We have recently changed our CH/DHW from an open vented to a sealed system using a WB 24i Junior condensing boiler. At the time it was mentioned that the
cartridge in the aqualisa 405 thermo valve should be replaced with a pink one. Since we will be overhauling the bathroom and rebuilding the wall into
the former airing cupboard and the overly large landing we didn't replace the cartridge, indeed the shower isn't plumbed since it will be relocated to
a different wall.
I have subsequently contacted aqualisa who stated the shower was unbalanced and a pink cartridge should be bought at a cost of £105. Being of tightwad
northern origins
I am keen to avoid this expense and have discovered it should be possible to use isolationg ball valve and inserts to regulate the
flow. I believe this solution is also better since it is likely to minimise the possibility of scalding etc... To this end can anyone suggest suitable
flow rates for the hot / cold taps in the kitchen and bathroom and the toilet inlet. eg Kitchen cold x litres a minute, toilet y litres, shower cold z litres a minute.
Since the bathroom is now on mains pressure, I am also keen to avoid increasing our water consumption and am thinking about fitting a low flow shower head.
Unfortunatley most of the british companies seem to brag about how much water they can use, rather than how little so I am having a few problems locating
a supplier of this item.
The yanks seem to be the most advanced in this field and a company called Bricor (www.bricor.com) produce a head which uses 1 gallon per minute but
by aerating the water and using a vacuum system feels like it's delivering much more volume. They aren't the only supplier, but opinion from users
seems to be that they are the best. Does anyknow of any British supplier / manufacturer / brand names for low flow shower heads, are they any good ?
I spoke with WB and they said the boiler should be able to modulate down to this level (4.5 lites a minutes from the shower) and the HW flow will still
be activated - note this isn't 4.5 litres of hot since it would be mixed by the valve and I'm not sure if I explained this fact to them.
I believe the HW temp is factory set to 55 Degrees. What temperature is the average shower ? Based on this what proportion of hot / cold would the valve be mixing ? Would this low volume of hot water be fine
to trip the bioler into heat and modulate properly?
When I ran the idea past aqualisa they predictably said I should only use their shower head. Can anyone comment on this configuration ? Will it work ?
Can you see it causing any issues with the shower valve?
What sort of flow rate do you get from a gravity fed system anyhow ? Isn't the point of using a balancing valve to make the flow similar to a gravity fed
system ? Or at least adjust the relative percentage or hot / cold water.
Thanks for you help.
cartridge in the aqualisa 405 thermo valve should be replaced with a pink one. Since we will be overhauling the bathroom and rebuilding the wall into
the former airing cupboard and the overly large landing we didn't replace the cartridge, indeed the shower isn't plumbed since it will be relocated to
a different wall.
I have subsequently contacted aqualisa who stated the shower was unbalanced and a pink cartridge should be bought at a cost of £105. Being of tightwad
northern origins
I am keen to avoid this expense and have discovered it should be possible to use isolationg ball valve and inserts to regulate the flow. I believe this solution is also better since it is likely to minimise the possibility of scalding etc... To this end can anyone suggest suitable
flow rates for the hot / cold taps in the kitchen and bathroom and the toilet inlet. eg Kitchen cold x litres a minute, toilet y litres, shower cold z litres a minute.
Since the bathroom is now on mains pressure, I am also keen to avoid increasing our water consumption and am thinking about fitting a low flow shower head.
Unfortunatley most of the british companies seem to brag about how much water they can use, rather than how little so I am having a few problems locating
a supplier of this item.
The yanks seem to be the most advanced in this field and a company called Bricor (www.bricor.com) produce a head which uses 1 gallon per minute but
by aerating the water and using a vacuum system feels like it's delivering much more volume. They aren't the only supplier, but opinion from users
seems to be that they are the best. Does anyknow of any British supplier / manufacturer / brand names for low flow shower heads, are they any good ?
I spoke with WB and they said the boiler should be able to modulate down to this level (4.5 lites a minutes from the shower) and the HW flow will still
be activated - note this isn't 4.5 litres of hot since it would be mixed by the valve and I'm not sure if I explained this fact to them.
I believe the HW temp is factory set to 55 Degrees. What temperature is the average shower ? Based on this what proportion of hot / cold would the valve be mixing ? Would this low volume of hot water be fine
to trip the bioler into heat and modulate properly?
When I ran the idea past aqualisa they predictably said I should only use their shower head. Can anyone comment on this configuration ? Will it work ?
Can you see it causing any issues with the shower valve?
What sort of flow rate do you get from a gravity fed system anyhow ? Isn't the point of using a balancing valve to make the flow similar to a gravity fed
system ? Or at least adjust the relative percentage or hot / cold water.
Thanks for you help.
