Shortly will be replacing loft tank for a 50 gallon one, is this big enough for 1 bathroom with a power shower using a 1.5bar pump and 1 en suite with an electric shower. Also is the copper cylinder big enough 36" x 18" or do I need to upgrade to a bigger cylinder if so what size!.
loft and cylinder tank size
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Forgot to mention sometimes 3 of us have a shower in the morning one after the other,usually third shower is not very warm. so would like the capacity for all 3 of us to have a hot shower. Hopefully someone can offer some advice .
If you are going to the trouble of upgrading the system... then why not consider upgrading to a pressurised hot water cylinder and getting rid of the tank in the loft... and you can get rid of the electric shower (reduce running costs) and pump as the whole system will be mains pressure.
This will give you a 'dry' loft space and also an opportunity to get a cylinder which will cope with 3 showers in the morning.
Based on say 3 bed with 1 bathroom... you could look at a 170 litre capacity cylinder... a cheap mains pressure cylinder would be similar in cost to a new copper cylinder and 50 gall. tank
You could also look at a replacing the boiler to a large combination boiler and get rid of the cylinder and tank... you can then use your cylinder cupbaord as storage and have instant hot water whenever it is needed, rather than keeping hot water stored at 60degC constantly.... again reduces running costs.
This will give you a 'dry' loft space and also an opportunity to get a cylinder which will cope with 3 showers in the morning.
Based on say 3 bed with 1 bathroom... you could look at a 170 litre capacity cylinder... a cheap mains pressure cylinder would be similar in cost to a new copper cylinder and 50 gall. tank
You could also look at a replacing the boiler to a large combination boiler and get rid of the cylinder and tank... you can then use your cylinder cupbaord as storage and have instant hot water whenever it is needed, rather than keeping hot water stored at 60degC constantly.... again reduces running costs.
if you have a modern cylinder and a modern boiler, it will heat the cylinder in about 20 minutes. depending on bathroom usage this can mean that by the time the first person has towelled off, cut their toenails, brushed their teeth etc, it is hot again.
a pumped power shower can deliver a great deal of water, so if the first users drain the cylinder, there will obviously not be much left for the next user. If you get a bigger cylinder, there are some people who will just have a longer shower so they will use all the hot water from that, too
I stayed at a place in Australia where each bathroom had its own hot cylinder, thus preventing any one user from hogging all the water.
BTW it will be very useful if you run the power shower into a bucket and calculate how many litres per minute it delivers; then put the bucket in the kitchen sink and see how many litres per minute you get from the cold tap.
a pumped power shower can deliver a great deal of water, so if the first users drain the cylinder, there will obviously not be much left for the next user. If you get a bigger cylinder, there are some people who will just have a longer shower so they will use all the hot water from that, too
I stayed at a place in Australia where each bathroom had its own hot cylinder, thus preventing any one user from hogging all the water.
BTW it will be very useful if you run the power shower into a bucket and calculate how many litres per minute it delivers; then put the bucket in the kitchen sink and see how many litres per minute you get from the cold tap.
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They must have some money down under!!
Would like to upgrade to pressurised hot water cylinder but I already have a 1.5 bar shower pump fitted which can't be used with mains pressure. Plus it would cost £620 for a 180ltr PHW against £270 (screwfix prices) to replace copper cylinder and loft tank.
Now I have a dilema can anyone answer my previous question as this will help me make up my mind, will the 50 gallon loft tank and 36"x16" copper cylinder be big enough for 3 consecutive showers. The boilers a ideal mexico 2 about 15 years old but works fine so dont really want the extra expense of upgading that. The copper cylinders about the same age.
My house has the main bathroom with thermostatic power shower plus an en-suite in the extended third bedroom which at the moment has an electric shower. If I went for the pressurised hot water cylinder what size would I need if I put in a thermostatic valve in the en-suite. Also would there be any adverse effects running 2 thermostatic showers at the same time.
Now I have a dilema can anyone answer my previous question as this will help me make up my mind, will the 50 gallon loft tank and 36"x16" copper cylinder be big enough for 3 consecutive showers. The boilers a ideal mexico 2 about 15 years old but works fine so dont really want the extra expense of upgading that. The copper cylinders about the same age.
My house has the main bathroom with thermostatic power shower plus an en-suite in the extended third bedroom which at the moment has an electric shower. If I went for the pressurised hot water cylinder what size would I need if I put in a thermostatic valve in the en-suite. Also would there be any adverse effects running 2 thermostatic showers at the same time.
Easy.
Squirt the shower into a bucket and measure how many litres per minute it delivers at showering temperature.
Then ask yourself how many minutes each shower will last.
Decide if the amount of water to be used is more or less than 110 litres (a typical cylinder).
A power shower delivers a lot of water. Anyone staying under it for more than a couple of minutes will use a vast amount.
A more economical shower can obviously run for longer and use less water.
it is a smaller than average cylinder though.
no need to empty the cylinder.
if you use a 5 litre bucket and it fills up in one minute, that is 5 litres per minute so 20 minutes showering would use 100 litres.
If you use a 5 litre bucket and it fills up in 40 seconds that is ( 5 divided by 40 multiplied by 60) 7.5 litres per minute. So you would get (100 litres divided by 7.5 litres per min) 13.3 minutes showering
etc
p.s. a 36" x 18" cylinder is short, but rather fat, and it will be in the region of 117 litres.
if you use a 5 litre bucket and it fills up in one minute, that is 5 litres per minute so 20 minutes showering would use 100 litres.
If you use a 5 litre bucket and it fills up in 40 seconds that is ( 5 divided by 40 multiplied by 60) 7.5 litres per minute. So you would get (100 litres divided by 7.5 litres per min) 13.3 minutes showering
etc
p.s. a 36" x 18" cylinder is short, but rather fat, and it will be in the region of 117 litres.
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