Whole house pump....
Discussion
Right,
We need a whole house pump, but we are not sure which would be a good make, what pressure to get or even if it is positive or negative head.
We are in a bungalow, 120g of water tanks in the loft, hot water cylinder in the hall way below the area where the cold water storage is, we have three bathrooms with three showers and two baths, and three toilets. And a kitchen (only hot though as cold is fed in directly from the outside IIRC).
Soooo, any ideas?
We need a whole house pump, but we are not sure which would be a good make, what pressure to get or even if it is positive or negative head.
We are in a bungalow, 120g of water tanks in the loft, hot water cylinder in the hall way below the area where the cold water storage is, we have three bathrooms with three showers and two baths, and three toilets. And a kitchen (only hot though as cold is fed in directly from the outside IIRC).
Soooo, any ideas?
I live in a big bungalow and have had no problems with hot water pressure since I installed a 250 litre unvented (Heatrae Megaflow) cylinder in place of the old copper vented one. I think a tank of that size would retail at about £1000 plus fitting.
Eliminates the need for water storage in the loft to supply the cylinder and of course, no noise from a pump. I'd be suprised if your bathroom cold taps are being supplied by a tank and if they are, might be a good time to change the supply over to the mains.
Eliminates the need for water storage in the loft to supply the cylinder and of course, no noise from a pump. I'd be suprised if your bathroom cold taps are being supplied by a tank and if they are, might be a good time to change the supply over to the mains.
Gingerbread Man said:
From expirence, people want the advantages of good pressure from a pump, but the noise every time the pump starts/ you open a tap, becomes wearing.
You can't ever really silence them.
Well, we went and bought some lovely waterfall taps...... So we need a whole house pump to make them work... The quieter the better of course, but we can and will accept that there will be noise (let's face it, I have rather noisy fishtanks).You can't ever really silence them.
We have a stuart taylor iirc. i cant remember model number but i will say that it works very well.
Yes theres more noise than no pump but its really not that bad. The fact water comes out quickly far outweighs the noise.
Key is instalation. Pipework must be secured and the pump itself wants to be on a mat or carpet and then a board underneath.
Ours was hideous at first but that was down to the plumber leaving pipes unsecured.....
Yes theres more noise than no pump but its really not that bad. The fact water comes out quickly far outweighs the noise.
Key is instalation. Pipework must be secured and the pump itself wants to be on a mat or carpet and then a board underneath.
Ours was hideous at first but that was down to the plumber leaving pipes unsecured.....
Dear Sir, Re: Whole of House Pump - Some advice which may assist in your choice of power 
I took the wrong advice from 'the plumber from hell' about 5 years ago.. he told me I NEEDED a 5.5bar whole of house pump as our corner bath/Jacuzzi stated it required 3 bar and above.. yes that's right.. needed !
On first trying the shower with its inbuilt body massage nozzles (trade descriptions suit duly filed for change of name to jet blasting cabinet), the mighty power of the jet wash was truly experienced.. with ones private parts being blasted against door and desperately leaning forward into the storm muttering, "Must switch off before I drown.." the force was no different to that of my Karcher, albeit somewhat hotter.. Actually, a Steam Cleaner would be a better description. As the valve closed, the whole shower cubicle rocked as the pipes flexed due to the pressure, and I watched the torrent in the base slowly start to drain.. my ankles were still in about 3" of water
"I'm still alive", I muttered whilst grabbing large breaths of air. I opened the blast doors shower doors and stepped out of the Abyss.
I staggered out of the spare rooms on-suite and into our bathroom to dry my face, arms outstretched in a poise not dissimilar to that of a zombie. With out thinking and hovering over the waterfall glass sink, I grabbed a face flannel and pulled on the lever to once again summon the God of water. Clearly the brain was suffering from shock because even a madman would not once again unleash the torrent. This time in a clam shaped and very open glass sink.. but I'd already pulled the tap and at that exact moment had envisaged the drama about to ensue. In slow motion, I felt the vibration coming up through the floor as the angry water came screaming out of the tap and watched as the inevitable tidal wave formed in the blink of an eye. Waterfall??
"Noooooooooo!", I stammered, and held up my face flannel like a crucifix against the devil, but the devil was laughing too hard and I knew I was doomed. Obviously closing the valve would have been the sensible thing to do, but instead I stepped away in fear to witness the spectacular water feature that I had now installed in my bathroom. The fan shaped waterfall took no prisoners - water was directed directly squarely at the ceiling as its first port of call, narrowly missing the light fitting. I was like Homer watching a butterfly, I observed, again in slow mo, as everything in the room was consumed in water. After realising that it would not stop until I closed the tap, I reached out and struck the top quelling the flow in a manly fashion. The water stopped but I could hear the pump still running..
Now worrying that the pump from hell had possessed the rest of the house, I ran downstairs to see if water was leaking from anywhere else. My wife was walking towards the kitchen sink and she said," Oh that's strange.. there is water dribbling out of the tap... may be it's not shut fully". I watched her hand reach out to check the valve and let out another, "Nooooooooooooooo!!!" but it fell on deaf ears and she pushed first, then while looking at me like I was deranged, pulled on the lever from Hell and I watched as the swan neck raised from the pressure before delivering its payload like some heat ray from a martians' tripod.. she did the same as me and stepped back. The force was incredible, we now had an upward fountain which was ricocheting off the ceiling. Doing the man thing I ran in fearless and closed the valve. The pump was still running in the back ground.. "Don't move" I stated and went to the pump and pulled the fuse. "It's safe now" I said
Stats:
I took the wrong advice from 'the plumber from hell' about 5 years ago.. he told me I NEEDED a 5.5bar whole of house pump as our corner bath/Jacuzzi stated it required 3 bar and above.. yes that's right.. needed !
On first trying the shower with its inbuilt body massage nozzles (trade descriptions suit duly filed for change of name to jet blasting cabinet), the mighty power of the jet wash was truly experienced.. with ones private parts being blasted against door and desperately leaning forward into the storm muttering, "Must switch off before I drown.." the force was no different to that of my Karcher, albeit somewhat hotter.. Actually, a Steam Cleaner would be a better description. As the valve closed, the whole shower cubicle rocked as the pipes flexed due to the pressure, and I watched the torrent in the base slowly start to drain.. my ankles were still in about 3" of water
"I'm still alive", I muttered whilst grabbing large breaths of air. I opened the I staggered out of the spare rooms on-suite and into our bathroom to dry my face, arms outstretched in a poise not dissimilar to that of a zombie. With out thinking and hovering over the waterfall glass sink, I grabbed a face flannel and pulled on the lever to once again summon the God of water. Clearly the brain was suffering from shock because even a madman would not once again unleash the torrent. This time in a clam shaped and very open glass sink.. but I'd already pulled the tap and at that exact moment had envisaged the drama about to ensue. In slow motion, I felt the vibration coming up through the floor as the angry water came screaming out of the tap and watched as the inevitable tidal wave formed in the blink of an eye. Waterfall??
"Noooooooooo!", I stammered, and held up my face flannel like a crucifix against the devil, but the devil was laughing too hard and I knew I was doomed. Obviously closing the valve would have been the sensible thing to do, but instead I stepped away in fear to witness the spectacular water feature that I had now installed in my bathroom. The fan shaped waterfall took no prisoners - water was directed directly squarely at the ceiling as its first port of call, narrowly missing the light fitting. I was like Homer watching a butterfly, I observed, again in slow mo, as everything in the room was consumed in water. After realising that it would not stop until I closed the tap, I reached out and struck the top quelling the flow in a manly fashion. The water stopped but I could hear the pump still running.. Now worrying that the pump from hell had possessed the rest of the house, I ran downstairs to see if water was leaking from anywhere else. My wife was walking towards the kitchen sink and she said," Oh that's strange.. there is water dribbling out of the tap... may be it's not shut fully". I watched her hand reach out to check the valve and let out another, "Nooooooooooooooo!!!" but it fell on deaf ears and she pushed first, then while looking at me like I was deranged, pulled on the lever from Hell and I watched as the swan neck raised from the pressure before delivering its payload like some heat ray from a martians' tripod.. she did the same as me and stepped back. The force was incredible, we now had an upward fountain which was ricocheting off the ceiling. Doing the man thing I ran in fearless and closed the valve. The pump was still running in the back ground.. "Don't move" I stated and went to the pump and pulled the fuse. "It's safe now" I said
Stats:
- A 5.5 bar pump will empty a 100 litre tank in about 5 minutes on full power.
- The standard 22mm pipes are not sufficient and will cause cavitation of the pump which is bad.
- We needed to add another 50 gallon tank to allow sufficient head of water to feed the pump
- We also needed to change the feed pipe to a 28mm and add a 'salamanda' flange whatever the hell that is.
- The hot water cylinder was replaced by a larger 240litre cylinder. Restrict-ers were fitted to reduce the power of the Gods
- 1.0 bar = Ford Fiesta Power - works just fine and does the job
- 1.5 bar = MX5 shower - fun and more invigorating
- 2.5 bar = BMW M3 - power and precision
- 3.5 bar = Porsche 911 - why would you ever need anything else?
- 5.5 bar = Red Victor in your bathroom - competition use only - for when you like a challenge
That has just got me a stern look from the wife for laughing so much and disturbing her quiet evening.
5.5 bar is just mental. The plumber must have had a bet with his mates on what he could install. I put in a pump with less power than that to run a sprinkler system and that pulls water to a 6 mater head and fans the water 30 feet at a decent rate. Your gentlemans area never stood a chance. The water hammer when you close the taps should be able to be heard a mile away. With cars it is almost acceptable to say you can never have too much power (don't fully accept that) but with plumbing it's a different matter. Willy waving re pump power that strong is not recommended.
5.5 bar is just mental. The plumber must have had a bet with his mates on what he could install. I put in a pump with less power than that to run a sprinkler system and that pulls water to a 6 mater head and fans the water 30 feet at a decent rate. Your gentlemans area never stood a chance. The water hammer when you close the taps should be able to be heard a mile away. With cars it is almost acceptable to say you can never have too much power (don't fully accept that) but with plumbing it's a different matter. Willy waving re pump power that strong is not recommended.
Stood under the shower too long and now you got the flathead!?!?
And yes, you can have too much power, that was made clear to me by the Stuart and Turner pump choice line people. But when they took all bathrooms etc into account he said a 3 bar is enough, it's not too powerful to blow away the taps when they are turned on and the shower is powerful enough without feeling like I am being flayed alive. And too much power just drains the water tank (though we have 125g in the loft anyways).
So far, so good, I am rather pleased with it. Expensive, but there we go.
And yes, you can have too much power, that was made clear to me by the Stuart and Turner pump choice line people. But when they took all bathrooms etc into account he said a 3 bar is enough, it's not too powerful to blow away the taps when they are turned on and the shower is powerful enough without feeling like I am being flayed alive. And too much power just drains the water tank (though we have 125g in the loft anyways).
So far, so good, I am rather pleased with it. Expensive, but there we go.
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