DIY Heat Bank Part Deux

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Dagnabbit, meant to add this too

Now the following doesn't make a great deal of sense to me but measurement shows it to be true. Go figure.....

I actually find that the recovery time from a large DHW demand has improved with the new setup. I think I was probably running the original setup at around 60-65C due to an inaccurate boiler 'stat which was upgraded to an on cylinder one with the rework. Obviously when you run water off it's replenished with stone cold stuff out of the loft tanks
When you run off with the heatex the return, whilst cold, is still warmer than water from the loft tank. I think my weak boiler setup is able to heat this to a slightly higher temp than previously. I'm also aware that to produce a bathful of water @ x degrees I need the exact same amount of hot water which is why the figures don't make any sense.

I do know that the stopwatch reports about 10% time difference though. Not a night and day difference by any means
I'm also aware I should probably get out more lol

 

[Buzzark]

Thanks for the offer of the tanks but I'm rapidly going off the idea of stored tank water.

I want to try the thermal store method first with the shower and like I said, I'll need a better mains feed from 1st floor to loft first.
The existing tank will do until I decide if it's good enough to supply the bath and other taps not just the shower. Currently, with mains cold and tanked hot the bath fills in 3 mins - just checked it tonight!

 

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LOL, the doing it in stages sounds sooo familiar

I still have valves in place that will let me run off hot water under gravity from the F&E tank in the event that the heat exchanger system goes mammory verticale or in the event of a power cut

It would not be great but I'd still have hot water

 

[Buzzark]

Dagnabbit, meant to add this too

Now the following doesn't make a great deal of sense to me but measurement shows it to be true. Go figure.....

I actually find that the recovery time from a large DHW demand has improved with the new setup. I think I was probably running the original setup at around 60-65C due to an inaccurate boiler 'stat which was upgraded to an on cylinder one with the rework. Obviously when you run water off it's replenished with stone cold stuff out of the loft tanks
When you run off with the heatex the return, whilst cold, is still warmer than water from the loft tank. I think my weak boiler setup is able to heat this to a slightly higher temp than previously. I'm also aware that to produce a bathful of water @ x degrees I need the exact same amount of hot water which is why the figures don't make any sense.

I do know that the stopwatch reports about 10% time difference though. Not a night and day difference by any means
I'm also aware I should probably get out more lol

Had a little think about that...
The only thing I can think of is that there may be a difference between where the heat ex returns water to and the cold tank feeds to?
The cylinder stat is probably 1/4 of the way up and if you're returning water higher in the cylinder using the heat ex then the temperature lower down will remain higher than if the water is drawn off directly?

Maybe if the heat ex is returning it down low (in the same place) and it's cooler, this is causing better gravity circulation as the differential between the hot flow and return is waht causes the circulation - i.e. it's "pumping" better and adding a pump vastly improves recharge times?

Or, erm another reason? Can't think anymore - too late!

 

[Buzzark]

Unfortunately, I've had to scrap the idea. I started looking at upgrading the mains flow up into the loft and the vertical stretch through the bathroom was fine being in it's own little boxed riser but I couldn't get under the floor without removing the shower, bath (all tiled in) and the sink before lifting half the floor. Needless to say, that's not a sensible thing to undertake without more of a reason.

I've gone for a shower pump instead, which delivers what I wanted from a shower and bought a decent Salamander one so it's pretty quiet and hopefully reliable. Still need to convert to pumped DHW and an upgraded cylinder though.