Hot water pressure ?

[J4CKO]

We are having some improvements, re-jig the kitchen and utility, was going to be an extension but we decided it was getting too expensive and too much hassle for limited gain.

Anyway, plumber mentioned two of the three new taps wont work, downstairs loo one is fine, the utility sink one isnt and the Boiling tap for the kitchen isnt either (Franke Minerva) this is because we have a system boiler (old Valiant) and not a Combi, so apparently our options are,

New unvented hot water cylinder will apparently boost the pressure, problem is it wont go in the location it currently is in.

Get a Combi Boiler fitted

Suck it and see if its usable.

Get different taps, not the end of the world but not sure what Boiling taps work with lower pressures.



Will it work or will the flow be utterly hopeless, not sure what our water pressure from the cylinder actually is, any info gratefully received !

[J4CKO]

Also, if we go for a new boiler, are Worster Bosch the ones to go for these days ?

[Herbs]

How big is the house?
How many people?

I'm a fan of combi's but their sweet spot according to the plumbers we use is flats and up to 3 bedrooms. 4+ bedrooms are better off with a traditional condensing boiler.

[J4CKO]

decent sized 4 bed 30s detached, 3 to 5 people depending on who is home from Uni.

[Herbs]

For the boiling tap, the boiler element is almost irrelevant isn't it?

Wouldn't you just need to run mains cold to it, that could be done regardless of whether you have a gravity fed system or pressurised.

Im not an expert on them but I can't imagine it would work off hot water.

[Black_S3]

If everything else is working fine then surely different taps? I'd really be questioning how trustworthy the plumber is if 3 taps ends up as a replacement boiler job unless the current one is on it's last legs anyway. The only thing I can think is they're waterfall style taps and the hot doesn't have enough pressure for them to work decently, hot will still flow out of them tho so they will work, but maybe just be a bit st.

Herbs said:

For the boiling tap, the boiler element is almost irrelevant isn't it?

Wouldn't you just need to run mains cold to it, that could be done regardless of whether you have a gravity fed system or pressurised.

Im not an expert on them but I can't imagine it would work off hot water.

I'd always assumed they worked off cold and heated with a 5k+ electric element... Makes no sense why hot would be involved as they'd have to pass the cold water in the pipework before any benefit came from the hot :S

Edited by Black_S3 on Thursday 18th January 19:32

[J4CKO]

Apparently the high pressure taps, designed for combis or unvented cylinders or something need at least 1.5 bar which is a lot higher than the 0.3 or so from a conventional cylinder on a system boiler.

We have just reverted to a normal tap for now but its got the wiring in place if we change, a lot dont recommend Combis and we arent sure where a bigger cylinder would go so for now we have just left it out and gone with a normal tap.

[DrDeAtH]

You could pump the existing gravity fed hot and cold with a pair of 2 bar single ended pumps.

[Viperzs]

I have been told this by my plumber about a new kitchen tap I've bought. Seems I have the same type of system as you and the same problems.