Plumbing help needed - Pressure equalising valve

[valve90210]

Currently in my flat I have a mixer shower which is completely unuseable as the cold water is much much better than the hot water pressure and the moment you turn on the cold water tap it overwhelms the hot and turns the water icy cold, there really is no way to get a nice temperature at all.

Now I would really like an electric shower but I can't afford to have one installed as it would be a lot of work and would cost a lot, so I'm looking to go for the cheaper (and I know it's not as good) option of having a pressure equalising valve installed.

I've done a bit of research into them and it does sound like it would help out with my shower.

Now the question is, has anyone fitted one of these, is it a fairly simple task? It seems like it should be a case of cut into both the hot and cold water pipes, put them into the valve, and connect up at the other end?

I've never done any plumbing work and am not sure I fancy this as my first effort as the potential for a hidden leak under the bath is fairly high and I wouldn't noticed it until it was too late!

So, anyone got a rough idea how much it might cost to have one installed/roughly how long it might take?

BTW I had a plumber out yesterday to have a look he mentioned fitting a pressure reducing valve to the cold supply before the tap but said he couldn't guarantee it'd work ie allow me to actually use the mixer properly, wany one got any thoughts on this?

Any help much appreicated.

 

[Axel]

Where do your hot and cold supplies come from? Is perhaps the hot from a tank fed cylinder and the cold form mains - in that scenario you would want to either pipe the cold from the tank (if it's big enough) or get a Trevi Boost type of valve.

 

[valve90210]

As far as I know, (and the plumber thought yesterday when he looked at it) the cold is from the mains and the hot is from a tank in the airing cupboard on the same floor as the shower.

Ideally I want to spend as little as possible as I don't intend on staying in the flat for too much longer, only a year or two max and don't really want to be putting too much money into it.

Is it likely that a pressure reducing valve on the mains cold (just befor the tap) would bring the pressure down enough that it would be possible to use the mixer?

 

[Morris40]

not impressed with your plumber, any plumber could tell within minutes where the water is coming from, a PRV will help yes but your HW pressure could be very low depending on how high your water tank is in the loft from the HW cylinder, 1 meter of height equals 0.1 bar of pressure

 

[valve90210]

Well, he was pretty sure after only a couple of minutes that our cold is from the mains and the hot from the tank.

The hot water tank isn't in the loft, it's in the air cupboard on the same level as the tap (it's a single storey flat) so I guess the hot water pressure will be terrible?

do you reckon it's worth giving the prv a try or would a pressure equalising valve be better...or would one of these not work with out situation do you think?

 

[Axel]

The thing in the airing cupboard is not the tank, it's the hot water cylinder, which is fed cold water from a tank that is above it somewhere.

 

[valve90210]

I see, didn't realise that...can you tell i'm a total novice when it comes to these things? lol

what do you reckon the prv or the pressure equalising valve, which would be the best bet?

 

[Axel]

Neither - get a Trevi Boost.

 

[valve90210]

Just had a look at the trevi boost, and if I wanted to stay where I am for longer, it does seem like a good device but really I want to spend as little as possible as I don 't intend to live in the flat for too much longer and would be happy if I could just use the existing mixer tap which at the moment is completely unusable!

Is it likely that the prv would reduce the cold water pressure enough that the mixer would be useable?

 

[electronicsuk]

Is it likely that the prv would reduce the cold water pressure enough that the mixer would be useable?

I expect that if you open another cold tap in the house and leave it running while showing, this will reduce dynamic pressure on the cold feed at the shower mixer somewhat, and give you an idea of whether or not fitting a PRV will make any difference.

Also, an electric shower will perform much worse than a good, properly installed mixer shower.

 

[valve90210]

I expect that if you open another cold tap in the house and leave it running while showing, this will reduce dynamic pressure on the cold feed at the shower mixer somewhat, and give you an idea of whether or not fitting a PRV will make any difference.

Hmmm, I'll give that a whirl when I get in and see what happens