Hi all,
This is my first post here so please be gentle! I have been reading lots of threads about central heating and hot water solutions, however I still have a few questions!
Scenario:
I have 2 flats that I'm converting into a 4 bedroom house, the flats currently have a combi boiler each to drive the central heating and hot water. However they do have shared mains supply which makes it easier to combine the heating systems. I don't want to use an accumulator because the difference in my mains dynamic vs static pressure is fairly high, and the flow is not always brilliant (I notice drops in flow when having a shower even though the other flat is currently empty - so it must be from the mains). I also want to ensure that I can have 2 showers running at the same time, without any drop in flow even if someone uses the washing machine / taps - this is an issue with my current combi boilers and it is really annoying - both my wife and I love showers.
My proposed solution:
Problems / Questions:
Thanks in advance,
Daven
This is my first post here so please be gentle! I have been reading lots of threads about central heating and hot water solutions, however I still have a few questions!
Scenario:
I have 2 flats that I'm converting into a 4 bedroom house, the flats currently have a combi boiler each to drive the central heating and hot water. However they do have shared mains supply which makes it easier to combine the heating systems. I don't want to use an accumulator because the difference in my mains dynamic vs static pressure is fairly high, and the flow is not always brilliant (I notice drops in flow when having a shower even though the other flat is currently empty - so it must be from the mains). I also want to ensure that I can have 2 showers running at the same time, without any drop in flow even if someone uses the washing machine / taps - this is an issue with my current combi boilers and it is really annoying - both my wife and I love showers.
My proposed solution:
- Vented hot water cylinder (250-300l)
- Cold water tank (400l)
- 2x Pumped showers
- 35kw system boiler
- Mains cold water feeding all basins, toilets and bath
Problems / Questions:
- I could put a cold water tank in the loft, however due to the way the building is structured I would need some pipes running up the wall of one of the bedrooms to reach the loft (the bathrooms are in an extension under a flat roof, with no access to the loft). This is not the end of the world, but it irritates me. To resolve this problem I thought that maybe I could have all my cold water running from the mains, except for the showers which would run from the cold tank and the hot tank via a pump. In this way, I could have the cold tank on the ground floor or the 1st floor, instead of in the loft.
- Would this work?
- How could I balance the hot/cold flow for basins / bath / etc.?
- When sizing a cold water tank, do I need to ensure it isn't "too big" so that water doesn't stagnate, or is it just a case of ensuring it doesn't fall through the floor?!
- If I wanted the toilets and bath to be fed from the cold water tank, can I place it anywhere but add a pump?
- Again, how would I go about balancing the hot/cold flow?
Thanks in advance,
Daven