My unvented system was installed during a whole house renovation 5 or 6 years ago. There are two issues I'd like to address:
1) Hot water circulation on demand
2) Improve shower pressure
The hot water system has a circulation 'ring' whereby the hot water can get pumped out of the cylinder, through the pipes close to all the taps in the house, and then back into the cylinder even when no taps are drawing water. However, the installer put a pump controlled with a manual switch near the water tank (see picture of the pump below). Effectively I can choose to have the circulation pump running all the time or not at all. The pipes are not insulated . So of course, all the heat in the cylinder is lost if I run that pump for any length of time. If I don't run the pump - it can take over 2 minutes of running water in the kitchen before the hot water starts to come out.
Q1) What pump would you recommend instead of the current circulation pump? I suppose this would automatically turn on and off by sensing when water is being drawn from the taps.
Edit: Or is there a controller that I could add to the system that would turn the existing pump on/off when a tap is opened?
Q2) If the three showers are on at the same time, the pressure drop in each shower is very noticable/annoying. I must admit that I haven't tested yet if the pressure is maintained when the current circulation pump is on. But the circulation pump is only for the hot water anyway. To ensure consistent pressure, regardless of whether one person or three people are showering, what pump would be suitable? And would that pump both hot and cold?
Perhaps both questions are solved by one pump?
1) Hot water circulation on demand
2) Improve shower pressure
The hot water system has a circulation 'ring' whereby the hot water can get pumped out of the cylinder, through the pipes close to all the taps in the house, and then back into the cylinder even when no taps are drawing water. However, the installer put a pump controlled with a manual switch near the water tank (see picture of the pump below). Effectively I can choose to have the circulation pump running all the time or not at all. The pipes are not insulated . So of course, all the heat in the cylinder is lost if I run that pump for any length of time. If I don't run the pump - it can take over 2 minutes of running water in the kitchen before the hot water starts to come out.
Q1) What pump would you recommend instead of the current circulation pump? I suppose this would automatically turn on and off by sensing when water is being drawn from the taps.
Edit: Or is there a controller that I could add to the system that would turn the existing pump on/off when a tap is opened?
Q2) If the three showers are on at the same time, the pressure drop in each shower is very noticable/annoying. I must admit that I haven't tested yet if the pressure is maintained when the current circulation pump is on. But the circulation pump is only for the hot water anyway. To ensure consistent pressure, regardless of whether one person or three people are showering, what pump would be suitable? And would that pump both hot and cold?
Perhaps both questions are solved by one pump?
Last edited: