CH pump 3 floor lift.

[timtheenchanter]

at the moment I have a CH only boiler (glow-worm economy) with a seperate pump.
We have recently boarded out the loft with an insulated ceiling, and want to put some stuff in there for storage that needs to be kept "warm"

how do I find out if the existing pump will be sufficient to lift that high up as I would like to put a radiator up there as feel this is a much safer option than an un-attended electrical heater (that and theres no sockets in there!!)

as the boiler is somewhat aging, and not very reliable, I am looking at having it replaced with a combi, so is this something that should be left until the new boiler goes in (I am hoping to leave the rest of the system un altered if at all possible)

 

[picasso]

is your system sealed or open vented, ie small tank in loft, if its ch only how do you heat your hot water?

 

[D_Hailsham]

how do I find out if the existing pump will be sufficient to lift that high up

You are not trying to pump water up to a height, e.g a fire engine hose. You are sending water round a closed circuit, so the height is irrelevant.

Presumably the new loft radiator will be tapped into the pipework serving the first floor rads. If this is 22mm, with 15mm to each rad, you should not have any problem. But if the main feed to the first floor is 15mm you may need to upgrade this to 22mm. It all depends on how many kW is being sent through the pipe.

What is your existing pump and what setting is it on?

 

[timtheenchanter]

is your system sealed or open vented, ie small tank in loft, if its ch only how do you heat your hot water?

its a sealed system, we have a seperate brittony II for water heating.

not entirly sure what the pump is, will check this evening, I do know it is only on setting 2 (there is a switch on the pump marked 1,2 &3.

yes the 1st floor has 22mm under the floor, only has 10mm coming up to the rads though if it makes a difference.

the install is about 12y/o and was done by the local council at the time (ex council house)

the boilers stat is only set on 1/2 at the moment, so that could be increased if required, there are also TRVs on all the radiators if it makes a difference.

 

[bengasman]

Can you indicate what the size of the expansion vessel is?

 

[picasso]

you should have no problems putting a rad in the loft, just tap off the 22mm pipes on the first floor, you may have to increase the pump speed but get the rad in and working to see if its ok.

 

[timtheenchanter]

the expansion is approx 300mm dia and 400mm high,

got it slightly wrong before, or at least was slightly misleading.

there is only one loop, 1/2 is 22mm reducing to 15mm at the front of the house.

there are 3 rads on the 22mm side, with a further 3 on the 15mm side, all rad fed in 10mm, the downstairs rads coming down from the ceiling, upstairs, upwards from the floor

 

[bengasman]

the expansion is approx 300mm dia and 400mm high...

That should be big enough to keep it all stable and avoid problems with the prv. With 3 floors, you want the pre-charge between 1, and 1.5

...there is only one loop...

No, there isn't. There are no loops, there are spurs. As somebody on here put it: your system is like a ladder, one side is the flow, the other is the return, and the rungs are the rads. This can become quite essential when you get to cleaning your system.

 

[timtheenchanter]

ok, theres only one circuit, not an upstairs/downstairs.
good, ive been keeping it around 1.5, thats the top of the green bit, I have someone coming round shortly to change a leaking valve on the bypass, I could change the valve myself, but have no clue how to set the bypass correctly.

 

[bengasman]

1.5 for the system is good.
The pre-charge I mentioned is the pressure in the vessel when the system pressure is close to 0.

 

[glasgowgas]

grundfoss 15-50 is for a 5m head
grundfoss 15-60 is for a 6m head

 

[bengasman]

grundfoss 15-50 is for a 5m head
grundfoss 15-60 is for a 6m head

Are you sure you got the right topic?

 

[glasgowgas]

how do I find out if the existing pump will be sufficient to lift that high up as I would like to put a radiator up there as feel this is a much safer option than an un-attended electrical heater (that and theres no sockets in there!!)

bet a cyber pint he`s got a 5m head pump

stick in a 6m head pump and all will be well in the world

 

[bengasman]

The thing I wonder about is: why would he need more pump pressure? I have seen plenty systems of 10 to 15 rads that did perfectly fine with a 15-50.