylinder (thermal store) and was told that I can replace it with a normal hot water tank that just stores water heated by the gas boiler. However would this mean that I would need to install a water tank in the loft or elsewhere? Thanks for any info.

AquaJen

Not if installing an unvented cylinder (a megaflo type system). I would guess that is what is being suggested.

unclebulgaria

Ditto what Jen said but take into account pressure/temp relief piping from the new unvented cylinder.
Whats the current problem?

southcoastrgi

if you have a thermal store it already is giving mains pressure & is heated by the boiler unless it's only electric ie econ 7 but if you have a boiler then this is unlikely, make, model, pics would help.

keystone

Ah so you have a sludge bucket then. It probably needs a damned good clean out. The fact that you don't have a tank in the roof doesn't mean you haven't got a header tank for it. Some of them have it integrated and it just sits on top. A cold water storage tank is not required with a heat bank (thermal store)

It sounds to me as though you've been recommended to change to a conventional vented system that would require a CWST. Provided your thermal store can be cleaned out and made to function correctly then I don't see the point and that would be the MSE way to do it.

As others have noted perhaps you would be kind enough to provide make / model details then we can be certain that you do have a thermal store and not an unvented cylinder.

Cheers

Roundabouts

keystone wrote: »

As others have noted perhaps you would be kind enough to provide make / model details then we can be certain that you do have a thermal store and not an unvented cylinder.

Cheers

Thanks for all the help everyone. The thermal store is a Gledhill Boilermate II. They don't make them anymore apparently so I can't just replace it. And I'm not sure if the current versions i.e. Boilermate BP or the Torrent MultiFuelStore will fit into my small airing cupboard. Hence why I am having to consider getting a simpler hot water cylinder or get rid of it altogether and get a combi boiler.

southcoastrgi

an unvented cylinder is the natural way to go, most of the pipework is already there for it, IMO if you are used to mains pressure hotwater you won't like the flow rate from a combi.

keystone

What makes you think the existing unit isn't recoverable? You haven't yet detailed the problem hinted at in your lead post.

Cheers

southcoastrgi

good call KS we still don't know what's wrong with it

Roundabouts

keystone wrote: »

What makes you think the existing unit isn't recoverable? You haven't yet detailed the problem hinted at in your lead post.

Cheers

Many thanks for all the contributions. When the boiler/central heating system is switched on at the isolator switch the RCD trips in the consumer unit. I had British Gas around twice to try and repair it. They seemed a bit incompetent and incorrectly diagnosed a faulty heat pump. This was replaced but the problem persisted. Eventually they more or less gave and blamed it on my house wiring which to be honest seemed like a rather lame excuse because they couldn't do their job properly.

My house is only 10 years old so has modern wiring so I thought that it were rather unlikely that there was an issue with my house wiring. Anyway, I thought I'd better give them the benefit of the doubt and got an electrician (British Gas bafflingly couldn't send one of their own electricians). The electrician found that there was nothing wrong with the house wiring. Then he isolated the boiler and thermal store in turn and diagnosed the problem as being with the thermal store. So then he isolated each component on the thermal store (circuit boards, pumps, etc.) in turn and tested it. He thought that there was something wrong with the boiler pump but that had already been replaced with a new pump by British Gas. So he could only conclude that there was an internal problem with the thermal store.

They don't make the thermal store anymore (i.e. Gledhill Boliermate II) and the later versions may be too big for my airing cupboard. Hence why he suggested a normal hot water cylinder or get rid of it completely and get a combi boiler.

keystone

I've just answered on your other thread. Sorry to seem picky but these things are usually best dealt with in a single location on these boards. I'll copy my answer over here in a moment for completeness.

Cheers