Combination storage boiler - good idea?

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We have a busy four bedroom house with a combination boiler. If you try to have a shower you have to ensure that the dish washer and washing machine are off. You then have to ensure that nobody turns on a tap or uses the loo in the rest of the house. If they do the shower pressure drops to a dribble and/or looses all heat. Even with nobody else indoors the shower heat can be erratic. If the shower is not turned on fully the heat does not even come on. I have been advised against getting an electric shower fitted because flow rate is small and they break down a lot. Do people think we are in need of a storage combination boiler? I have been reading about them on line and they sound like the answer. However when we had British Gas round to advise on our problems they did not mention them.
 
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These will only work if you have sufficient pressure and flow on the incoming water main, have you measured yours?

Edit: damn retirees :LOL:
 
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If your boiler is otherwise in good condition and has years of life in it, it may be an option to keep your existing boiler and fit a motorised 3 way valve in to your heating circuit to heat an unvented cylinder which will feed the taps that require higher water flow... The instant water part of your combi can feed the kitchen and utillity... Best of both worlds and loadsawater. :D

Errm, assuming that you have enough water flow, as the others have pointed out.

Combis and big busy houses just don't mix
 
Thanks for the replies. I can't remember what our fow rates were but remember discussing this with the British gas guy. If we assume they are low then are we saying I can still have this 3 way valve fitted and an extra tank? If not is my only option an electric shower?
 
If we had a conventional boiler with cold water loft tank and hot storage tank in an airing cupboard, would we solve the problem?
 
This would help but the pressure at the taps and shower would be pants, unless you then pumped the system... not ideal, but possibly your best option. Unless of course anyone else has a better idea...
 
Reading this thread it is obvious his cold water main has poor flow. His combi is probably OK. He need to fit a cold water accumulator or a Grunfos Home Booster tank and pump. This will solve all the poor water delivery all over he house.

If he has a poor mains what good would an unvented cylinder be? He needs his cold water mains sorted that's all, no new cylinders or three ways valves or tanks on lofts or anything like that. Why do people have to suggest the most complex and disruptive ways of doing something simple?
 
If we had a conventional boiler with cold water loft tank and hot storage tank in an airing cupboard, would we solve the problem?

keep the boiler

and feed the hot taps from it

put it on an "y" plan

tank and cylinder and pump the showers independently

now that would work :idea:
 
Reading this thread it is obvious his cold water main has poor flow. His combi is probably OK. He need to fit a cold water accumulator or a Grunfos Home Booster tank and pump. This will solve all the poor water delivery all over he house.

If he has a poor mains what good would an unvented cylinder be? He needs his cold water mains sorted that's all, no new cylinders or three ways valves or tanks on lofts or anything like that. Why do people have to suggest the most complex and disruptive ways of doing something simple?


oh your crystal ball tells you all this then


oh god who ressurected drivel :rolleyes:
 
I was confused after British Gas came round and am afraid I am still confused. I visited a local house and the owner showed me that all four bedrooms had their own shower room. If they have the same local water pressure as me how can they make this work? We only have one shower but were thinking about fitting another. However the problems and advice we have had with the first one have made us assume that it can't be done. Maybe the house we saw has electric showers throughout??
 
Reading this thread it is obvious his cold water main has poor flow. His combi is probably OK. He need to fit a cold water accumulator or a Grunfos Home Booster tank and pump. This will solve all the poor water delivery all over he house.

If he has a poor mains what good would an unvented cylinder be? He needs his cold water mains sorted that's all, no new cylinders or three ways valves or tanks on lofts or anything like that. Why do people have to suggest the most complex and disruptive ways of doing something simple?

At the point of suggesting an unvented, we hadn't actually established that the mains were not up to the job.. My second paragraph covers that.

My third paragraph also covers the limitations of a combi... even very powerful ones.

We don't know what pipe work the OP has and we don't know what taps he has either... they may work fine with a conventional open vented system.. My least favourable option is to use a pump as they are something to go wrong.Yes the solution is to dig a trench and install an new supply... But if the OPs drive is half a mile long then this is not a fun job either.. we jst don't know..All we can dois to give the OP some options that he can knock about with his installer.
 
A bit of background info. We had the boiler ripped out when we moved into the house and the plumber suggested a combi boiler. He removed the hot and cold tanks but we had other work done by him and were not impressed by his knowledge or skills. This has lead us to question the present setup. He said we would save money with the combi.
 

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