Noisy water pipes

JuzaMum

The stop male chicken for my home is conveniently behind the sofa in the lounge. The water pipe goes up the wall to the bathroom and boiler. Every time water is being used anywhere in the house, the noise is horrible. What can we do to silence or at least lessen the noise? My husband has spent some time Googling but not come up with anything. Tia 

Martin_the_Unjust

Turn the stop valve down a little.

JuzaMum

Martin_the_Unjust said:

Turn the stop valve down a little.

Would that not just make the water pressure lower and mean it would take longer to fill the bath etc?

bjorn_toby_wilde

You’re mixing up pressure and flow, but yes it would reduce the flow rate. Try it and see if you can find a compromise point where there’s less noise but you can live with the flow rate.

Alderbank

I think choking the chicken behind the sofa will generate flow turbulence and eddy currents and will actually increase the noise in the living room.

Open it fully to smooth the flow at that point.

You can do your flow restricting, with its attendant noise, as and when needed elsewhere in the house.

If you still get noise you might want to consider installing a water hammer arrestor (£30 or less from screwfix) as close to the source of noise as you can.

JuzaMum

Alderbank said:

I think choking the chicken behind the sofa will generate flow turbulence and eddy currents and will actually increase the noise in the living room.

Open it fully to smooth the flow at that point.

You can do your flow restricting, with its attendant noise, as and when needed elsewhere in the house.

If you still get noise you might want to consider installing a water hammer arrestor (£30 or less from screwfix) as close to the source of noise as you can.

Thank you, I shall send hubby to Screwfix, I'd not heard of a water hammer arrestor. The stop male chicken is fully open at the moment. We have a larger size bath (through choice) so I'm reluctant to reduce the water flow.

daveyjp

It may only need a quarter turn, not enough to affect flow and in reality flow rate is dependent on how your hot water is heated.  If its a modern combi the boiler will regulate to ensure the water is heated to the set temperature.

If its a hot water tank mains flow won't effect how quickly the tank empties.

Martin_the_Unjust

JuzaMum said:

Alderbank said:

I think choking the chicken behind the sofa will generate flow turbulence and eddy currents and will actually increase the noise in the living room.

Open it fully to smooth the flow at that point.

You can do your flow restricting, with its attendant noise, as and when needed elsewhere in the house.

If you still get noise you might want to consider installing a water hammer arrestor (£30 or less from screwfix) as close to the source of noise as you can.

Thank you, I shall send hubby to Screwfix, I'd not heard of a water hammer arrestor. The stop male chicken is fully open at the moment. We have a larger size bath (through choice) so I'm reluctant to reduce the water flow.

Before spending money just turn the stop valve down a quarter turn or so, it wont have a noticeable effect on flow rates (there is lots of stuff already doing that anyway) and it is the simplest way of almost certainly solving your problem.

WIAWSNB

Whoa, JuzaMum!
Before you spend money, or install stuff, let's try and figure out what the cause is.
First, what is the actual noise? A harsh roar? A deep hiss? A 'bang' when taps are opened and closed?
And, what is your mains supply like? When you run your kitchen cold, or garden tap, how would you describe the result? Gushin'? Splashing? A jet from your house that reaches the bottom of your garden? An impossible-to-stop flow using yer thumb?
And, could you place a container under either of these taps, and turn it on full for 6 seconds. Measure the litres, and times it by ten to get 'litres per minute', please?
This pipe - is it bare copper?

bjorn_toby_wilde

JuzaMum said:

Alderbank said:

I think choking the chicken behind the sofa will generate flow turbulence and eddy currents and will actually increase the noise in the living room.

Open it fully to smooth the flow at that point.

You can do your flow restricting, with its attendant noise, as and when needed elsewhere in the house.

If you still get noise you might want to consider installing a water hammer arrestor (£30 or less from screwfix) as close to the source of noise as you can.

Thank you, I shall send hubby to Screwfix, I'd not heard of a water hammer arrestor. The stop male chicken is fully open at the moment. We have a larger size bath (through choice) so I'm reluctant to reduce the water flow.

Don’t do that before trying the simpler and cheaper solutions suggested first. What you describe doesn’t sound like water hammer

Le_Kirk

You don't have to keep calling  it a stop male chicken, just type stopcock without the space, which is the correct way!