Water pressure for new boiler

[dobbers]

I had BG round to give me a quote for replacing my Ideal Classic FF260 boiler which currently sits in my kitchen. I asked to be quoted for the boiler to be moved into the loft space together with a new hot water cylinder (old one currently in airing cupboard upstairs) of the unvented solar type for connection later on to solar panels on the roof.

The BG man asked me to switch on 3 taps and then measured flow rate using a thingy. He then said I had too low water pressure to do anything - he quoted 12 somethings when I needed at least 20 somethings. He said I needed to get someone in to fix the low water pressure and left.

The house was built in the 1973 and the stop cock on the pipe entering my house is seized so I can't turn it at all. I measured the flow rate at my kitchen tap with no other taps on and I got 3.4 litres in 15 seconds which according to my water company's web site is within their range of 2 litres in 10 seconds.

As a complete layman, all this talk of flow rates and water pressure is confusing me. Do I need to get my water board to examine why BG think I am getting such a low flow rate?

dobbers

 

[mickyg]

The BG man is correct(for once) your water flow rate is not suitable for an unvented cylinder. its possible the supply from the road is undersized. This can be uprated, but it obviously means running a new supply from your boundary to your internal stop tap, which could be alot or of work depending on the route. There are other options available depending on other factors, such as an accumulator or break tank and pump set(ie Grundfos Homebooster), but ideally you first need to establish the reason for the poor flow rate, it could be something simple such as a half closed stop tap etc...
If you get a good independant installer in he should be able to diagnose the problem and then carry out all the work as well, and likely cheaper than BG. I can only assume that the reason for boiler replacement is due to its relocation, otherwise its a very reliable appliance which I would advise keeping.

Micky

 

[bengasman]

Ask friends and neighbours for a guy that has done good work on their boilers, give him a call, explain about the stopcock and ask him if he can fix that and do a quote for the boiler.
BG have a reputation for misleading people and trying to overprice jobs, as well as selling things people don't need. You must have had the rooky salesman if he told you lots of work needed doing without quoting for it.
One of their common spiels is: "ooh, you need a powerflush, that will be 800 quid please."

 

[nickso]

Ask friends and neighbours for a guy that has done good work on their boilers, give him a call, explain about the stopcock and ask him if he can fix that and do a quote for the boiler.
BG have a reputation for misleading people and trying to overprice jobs, as well as selling things people don't need. You must have had the rooky salesman if he told you lots of work needed doing without quoting for it.
One of their common spiels is: "ooh, you need a powerflush, that will be 800 quid please."

********. more of your misguided ****e.

no matter what else they get up to they are not in the habit of supplying a system that wont work under any circumstances. makes real sense to install something and then have to go out to do a repair that may not be possible.

to accuse BG of misleading people when you are one of the biggest posters of misleading **** is incredible.

 

[dobbers]

mickyg: Yes the reason the bolier is being replaced is that I will be having a kitchen extension done next year and wanted the bolier moved out of the kitchen. At the same time, I want to move the HW cylinder into the loft space to free up room for a bathroom refit later on and give me the option for solar HW.

I called the water board and they are sending someone round tomorrow to check out the water pressure.

I have a local firm recommended for the central heating so will call them for a quote as well and explain the low pressure to them.

dobbers

 

[simond]

I doubt if you have low water pressure, but you do have a low flow rate.

British Gas estimators have only a very limited repertoire of equipment at their disposal, so in some circumstances don't have the best solution.

I suspect that an accumulator will resolve the flow issue, leading you to be able to fit an unvented cylinder. But measurements need to be made of the static water pressure first, and you rightly should investigate whether the water company will economically upgrade your supply first.

I don't think BG do a bad job, but being a big company they simply don't have the flexibility or empowerment to their estimators to design the best solution for every scenario. This is the domain of the quality smaller installation specialist - like myself, I modestly suggest!

 

[bengasman]

...to accuse BG of misleading people when you are one of the biggest posters of misleading s**t is incredible.

Must be a lot of liars posting on here then; I guess the number of people complaining about british gas must be in the hundreds.
The Advertising Standards Agency,

http://www.asa.org.uk

has upheld an impressive number of complaints about british gas and the various other trading names of the same company.
It is there for all to see.

 

[nickso]

...to accuse BG of misleading people when you are one of the biggest posters of misleading s**t is incredible.

Must be a lot of liars posting on here then; I guess the number of people complaining about british gas must be in the hundreds.
The Advertising Standards Agency,

http://www.asa.org.uk

has upheld an impressive number of complaints about british gas and the various other trading names of the same company.
It is there for all to see.

i said they were not in the habit of doing it, i didnt say it never happens. the sheer number of jobs BG do in a year means there will always be an "impressive" amount of complaints, upheld or not.

your belief that every job BG does is a rip off and ends up a disaster is simply not true.

 

[nickso]

Must be a lot of liars posting on here then

correct. you are one of them. liars is maybe too strong a word, in most cases people simply dont have a clue what they are talking about.

try having some facts at hand before typing. you might even try to have a genuine balanced approach to your posts.

 

[bengasman]

It happens a lot, too often. The complaints that were upheld were not individual errors, but structural efforts to mislead the public directed from the corporate side, nothing to do with individual engineers.

 

[nickso]

i see, so we have moved on from dodgy salesmen and powerflushes now have we?

 

[bengasman]

They are all part and parcel of the same thing. I have never said all bg people are bad, some are very good, very honest and topnotch.
But it is no secret that there is a number of people in the top of the company that are purely money driven, and couldn't care less how far they have to drive the company from what it once was. Bonuses and incentives to push the turnover no matter what. People hired as subcontractors in stead of employees and get used and abused, and ditched as soon as they don't toe the line.

I can actually understand those out there that do what they have to do to feed the family, and don't blame them. I just think it is disgusting that a very small percentage of fat cats is willing to ruin the reputation of an organisation that was once considered to be the best in the world for short term gains, and seem to stop at nothing to line their pockets.

 

[nickso]

no different than any other large company these days. ive got more reason to complain about it than you as i work for the ****ers. yet you consistently post false, misleading and stupid posts about their practises on which you really have no idea other than the idea that you dont like them. 5000 engineers that you dont like, that are all cheating customers and bodging jobs, simply because they work for BG. makes great sense.

 

[dobbers]

Had the water board folks round to measure the pressure and flow rate. What they found was that at my first tap I get 40 metres head of pressure and 15 litres per minute flow rate. Then they looked at the rate at my water meter in the road and from there it was measured at 30 litres per minute.

So in summary from the street to my first tap there is a loss of 15 litres per minute. They said the type of pipe used from water meter to my house was unlikely to be the source of the loss so it is looking more likely to be my stop tap which we can't turn either on or off.

I will get a contractor in to replace the stop tap and see what we get after that before committing to a new bolier.

dobbers

 

[Agile]

To get the best performance when installing an unvented cylinder its necessary to take particular care with the water supply to the cylinder.

I like to take the incoming supply direct to the cylinder in one piece of pipe with the only connection a tee off to the kitchen.

Stop cocks particularly have a significant flow resistance and I like to use full flow lever valves instead although some will say they are not the correct component to use.

Tony