Boiler/Shower Combination - help please!

[Adnileb]

I currently have a large boiler in the kitchen (with the label 'Space Saver' on it - in fact, it's huge, so that means it must be old). Upstairs is a cylindrical tank of hot water, and then we have a shower (no bath). The shower is one of those ones with the 'taps' to turn it on/off and change the temperature built into the wall, and there is a noisy pump in a cupboard outside the bathroom which makes the shower very nice and powerful. Now, i have no idea about what all these constituents ought to be called, but bearing in mind how the shower works (and that there's no bath and 5 radiators), can i get a combi boiler (i'm not sure if the shower is a 'power shower' by definition) and if not, should i keep the old boiler until it breaks and then one day replace the boiler keeping the cylindrical hot water tank upstairs (which, incidentally, fills the one and only cupboard in the house!)
any advice from anyone with significantly more knowledge than me gratefully received.

 

[B&Qsuck]

You currently have a gravity hot water system with a pumped manual mixer shower.

You could indeed fit a combi boiler, but would need to alter the pipework to your shower, to give a direct hot feed from the combi boiler, as you would be doing away with the hot water cylinder in the cupboard.

The better DHW (Domestic Hot Water) Flow rate you can get, the better with regards to the combi, to give you a nice powerful shower.

You would have to do away with the old noisy pump also, as you can't pump from a combi boiler.

Taking into consideration you only have a shower and no bath, the only hot water requirements you have, are for the shower, basin and kitchen sink. So in your case I would highly recommend a combi boiler.
This would give you a nice empty cupboard to store things in, and a much smaller more attractive looking boiler in your kitchen. It will also do away with the noisy pump everytime you take a shower, and free up some space in the loft where you should currently have 2 water storage tanks.

Of course, your new boiler would be more efficient also, and save some pennies on your gas bill.

An ideal solution, would be to repipe to the shower, possibly go to the expense of modernising your shower valve to a thermostatic mixer while your at it.

Hope this helps

 

[Adnileb]

That IS helpful - thank you. One thing - when we first moved in, i turned on the shower to find a miniscule dribble, which was a bit depressing until i spotted the pump. Could this mean that the pump is fairly important, and that our DHW is too weak? we are on the second floor (once we've gone upstairs to the shower!)

 

[B&Qsuck]

The pump is required for your current configuration, as there is not enough hot water pressure from your cylinder.

If you install a combi boiler, the hot water will be mains pressure, which should be sufficient for your requirements.

May be a good idea to get someone in to test your water pressure before doing anything else though, just to be sure.

 

[2face]

if it is an old shower .. it will probably leak as they are not designed for mains pressure.. (even though it is pumped .. )
as above get a shower for the job usually £200 ish and pipe straight into the hot and cold feeds ..