How does my system work? Can I up the HW pressure?

[nedge2k]

Apologies if this is a stupid question but we recently moved house and the system in place has me a bit confused!

We have:

• 
  Drayton LP522 CH/HW controller
  Glow worm Hideaway 50 "conventional boiler"
  Albion cylinder - no part number but has "Grade 3", "Ref 2" and "Indirect" written on it.
  Honeywell L641A1039 cylinder stat (set at 55 degrees)

I think there is also some kind of tank in the loft, the cylinder lives in the bathroom in a cupboard, on the other side of the wall is the kitchen where the boiler is. Along with all the above, there's what I'm assuming is a motorised control valve, it's a silver box made by Honeywell with a thick black wire coming out of it.

Can anyone explain how this all works together? We were under the impression that the CH was via the boiler and the HW via what we were told was an immersion heater in the cupboard...but when we turn the HW on, the boiler fires up.

Is the boiler doing the CH and the HW? If so, what's the point of the immersion heater, if that's what it is? If we "put the water on" in the morning and don't use it all day, it still comes out hot in the evening.

It's probably a straight forward system but I'm a car guy not a plumber and this just seems a little odd to me!

Finally, the water pressure in the shower really sucks. I've tried a different shower head (which worked well in our last place) but it made it worse here - is there anyway to up the pressure without fitting a "power shower"?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kevplumb]

if its one of these

View media item 11149
then its what is known in the trade as a y plan

immersion is in the cylinder for summer use or back up

unless you can raise the feed tank a good way you won't increase the water pressure without a pump

 

[nedge2k]

Yep, that's the one.

So can this be setup so the water is only ever heated by the boiler and to have it "on demand" as opposed to having it constantly keeping the water hot in the tank or would we need a new boiler for that?

It feels like we're wasting alot of money on gas/electric bills when we might not need to be?

 

[kevplumb]

So can this be setup so the water is only ever heated by the boiler and to have it "on demand"

you should be able to set the timer for water only (depends on the model)

as for only ever heated by the boiler don't turn the immersion on

no you can't have it "on demand" it will have to be heated first

 

[nedge2k]

Ah so the immersion isn't an automatic thing controlled by the controller then? I don't see a switch anywhere for it in the cupboard, maybe I don't actually have one but it's a little odd seeing as when the water it timed to only come on in the morning (for an hour or two), it stays hot until the evening. Hence the confusion!

Cheers for the explanation

 

[kittedup]

The water stays hot as the cylinder is insulated to keep it that way.

You can have a power shower (pumped shower on the wall) or have a pump (seperate unit supplying pumped supplies to any shower you fancy).

Ted

 

[Whitespirit66]

You say that the cylinder is in a cupboard in the bathroom. Your friendly local plumber should be able to run a dedicated hot and cold supply from the cylinder and tanks above, through a pump to the shower. Cheaper to run and better than an electric shower.

I would use the boiler all year to heat the water in the cylinder. Heating with gas is usually cheaper than electric. Just keep the electric immersion as a back-up in case of boiler breakdown.

By keeping a cylinder of water hot all day, its doing its job. If you want water on demand, you will probably have to rip the system out and put a combi in. The payback in savings could be a decade or maybe two.

Learn to like your open vented Y-plan ch system! More reliable than a combi.

 

[nedge2k]

Cheers guys, most helpful.

To be honest, I think the shower has dedicated piping from the tank above already so will ring around and see about having a pump fitted inline

...and yeah, now I understand the system a bit more, it ain't so bad!

 

[nedge2k]

One last question, would you rate something like this:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...c_3/4|cat_14418939|Mixer+showers|14418948.htm

Seems to have quite positive reviews!

 

[kevplumb]

its ok
metal bodied pumps are usually better
there are better about depends on what you want to spend

 

[nedge2k]

not a massive amount as it's a rented house

...might see if I can convince landlord

Is 1.5bar enough? Is there a recommendation on pressure vs pipe bore?

 

[kevplumb]

1.5 ain't bad

go get it floyd

 

[nedge2k]

Think i'll go with this one:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/46231...tract-1-5bar-Shower-Pump-With-Isolators-CT-50

Couple of reviews from plumbers on there, all very positive, not much more than the other one either