Hi,
I have a few questions regarding the plumbing at my mums place.
1.) She's looking at getting a new shower fitted, and while we're at it I thought it would be nice to conceal the pipework so it isn't on show. The shower sits on plasterboard and I'm 99% certain there's a gap big enough behind it so we could run a pipe to the loft directly above. I've read that it's not advisable to have joints hidden behind walls, so what would you suggest I do here? Can you buy plastic piping with moulded 90 degree angles (the angle being where the pipe comes through the wall to meet the shower unit)?
2.) There is no gas available at the flat so her heating is supplied by an E7 combination cylinder (direct). I understand that the hot water side is essentially gravity-fed and that because the 'cold water tank' is directly on top of the cylinder this is the reason for her poor hot water pressure at the taps. We're looking to improve on this and I see only two options; either a.) replace the combination tank with a standard immersion where the cold water tank resides in the loft (1 metre above, would this really make much difference to flow?) or b.) fit an electric pump on the hot water outlet to provide extra pressure. The pump would be the cheaper option but is there anything else I can try?
3.) The hot water pump goes from the tank, under 1 metre of floor, 1.5m to the bath then from there another 3-or-so metres to the sink in the kitchen. None of it is lagged. Would it be worth lagging the accessible internal pipework, being that heat energy would be lost dissipating to the air after running the hot water taps etc? It can't hurt can it?
Any help appreciated
I have a few questions regarding the plumbing at my mums place.
1.) She's looking at getting a new shower fitted, and while we're at it I thought it would be nice to conceal the pipework so it isn't on show. The shower sits on plasterboard and I'm 99% certain there's a gap big enough behind it so we could run a pipe to the loft directly above. I've read that it's not advisable to have joints hidden behind walls, so what would you suggest I do here? Can you buy plastic piping with moulded 90 degree angles (the angle being where the pipe comes through the wall to meet the shower unit)?
2.) There is no gas available at the flat so her heating is supplied by an E7 combination cylinder (direct). I understand that the hot water side is essentially gravity-fed and that because the 'cold water tank' is directly on top of the cylinder this is the reason for her poor hot water pressure at the taps. We're looking to improve on this and I see only two options; either a.) replace the combination tank with a standard immersion where the cold water tank resides in the loft (1 metre above, would this really make much difference to flow?) or b.) fit an electric pump on the hot water outlet to provide extra pressure. The pump would be the cheaper option but is there anything else I can try?
3.) The hot water pump goes from the tank, under 1 metre of floor, 1.5m to the bath then from there another 3-or-so metres to the sink in the kitchen. None of it is lagged. Would it be worth lagging the accessible internal pipework, being that heat energy would be lost dissipating to the air after running the hot water taps etc? It can't hurt can it?
Any help appreciated