Existing Shower Pump to include tap hot water - Is this adaptation OK?

bmouthboyo · 26 Jan 2024

Hi All,

Current system is a gravity fed hot water cylinder which I fitted with a Warwick flange that feeds into my 2 way shower pump, works great. This then pumps the hot water along with cold water from cistern up to the attic and along to shower.

This is a bungalow and only has 2 hot water taps which at the moment are fed from the side of the Warwick flange with gravity pressure. The pressure however is not good due to the wrong tap being installed in the kitchen previously (designed for pumped system). I would like to have more pressure to these 2 taps.

My question is can I simply cut and cap below the vented pipe T, T into the current shower pump hot water outlet and join this to the existing taps feed?

Or should I install an inline type booster? If so would this have issues competing against shower pump / using side outlet of Warwick flange?

Essentially with the adjustment I am considering in the picture above the side outlet of the Warwick flange would only lead to the vent pipe, with the top outlet feeding the pump that provides pressure to both the shower and the taps.

I understand the taps could starve hot water from the shower but it's only me and wife here so very rare this would happen.

I did consider a separate pump but assumed it could not be fed by the side outlet of the Warwick as it would contain aeration / be starved if the shower was in use.

Am I thinking along the right lines here?

oldbuffer · 27 Jan 2024

1. If your pump is a "whole house" type, you can do as you propose.
2. If it is the ordinary two sided (hot, cold) pump, I wouldn't advise it. Most pumps use the water to lubricate the bearings. If only one side has water flowing through, you can easily damage the bearing of the other side. A shower tends to use hot and cold at the same time, so doesn't present the same problem as separate hot and cold taps.
3. I think you'd be OK with a separate pump, provided you don't run either the cold or hot supplies dry.
4. If it were me, I'd fit a new pump of the "whole house" type, preferably a Stuart Turner Monsoon Universal.

Madrab · 27 Jan 2024

You need to consider would be if you are using the shower and someone uses the sink taps, then what impact to the flow there would be. That would come down to what output the pump has really.

You would also really need a pump with a crossover, as suggested, this allows one side to run whilst the other doesn't. I know the Salamader CT force range have that functionality, never considered if ST do or not

bmouthboyo · 27 Jan 2024

Thanks for that advice guys, I hadn't considered the impact of only running one side as I thought most people pressurise the who house with these. I have a 3.0 Stuart Turner S3.0 bar Twin which I assume isn't 'whole house'? Couldn't really find anything related to this in manual.

oldbuffer · 27 Jan 2024

Get the exact model number off the pump and give Stuart Turner a ring. They are normally pretty good.

bmouthboyo · 27 Jan 2024

As an alternative, are those inline pumps suitable for running 2 taps? my worry with a another single impeller pump is that it will be fed from the aerated part of the warwick flange.

Madrab · 28 Jan 2024

If it's a monsoon S3.0 then it is classed as a whole house but I don't think ST's twin pumps are designed to boost individual taps, always best to check with Stuart Turner re running only one side, though I don't think they can. .

bmouthboyo · 28 Jan 2024

Madrab said:
If it's a monsoon S3.0 then it is classed as a whole house but I don't think ST's twin pumps are designed to boost individual taps, always best to check with Stuart Turner re running only one side, though I don't think they can. .

Surely if a pump is whole house then it's designed for when people just run the hot or just the cold? Or am I misunderstanding whole house function? i.e. is it whole house showers only.

Madrab · 28 Jan 2024

bmouthboyo said:
Surely if a pump is whole house then it's designed for when people just run the hot or just the cold? Or am I misunderstanding whole house function? i.e. is it whole house showers only.

I see where you are coming from but unfortunately unless the pump specifically has a crossover then the non used impeller would be running against a closed head and therefore it would heat up, cavitate and eventually destroy itself.

The definition of whole house, in this case means that it can work in every all areas of the house that uses gravity hot and cold with thermostatic mixer taps and showers

bmouthboyo · 1 Feb 2024

Thanks for all your advice, I emailed Stuart Turner direct and pleasantly surprised by response:

The Monsoon pump can be used as a whole house pump and as such sometimes you will just be using the pump one ended.

In normal usage that’s fine, the pump won’t run for more than a few minutes like this and so it won’t harm the pump.

Even filling a bath would be okay.

If you wanted to run a sprinkler for an hour though that would most likely cause the pump an issue.

So with that confirmed I am hoping my plan works!

Madrab · 1 Feb 2024

Excellent, keep that filed, just in case a warranty call is needed.

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Existing Shower Pump to include tap hot water - Is this adaptation OK?

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