Water Pressure

gemmaphillips

Help!

We have an issue with our cold water pressure being too high, and as we only have a shower that runs off the tap, quite often its far too hot as even turning on the cold a smidge makes the whole thing ice cold.

We can't afford an expensive pump or anything, we had a plumber take a look who quoted us £465 for a pressure regulator pump - but there must be a cheaper solution.

Should i look at more quotes from a plumber or is this about right?

thanks all!

Avoriaz

£465? :eek:

That sounds very steep.

We have a pressure limiting valve (that might not be the correct terminology) just above the stopcock under the kitchen sink. It limits the incoming mains water pressure to 2.5 bar. It is adjustable between 1 bar and 6 bar I think. It looks like this.

They cost under £20 plus perhaps £50 to £70 for fitting if you can't DIY it.

I don't know if that will solve your water pressure problem however so wait until someone more knowledgable comes along.

Is your cold water mains pressure and your hot water tank gravity fed? That will make controlling temperature very difficult.

lammy82

Find the stopcock (the thing you would use to shut the water off if you had a leak).

With the cold tap running, turn the stopcock down until the pressure reaches an acceptable level.

I did this when the water mains got upgraded on our road and suddenly I was blasting the kettle out of my hand every time I tried to fill it up.

Hintza

I'm with lammy on this one.

gemmaphillips

That looks incredibly similar to the gadget we we shown....only different being the metal part was a lot bigger - almost looked like a water tank in itself.

So pleased we didn't think sod it and go for it! This looks like a much better solution, we will need to pay for fitting - don't trust the other half to not cut the water off entirely! But this sounds much more reasonable that we were quoted.

I'm going checkatrade next time, not leaflet through the door!

My Savvy Saver aspirations are slowly coming to fruition!

gemmaphillips

Thanks Lammy will try that one first!

lammy82

lammy82 wrote: »

Find the stopcock (the thing you would use to shut the water off if you had a leak).

With the cold tap running, turn the stopcock down until the pressure reaches an acceptable level.

I did this when the water mains got upgraded on our road and suddenly I was blasting the kettle out of my hand every time I tried to fill it up.

Apparently this isn't actually supposed to work because you're not reducing the pressure, just the flow rate. But that might be enough so I still reckon it's worth a try. It worked for me and my kettle anyway.

keystone

gemmaphillips wrote: »

We have an issue with our cold water pressure being too high, and as we only have a shower that runs off the tap, quite often its far too hot as even turning on the cold a smidge makes the whole thing ice cold.

How are the remainder of your cold taps supplied? Do you have a combi boiler?

We can't afford an expensive pump or anything, we had a plumber take a look who quoted us £465 for a pressure regulator pump - but there must be a cheaper solution.

That does sound expensive but I have to ask what PRV is he suggesting? I mean you can buy a generic "tap" for a very wide range of prices and specs.

TBH I would suggest that the EBay cheapo is not money well spent. Screwfix do a reasonable one for £20 and they also do a good Honeywell oner for £ 30.

Should i look at more quotes from a plumber or is this about right?

Get some more quotes.

Cheers

keystone

gemmaphillips wrote: »

I'm going checkatrade next time, not leaflet through the door!

Out of the frying pan into the fire. You might just as well stick a pin in the yellow pages.

gemmaphillips wrote: »

Thanks Lammy will try that one first!

As Lammy has since found out all you do is reduce the flow rate. You will not change the pressure one iota. My earlier questions on your other taps and your boiler type are germane to this as well.

Cheers