CHANGE OF USE OF WATER HEATER CUPBOARD

[lumepo]

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I am planning the refurbishment of my flat and wish to replace a small water tank and a large immersion heater with a small immersion heater and a washing machine below, as show in the photographs.

Washing machines are around 82 cm height, and the space inside the cupboard, from floor to ceiling is around 253 cm. Allowing 10 cm for the platform on which the cylinder should be placed and the space between it and the washing machine, the space for available for the installation of the cylinder is 161cm. Could you please suggest the type and make of cylinder that could be installed and its price?
The flat will be rewired and I also need to know the wiring and fuse required for the heater.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[oldbuffer]

The small water tank is almost certainly the feed for your hot water cylinder, the water in which is heated by two immersion heaters. You cannot get rid of this small cold water tank without making radical changes to your hot water arrangements, such as having an unvented hot water cylinder installed. Use of an unvented cylinder demands that:

a. You have the water pressure and flow rates capable of making it work.
b. It must be installed by a properly registered (G3) plumber.
c. It requires a pipe to convey scalding hot water to a drain in the event of a failure.

I would strongly advise you to talk to two or three plumbers, preferably recommended by friends / family or off this forum, explain to them what you want to achieve and let them propose a suitable and workable solution.

If you go it alone or with unqualified help, you run the risk of making a big and expensive mistake.

Sorry to be negative, but its not as simple as everyone thinks.

Good luck.

 

[lumepo]

Many thanks for the reply. The flat is on third floor of a small building. Since there is a very large water tank in the loft, residents in flats like mine have removed the small water tanks from their flats. Some of them have gas boilers and others water heaters placed on a platform, leaving the space below for other use.

Is it unwise to remove the small water tank?

 

[oldbuffer]

If you look at the picture of the small (cold water) tank, there is a pipe coming from the back left hand side, up, and over the water in an inverted "U". This is the expansion pipe from the hot water cylinder. As the water is heated it expands, and this pipe should accommodate the expansion. If for some reason the thermostats on the immersion heaters fail, this pipe provides a (relatively) safe route for the hot water to take back into the cold tank, which will eventually overflow (hopefully to outside) giving you warning that there is a problem.

If others in the block have replaced their cold tanks with boilers or water heaters, these are almost certainly combi boilers or instantaneous water heaters, which heat cold water as it flow through them, and have other means of dealing with expansion.

I still think you would be well advised to seek professional advice. It would probably save you money in the long run.

 

[Whitespirit66]

If you're refurbing the flat, consider a multipoint gas water heater. This will obviously need a gas supply and be on or near an outside wall for flue. They are very compact and will give unlimited hot water. Will be cheaper to run, as heating with gas is always cheaper, plus you only heat what you use.

http://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/main-multipoint--bf-gas-water-heater/