Single Impeller Pump to increase gravity fed hot water pressure to taps?

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Hi all,

I'm looking to increase the pressure of the hot taps throughout the house as at the moment it's pretty pathetic even though I've installed low bar taps,

I have a Gravity fed hot water tank with a head hight of only around 175cm.

Would i be able to install a single impeller pump between the hot water feed from the tank/cylinder to the taps? or would the lack of great head hight from the cold storage to the hot cylinder cause a problem?
 
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You should be able to install a pump with that much head, certainly Stuart Turner Monsoon pumps (which I strongly recommend you buy if you're going for a pump) only need a metre
 
Just be aware you would ideally need a flange of one type or another incorporate into the hot water feed to ensure you do not pull aerated water into the pump. So a modified hot water feed would be needed that still incorporates a vent.
 
Cheers for your Prompt Response!

I was looking at the monsoon pumps They seem a bit pricey but i guess your paying that premium for quality..

Negative or positive head system pump?

Also Would a surrey flange be needed if i'm just supplying the hot taps?

Thanks
 
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You would need an air free dedicated supply from the hot tank, using a flange of one type or another. Either that or you need to up angle the outlet from the hot water cylinder but that vented feed then needs to be at least a metre from the bottom cold water cistern.

All that being said, how would you feed the cold water in any mixers that are hot fed by the pump? You could find yourself running into difficulties if the feed of the hot is a greater pressure than the cold and you have an unbalanced supply.
 
Might be worth having a look at http://www.showerpowerbooster.co.uk/product/fully-automatic-shower-power-booster-sp2/

We've just fitted one to improve hot water pressure for a long pipe run from cylinder to a bathroom (both on the first floor), and are very pleased with the results.

Super-simple to install (cut a suitable straight length of pipe to accommodate the pump; fit; tighten joints; plug pump in), and works surprisingly well.

Don't need a special flange as the pump is designed to run regardless of whether it's running dry or not, and if memory serves the install took about 20 minutes start to finish.

 
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My supply is already very unbalanced due to all my cold taps being fed from the mains which is high pressure, I want to balance it by using a pump on the hot feed from the cylinder...

I was looking at a surrey flange to deal with providing the air free feed to the pump and the normal feed to the vent Pipe.

Or would you recommend a different Flange?
 
My supply is already very unbalanced due to all my cold taps being fed from the mains which is high pressure, I want to balance it by using a pump on the hot feed from the cylinder...

We have the same setup - mains fed cold throughout the house with cylinder / low pressure on 1st floor hot.

I fitted a £500 Stuart Turner dual shower pump (running negative head) for a shower fed from loft cold tank & hot cylinder, complete with a Surrey flange on the cylinder (we replaced the cylinder at the same time and fitted a Salamander S-Flange if memory serves) , but after hunting around for a decent single impeller pump I opted to give the showerpowerbooster.co.uk pump a go to solve unbalanced pressure for hot/cold taps - and haven't looked back. It takes a second or so to start, but then boosts the hot to a usable pressure.

Perfect for our needs and has transformed hot flow both upstairs and downstairs!
 
Nope, a surrey flange will do perfectly.

if your taps were already out of balance then you're looking to find out what pressure your cold mains is at so you can buy a pump that's as close as possible.

Not exactly the best approach as you would ideally pump both.
 
What about a Grundfos UPA 15-90N? Adds between 0.5 to 0.75 bar.
 
What about a Grundfos UPA 15-90N? Adds between 0.5 to 0.75 bar.

Cheers!

I have narrowed it down to the following 3 pumps:

  • 46497 Stuart Turner Monsoon Standard 2.0 Bar Single Pump (Positive head)
  • Grundfos UPA 15-90N (160) Domestic Home Booster 240V
  • ShowerPowerBooster
 
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Without a doubt the Stuart Turner will be the most powerful. I would be looking to match the incoming cold pressure so you have balanced feeds.
 
Get your cold water measured and then use the pump that gives you the closest pressure would be my advice.

1) St Monsoon gives you 2 bar @ 27L/min max
2) Grundfos will increase the line pressure by up to .75bar @ 23L/min max
3) Showerboost - never heard of them and have no frame of reference (working history, reliability etc) for such a small pump = .3 bar @ 5L/min max
 
Might be worth having a look at http://www.showerpowerbooster.co.uk/product/fully-automatic-shower-power-booster-sp2/

We've just fitted one to improve hot water pressure for a long pipe run from cylinder to a bathroom (both on the first floor), and are very pleased with the results.

Super-simple to install (cut a suitable straight length of pipe to accommodate the pump; fit; tighten joints; plug pump in), and works surprisingly well.

Don't need a special flange as the pump is designed to run regardless of whether it's running dry or not, and if memory serves the install took about 20 minutes start to finish.


Hi TimS15 . Its been a while (nearly 4 years) since you posted this answer and I wondered how the Showerbooster is performing or if youve had to replace it?
Many thanks
Fozzie
 
Cheers!

I have narrowed it down to the following 3 pumps:

  • 46497 Stuart Turner Monsoon Standard 2.0 Bar Single Pump (Positive head)
  • Grundfos UPA 15-90N (160) Domestic Home Booster 240V
  • ShowerPowerBooster

Hello Paul

I'm just researching the exact same issue, and found this thread whilst searching.

What solution did you go with in the end, and what were the results like?

Many thanks
 

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