Is it really necessary to have a water tank in the loft?

[FiscoKing]

Please bare with me, I'm not a professional plumber, and was wondering why you have to have a cold water tank in your loft.

The only thing my cold water tank seems to feed is the hot water cylinder & power showers. Why can these not be connected to the main water supply instead?

The reason I'm asking is because I want the space in the loft for other stuff (storage). It's not just the space the tank takes up (50 gal), it's all the pipes that run this way and that. It's impossible to move up there.

My central heating system is about 20 years old and is due for replacement. My neighbour had hers replaced and the hot water cylinder is now in the garage with the boiler (a pressured system that keeps the hot water pressure constant - so she says). I dont know if she still needed her cold water tank.

Are there ch & hw systems that can be bought these days which do not require cold water tanks? Or will I have to have one regardless.

Could the cold water tank be sited somewhere else like the garage too?

My showers are fed from electric pumps, so i assume they would pull water from wherever the cold water tank was sited.

Thanks.

 

[corgiman]

they can

you have an INDIRECT system and a mains fed one is called a DIRECT system

you can site a water cistern anywhere as long as it is above your taps as you need gravity to feed the water down

 

[gas4you]

Corgi, do you mean he has gravity and you can get mains un-vented pressuried cylinders

A mains unvented sytem is what you need, but to let this work efficiently you will need around 3 bar incoming mains pressure, around 20 litres/min flow rate and a 22mm minimum cold mains pipe size. You would also have to get rid of your power showers as they cannot work on a mains pressure system. On the other hand all your hot outlets will be at mains pressure. This type of cylinder can be sited almost anywhere but needs aplumber who is registered for unvented to fit it.

They are also very expensive to buy and fit.

 

[corgiman]

Corgi, do you mean he has gravity and you can get mains un-vented pressuried cylinders

I first telling him that you could indeed get tanks off the main


then I answered his question about moving his existing tank



Cos I'm a good lad me

 

[gas4you]

I'll let you off this time as I'm feeling rough today, don't even fancy a stella or grolsch I feel so bad (well not yet anyway )

 

[corgiman]

I'll let you off this time as I'm feeling rough today, don't even fancy a stella or grolsch I feel so bad

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH


Its armageddon!!

as it is written

the sun shall turn as sack cloth
the four will ride again
the sea shall give up the dead

and Dave will have a gippy tum which will put him of drinking


REPENT REPENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gas4you]

Awww, what the hell, a stella with a couple of ibruprofen and co-codamols will probably work wonders in about 30 mins

 

[corgiman]

Awww, what the hell, a stella with a couple of ibruprofen and co-codamols will probably work wonders in about 30 mins

PHEWWWW I can put me bible down now

 

[FiscoKing]

Thanks for that chaps.

I did some searching on unvented sealed bioler and found this site:

http://www.aquabrand.com/article/uk-heating-systems-and-boilers

I see what you mean now.

How do I go about testing my mains water pressure in the 1st floor bathroom? Or can I do this downstairs near the cold water inlet to the house and calculate what it would be like at the 1st floor bathroom assuming length of pipe run & diameter?

Or is this job best left for a heating engineer?

My pipework is not 22mm, see the picture of my meter in the gf toilet:

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/DSC00239.jpg

seemsto be something larger than 15mm to the main tap, and then 15mm thereafter. Pipe from the floor looks to be plastic too.

I see from other posts that if your mains pressure & flow rate is good enough then a shower pump is not needed. I already have a thermostatic shower mixer (works down to 0.2 bar, so the manual says, cost me £150).

My existing power shower pump is rated at 1.5 bar.

Thanks.

 

[Garfeild]

Awww, what the hell, a stella with a couple of ibruprofen and co-codamols will probably work wonders in about 30 mins

Stick a couple of Pethedine in that lot,then youre getting somewhere near,i was floating around the van!

 

[gas4you]

 

[bobthebender]

Awww, what the hell, a stella with a couple of ibruprofen and co-codamols will probably work wonders in about 30 mins

STELLA ?....You eastern boys are big softies
Mix these together

 

[oilman]

You do NOT NEED an unvented tank. I agree they have some advantages, but they have one effin great disadvantage and that's the cost of living with the damned things.

They cost a lot, they cost a lot to have installed, they cost a lot for ANNUAL inspection, and they cost a lot to have the bits repalced (which also cost a lot).

Compare this with the ordinary tank which needs a washer on the ball cock attending to maybe as often as every FIFTEEN YEARS!!!

Others will disagree with me, but I am as certified as them to install them, and I do, and I fix them, and I do quite nicely out of them. I also tell people of the cost beforehand, and they still have more money than sense.

A vented tank will do all you NEED. You can look on the cost of living with the unvented tank as rent for the space you have just gained, because this space will not be "free".

 

[wilhelm]

bob, ive heard of a snakebite.

so wot the fr kk is a cider and bitter called?

.besides headache etc.

 

[FiscoKing]

Thanks oilman.