15 lpm mains pressure - is that enough?

[malcolmallan]

I am looking at replacing my boiler with a heat bank on a vented system or an unvented system. I had British Gas in yesterday and they advised me that my mains water pressure was around 15 litres per minute and that would really defeat the benefit of using one of these systems and unless I can up this I might be better sticking with a conventional system.

My house was built in 1874 so there is a possibility that the original mains pipes are in place and I can up the pressure by getting a new main installed. I have phoned my water authority to find out if they knew what pipework was there and they were not very helpful saying that it is not there problem.

Is it worth getting a plumber in to look at upgrading the mains (I assume that there is no guarantee that it will increase as the bore of the mains pipe might not be the limiting factor)? Would it b sensible to find out if my neighbours are getting better pressure thereby indicating that there may be improvement to be had?

Is 15 litres per minute enough given that we have 3 bathrooms, kitchen etc. that may need to draw water at the same time for a stored mains pressure system?

Thanks.

 

[HarrogateGas]

Yes, why pay for a system that can deliver 20+ litres per minute when you pysically cant get that amount of water.


You might has well get a combi. or keeps a vented hot water system.

 

[Agile]

I had British Gas in yesterday and they advised me that my mains water pressure was around 15 litres per minute quote]

I do hope you have misquoted them but you might not have!

The pressure is measured in Bar and varies down to zero according to the flow rate being taken.

The flow rate in litres per minute is what they have measured. This will be adequate for just ONE outlet ! Not three bathrooms !

To use a thermal store you will need an upgraded mains water supply to give 50 li/min and that would enable all three bathrooms to operate together. The thermal stores are only intended to be used at about 25 li/min on standard domestic models.

The water company will probably not want to allow you to take so much flow. Upgrading the supply might cost about £1-£3k.

Are you quite sure you want to use three bathrooms all at the same time???

Tony

 

[malcolmallan]

Thanks for the info.

Sorry, I may have misquoted them and the mains flow rate is 15 lpm (he used some kind of flow meter on my outside tap).

Not that keen on replacing the water main without the guarantee that I can significantly improve the flow rate. I have spoken to Scottish Water and they have advised to phone back tomorrow when they will have a network inspector availabe to advise me on the mains pressure in the street, i.e. the maximum that I could expect to get in my area. However they seemed to think that 15 lpm was fairly good and the best that I can expect.

It is only likely that we will run two bathroom showers simultanously right enough.

Its looking like a conventional system with pumps for me

 

[Biggles..]

Look at the grundfoss home booster, just fitted one in my own home to feed my unvented and over come the same problem, works atreat but takes up a fair space.(washing machine size)

 

[esra_ptrap]

If you go to www.heatweb.com and do a search for CHi BOOSTER SETS there's a lot of information about their assisted system for boosting mains pressure.

If you go down this route you could then install a standard heatbank and reap the full benefit.