Plumbing advice
Discussion
Dear forum,
I was surprised that Google found plumbing advice on this site but as its there and you guys seem to know what you're talking about, I wonder if you have any advice for me. I've just finished reading the post "recommend me a combi boiler for 3 bath 7 bed house" and it is clear that most people advise against a combi boiler for a larger property. My place is a three storey four bed property with two shower room)and we have the system I think most would recommend - i.e. a conventional boiler, a water storage tank and a top of the range pump that cost me £600 four years ago, however, we have the following problems:
a) it takes ages for the hot water tap in the kitchen sink on the ground floor to deliver hot water - we have to run the water for 5 minutes before it actually comes out hot (strangely the other hot tap on the ground floor, in the bathroom sink heats up in only one minute).
b) the pump is very loud and goes off even when the toilets are flushed because it pumps cold water on the upper levels as well as hot water.
c) we are probably heating far more hot water than we need to as we don't use that much except when guests come to stay.
d) despite people saying our system ought to be able to cope with more than one demand, the temperature of the water is affected and the person in the en suite gets scalded if someone else in the house turns a tap on or the other shower is in use.
We are about to refurbish the whole house so this would be the ideal opportunity to improve the plumbing system but we are not sure what changes would solve the problems above. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Alternatively if you can suggest anyone that specialises in designing plumbing systems, this would also be helpful as I've not found any plumber yet I think would be up to the task.
I was surprised that Google found plumbing advice on this site but as its there and you guys seem to know what you're talking about, I wonder if you have any advice for me. I've just finished reading the post "recommend me a combi boiler for 3 bath 7 bed house" and it is clear that most people advise against a combi boiler for a larger property. My place is a three storey four bed property with two shower room)and we have the system I think most would recommend - i.e. a conventional boiler, a water storage tank and a top of the range pump that cost me £600 four years ago, however, we have the following problems:
a) it takes ages for the hot water tap in the kitchen sink on the ground floor to deliver hot water - we have to run the water for 5 minutes before it actually comes out hot (strangely the other hot tap on the ground floor, in the bathroom sink heats up in only one minute).
b) the pump is very loud and goes off even when the toilets are flushed because it pumps cold water on the upper levels as well as hot water.
c) we are probably heating far more hot water than we need to as we don't use that much except when guests come to stay.
d) despite people saying our system ought to be able to cope with more than one demand, the temperature of the water is affected and the person in the en suite gets scalded if someone else in the house turns a tap on or the other shower is in use.
We are about to refurbish the whole house so this would be the ideal opportunity to improve the plumbing system but we are not sure what changes would solve the problems above. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Alternatively if you can suggest anyone that specialises in designing plumbing systems, this would also be helpful as I've not found any plumber yet I think would be up to the task.
jozo said:
Dear forum,
I was surprised that Google found plumbing advice on this site but as its there and you guys seem to know what you're talking about, I wonder if you have any advice for me. I've just finished reading the post "recommend me a combi boiler for 3 bath 7 bed house" and it is clear that most people advise against a combi boiler for a larger property. My place is a three storey four bed property with two shower room)and we have the system I think most would recommend - i.e. a conventional boiler, a water storage tank and a top of the range pump that cost me £600 four years ago, however, we have the following problems:
a) it takes ages for the hot water tap in the kitchen sink on the ground floor to deliver hot water - we have to run the water for 5 minutes before it actually comes out hot (strangely the other hot tap on the ground floor, in the bathroom sink heats up in only one minute).
b) the pump is very loud and goes off even when the toilets are flushed because it pumps cold water on the upper levels as well as hot water.
c) we are probably heating far more hot water than we need to as we don't use that much except when guests come to stay.
d) despite people saying our system ought to be able to cope with more than one demand, the temperature of the water is affected and the person in the en suite gets scalded if someone else in the house turns a tap on or the other shower is in use.
We are about to refurbish the whole house so this would be the ideal opportunity to improve the plumbing system but we are not sure what changes would solve the problems above. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Alternatively if you can suggest anyone that specialises in designing plumbing systems, this would also be helpful as I've not found any plumber yet I think would be up to the task.
The addition of a whole house pump is really to improve an existing installation. I was surprised that Google found plumbing advice on this site but as its there and you guys seem to know what you're talking about, I wonder if you have any advice for me. I've just finished reading the post "recommend me a combi boiler for 3 bath 7 bed house" and it is clear that most people advise against a combi boiler for a larger property. My place is a three storey four bed property with two shower room)and we have the system I think most would recommend - i.e. a conventional boiler, a water storage tank and a top of the range pump that cost me £600 four years ago, however, we have the following problems:
a) it takes ages for the hot water tap in the kitchen sink on the ground floor to deliver hot water - we have to run the water for 5 minutes before it actually comes out hot (strangely the other hot tap on the ground floor, in the bathroom sink heats up in only one minute).
b) the pump is very loud and goes off even when the toilets are flushed because it pumps cold water on the upper levels as well as hot water.
c) we are probably heating far more hot water than we need to as we don't use that much except when guests come to stay.
d) despite people saying our system ought to be able to cope with more than one demand, the temperature of the water is affected and the person in the en suite gets scalded if someone else in the house turns a tap on or the other shower is in use.
We are about to refurbish the whole house so this would be the ideal opportunity to improve the plumbing system but we are not sure what changes would solve the problems above. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Alternatively if you can suggest anyone that specialises in designing plumbing systems, this would also be helpful as I've not found any plumber yet I think would be up to the task.
If gutting the house and starting again, then a pressurised 'Megaflow' type system would be the way to go.
If the pipe runs are such that it will take an age for the hot water to run, then these systems allow for the hot water to be circulated on a 'ring' and this will give almost instant hot water to all the taps on the ring.
You will need to ensure that your water supply to the house has both sufficient flow and pressure.
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