Pump for whole bathroom

[shedbang]

Hi

At one end of the house we've just bought we have a full water system (gravity fed cold plus dedicated HW cylinder) supplying only one en-suite bathroom and the kitchen hot tap below.

Irritatingly the installation is done in such a way that pressure to taps etc is not great (eg 15mm to bath, lots of flexi hoses etc.). As pipework is all neatly buried there's not a lot I can do about this, so looking at pumps.

Everything is nicely accessible. I can tap into 22mm from the cold and the hot before it enters the bathroom (and spurs off to the kitchen). There's power nearby and plenty of space.

A couple of questions:-

- What's a reasonable pressure for a bathroom - 2 bar, 3 bar? I'd like the shower to be invigorating, but not painful, the bath to take less than 45 minutes to run and I don't care how fast the toilet fills! In most cases, only one thing will be running at a time, although conceivably, the kitchen hot tap may call from time to time when something else is on.

- What is an equilibrium ball valve?! Apparently I will need one on the toilet.

- Silly one this. The pipes are easy to get to, but against a wall with limited play. Will be difficult to get a pipe cutter in behind them. What's the best tip for cutting into them?

Many thanks for help.

 

[Cpplumber]

Hi,

Going from gravity to just 2 bar will be a huge improvement,

You don't require an equilibrium ball valve on a WC...just a part 2 ball valve. All merchants sell them. Why have you been told you need it? Water hammer?

Where pipes are hard up against a wall, I find a good old hack saw does the trick or I get my dremel out!

Do consider this...

You mention flexi connectors. Have a good look at the quality and age etc. when converting from gravity to pumped, the stress on the poor things increases a lot. I converted once from a gravity to mains. This blew a flex under a bath. I now highlight this to customers and give them the option of renewing.

Cheers
Carl

 

[shedbang]

Many thanks for this.

You make a good point about pressure. Under the sinks (yes, two...) the connection is via two flexis linked together The bath looks okay, but all in 15mm and loads of joins...

Given that, I'll probably settle for 2 bar. God help us if something hidden in one of the walls blows.

Equilibrium ball valve (still don't know what it is) was mentioned in Salamandar installation instructions I find when googling pumps!

As for the pipes, I'll get the Dremel out then. A steady hand required...

 

[Cpplumber]

An equilibrium ball valve is a rather expensive ball valve (compared to a part 2)which will prevent water hammer. I'm guessing this is why Salamander specify this.

I'd just stick with what you have in the cistern and change if you get water hammer. Just changing the diaphragm washer in the ball valve is all I'd do to start.

Carl