I have read some of the past discussions and affrays around the issue of thermal storage, but I hope I can find some further advice. If the answer is in threads elsewhere, I'd be grateful for a pointer.
I have to get rid of the header tank in our loft – as cost-effectively as possible. The (uninsulated) header tank is perched insecurely over the half-open cistern in the eves, and 400mm of rockwool makes it difficult to get near. I'm disabled and can no longer haul myself up the ladder without terrifying my family.
I would prefer to stay with a vented system. We have an 8 yr old trouble-free Potterton Profile wall-hung fixed-output 80 BTU boiler on the ground floor. This has the usual pumped circuit for the CH radiators in our four-bed two-storey house, managed by a Tempus 7 digital controller, room thermostat downstairs and TVRs upstairs. The pump is fitted directly above the boiler.
The cylinder upstairs is indirectly heated by the gravity circuit from the boiler. All very standard, with the cold cistern and header tank in the loft above. There’s no cylinder sensor fitted – we tend to run the boiler fairly cool, which I know is not the most efficient way.
I would appreciate any advice. Simply bringing the tanks down into the cupboard above the cylinder will leave very little head to supply the upstairs hot taps. I'd be grateful for advice on using a vented thermal storage device such as the DPS Everest, which has a header tank incorporated. This would have the (big) bonus of improving hot water flows, and we might convert one of our two electric showers to mains. I don’t know if there are other models that might be better than the DPS.
For a thermal store like this, is it feasible to leave the pumped CH system as is, and simply heat the store with gravity feed? I appreciate from what I have read in the forum that it is better to run the CH from the buffer of the store, but that will increase both my replumbing costs and the cost of the new system.
We would need to run the boiler at hotter temperatures, but we could add a cut-out to control the pump and prevent radiator temperatures getting too hot.
I should say that we are not big hot water users. From April to September we NEVER heat the cylinder: we use the electric showers to wash, and the dishes are done in cold water or the dishwasher. In winter we have hot water by default because the CH is on!
I know we will need to replace the Potterton in future with a more efficient condensing model, but it seems from other threads that this should not make the thermal store redundant. Right now I don’t want to throw out a boiler that is still working well and needs little maintenance.
I’ve done my own basic plumbing in the past for rads, basins and showers, but I will be looking for a heating engineer to do this bigger work for me. I just want to understand what is possible.
I guess I am being a bit prescriptive! - but ALL advice and suggestions are very much welcomed. Though I haven't often posted, DIYNOT has been my electrics and plumbing bible for years.
I have to get rid of the header tank in our loft – as cost-effectively as possible. The (uninsulated) header tank is perched insecurely over the half-open cistern in the eves, and 400mm of rockwool makes it difficult to get near. I'm disabled and can no longer haul myself up the ladder without terrifying my family.
I would prefer to stay with a vented system. We have an 8 yr old trouble-free Potterton Profile wall-hung fixed-output 80 BTU boiler on the ground floor. This has the usual pumped circuit for the CH radiators in our four-bed two-storey house, managed by a Tempus 7 digital controller, room thermostat downstairs and TVRs upstairs. The pump is fitted directly above the boiler.
The cylinder upstairs is indirectly heated by the gravity circuit from the boiler. All very standard, with the cold cistern and header tank in the loft above. There’s no cylinder sensor fitted – we tend to run the boiler fairly cool, which I know is not the most efficient way.
I would appreciate any advice. Simply bringing the tanks down into the cupboard above the cylinder will leave very little head to supply the upstairs hot taps. I'd be grateful for advice on using a vented thermal storage device such as the DPS Everest, which has a header tank incorporated. This would have the (big) bonus of improving hot water flows, and we might convert one of our two electric showers to mains. I don’t know if there are other models that might be better than the DPS.
For a thermal store like this, is it feasible to leave the pumped CH system as is, and simply heat the store with gravity feed? I appreciate from what I have read in the forum that it is better to run the CH from the buffer of the store, but that will increase both my replumbing costs and the cost of the new system.
We would need to run the boiler at hotter temperatures, but we could add a cut-out to control the pump and prevent radiator temperatures getting too hot.
I should say that we are not big hot water users. From April to September we NEVER heat the cylinder: we use the electric showers to wash, and the dishes are done in cold water or the dishwasher. In winter we have hot water by default because the CH is on!
I know we will need to replace the Potterton in future with a more efficient condensing model, but it seems from other threads that this should not make the thermal store redundant. Right now I don’t want to throw out a boiler that is still working well and needs little maintenance.
I’ve done my own basic plumbing in the past for rads, basins and showers, but I will be looking for a heating engineer to do this bigger work for me. I just want to understand what is possible.
I guess I am being a bit prescriptive! - but ALL advice and suggestions are very much welcomed. Though I haven't often posted, DIYNOT has been my electrics and plumbing bible for years.
