Designing en suites with only cold water at the basin?

[ATTQ]

Not sure I would start spending money now on something I've no plans to sell in future, to satisfy as yet unknown wants of a persnickety buyer?!

I would agree until the building regs issue was pointed out. And the legionnaires issue about the current system. You know what people can be like, if they see i've ignored one reg they might wonder about the quality of everything else. As it just needs a tee and a hose from the cold supply its no extra work but i'd need to factor the location in ahead anyway and its only £150 each for the heater so might as well just have it in, its a soft water area so it should last ok and can be turned off warmer times of year.

As they are similar power draw to a shower I'd need to have a dedicated circuit and now is the ideal time to run the wire and as we've not had a new consumer unit done yet it can be connected at that time, so maybe by next winter we'd have it working but not stressed if we dont.

 

[jj4091]

Your running costs shouldn't be a concern because it doesn't sound like you will be using it and probably any future buyers won't either. But as far as meeting building regulations are concerned then just taking it out all together would be the easiest and cheapest option.

 

[ATTQ]

Your running costs shouldn't be a concern because it doesn't sound like you will be using it and probably any future buyers won't either. But as far as meeting building regulations are concerned then just taking it out all together would be the easiest and cheapest option.

Taking out the existing hot water system? Yes seems like it makes most sense rather than trying to modify anything. I'd missed under sink instantaneous heaters from the thinking, easy to satisfy the requirement without running costs as you say can just have it off or on low for anyone thats bothered to have it.

I learnt the hard way those single lever mixer tapes are no good in the kitchen as they keep calling for hot and the boiler lights for a few seconds every time anyone opens the kitchen tap even when not wanting hot water. No one carefully considers what they want and aligns the tap before pulling forward. But seems less options available for 2 level mixers.

The boiler is the other side of a wall to the kitchen and will be a 2m straight run to the sink tap, the main bathroom is 2m up and about 3m across from the boiler so also reasonable and in there I'd expect if someone calls for hot its for a longer use so its worth wasting some water, its just the en suites that need a better solution.

 

[jj4091]

No taking out the sink

 

[robinbanks]

Still don't understand the spending money now, on something you'll never use, to appease an awkward buyer you've no plans to have, over a regulation that wouldn't apply if the install predates the regs that mandated it..

.. but you're free to spend your money as you wish! I'd maybe spend it just before the house goes on the market, if it ever does ?

If you're doing a load of work to renew this WC, why not just install the wire to run the under sink heater (pence) but not the heater (pounds), run it back to the consumer unit and connect all cores to earth. Everything else can be fitted later(just before sell)

 

[Lirefighter]

Run the hot supply to each basin in 10mm microbore?
Run that through ai chat bot thingy.

 

[ATTQ]

Run the hot supply to each basin in 10mm microbore?
Run that through ai chat bot thingy.

Hi Klaus, good idea to consider that, unfortunately it seems to have broken ChatGPT https://chatgpt.com/share/67bc2a54-fd80-8005-9ec9-b62afcdc3b13 so I still don't know. But I think I want to avoid having hot from the boiler other than where it is likely to be used for more than a few seconds. So will have it just on the main bathroom sink and shower and kitchen. It bugs me having a single lever mixer tap in the kitchen now that no one cares that they call for hot and light the boiler for a few seconds when they dont want hot anyway, it will wear out the boiler much faster and potentially cause condensation around it and not get hot enough to burn it off, though so far thats not happened in the location its in.

More importantly I asked it this https://chatgpt.com/share/67bc2601-8e0c-8005-a38d-12e659958c1e

 

[ATTQ]

Still don't understand the spending money now, on something you'll never use, to appease an awkward buyer you've no plans to have, over a regulation that wouldn't apply if the install predates the regs that mandated it..

.. but you're free to spend your money as you wish! I'd maybe spend it just before the house goes on the market, if it ever does ?

If you're doing a load of work to renew this WC, why not just install the wire to run the under sink heater (pence) but not the heater (pounds), run it back to the consumer unit and connect all cores to earth. Everything else can be fitted later(just before sell)

The house is a full internal renovation job so i can't really say it predates the regs and that wont help if someone wants to buy to rent.
Its not that we'll never used it, my wife will, but i'll have a 2 lever mixer that is actually clearly marked with hot and cold, it wont be set to hotter than needed. The thing was we could have lived without it if that gave us back the space used by the water tank. A couple of undersink heaters will be ok and then a 2 level mixer reduces the expense of electric heating.

To make it ready either way makes sense, have the wire run 100% good idea. Also might as well have a blanked compression tee under the sink at the ready, but then to go that far I might as just install it and have some use. If i'm ever going to install it i'm not going to do it just before i leave and have no benefit from it. Being soft water around here it should last long enough, ill keep an eye out on ebay for a couple of bargain ones

 

[ATTQ]

No taking out the sink

honestly we were in two minds about taking out the whole en-suite and having a bigger bedroom. They only added en-suites because it was a guest house and every room has one regardless of if it was really suitable for it. The ones we're keeping are just about and its nice to have so... But can't have a toilet and no sink to wash hands

 

[robinbanks]

As they are similar power draw to a shower I'd need to have a dedicated circuit

I was looking at a 2kW one, which is a far cry from the 10kW a shower might draw, and could be more simply supplied from a 2.5mm spur off a ring and a fused outlet

honestly we were in two minds about taking out the whole en-suite and having a bigger bedroom

The approach I adopted in my current house was that all the family that reside normally just use the main bathroom, and it's the guest room that has the en suite..

That and the proposed location for the master bedroom's en-suite meant it ended up further away than the main bathroom, so there didn't seem much sense to having one

 

[ATTQ]

I was looking at a 2kW one, which is a far cry from the 10kW a shower might draw, and could be more simply supplied from a 2.5mm spur off a ring and a fused outlet

I had a brief look at reviews and got the impression that weaker ones wouldn't give more than a dribble of tepid water. Have you tried a 2kw one?

TBH though as we need a consumer unit doing anyway and floors are up in room above it its only the price 5m of cable and a slightly bigger consumer unit

 

[cdbe]

I have 10mm plastic radials to each basin tap from my unvented cylinder. Hot water delivery ranges from so quick you couldn't count in the bathroom adjacent to the cylinder to 7 seconds in the one about 7m from the cylinder.

 

[ATTQ]

I have 10mm plastic radials to each basin tap from my unvented cylinder. Hot water delivery ranges from so quick you couldn't count in the bathroom adjacent to the cylinder to 7 seconds in the one about 7m from the cylinder.

I really dont want a cylinder just for 2 taps as dont need it for anything else. that said if i take away the space for the cylinder might regret it if gov forces some system which makes cylinder essential like with heat pump

 

[cdbe]

If you've got 3 bathrooms you probably should have a cylinder.

 

[ATTQ]

If you've got 3 bathrooms you probably should have a cylinder.

the system now heats indirectly from central heating and is mostly under 60 degrees which might be a health risk. to heat it with electric wasteful as wont be used much and heat will be lost from tank. will be one family bathroom direct hot from boiler. 2 en suite bathrooms can have under sink heaters for minimal work and expense and low running costs with 2 lever taps and set low (not health risk from instantaneous). I can recover some much needed space for storage where current tank is. I guess we could later put a tank in the attic if needed