BRUTAL - water pressure to taps on upper floor of Dormer bungalow.

fcukhu

I live in a dormer bungalow. The Hot Water Cylinder is located on the floor of the Hot Press, on the 1st floor. I have 2 En suites on this level also, approximately 4m & 6m respectively from the Hot water cylinder. It takes AGES (several minutes) for Hot water to reach the taps in either en-suite.

I notice the original plumber took a 1" copper feed out of the Hot water cylinder, then immediately reduced it to 3/4" and within the next 9" has reduced it to 1/2", so all pipes to taps are 1/2”. Is this the reason for my poor water pressure???

Would replacing all the piping from cylinder to bathrooms from 1/2" fitted to 1" make an appreciable difference???

Any thoughts on a water pump arrangement or is there a less expensive option???

Help or advice much appreciated.

Outkast_IRE

Ok you say the water pressure is brutal , only way to increase it is by getting a tank stand made if its possible to raise them higher in your attic and get a plumber to raise the tanks , Pressurise the hot water system which will require a lot of work .
Or you could get a secondry return fitted which may be the best option depending on layout etc.
All your options involve getting a plumber out so just try and get someone good who is reccomended .

stephenmarr

a secondry return system will not solve the pressure problem it will just make hot water reach the taps pretty quick if fitted correctly.
to do the job right you need to raise the cold water tank in the attic as high as possible.
if you Pressurise the hot and cold pipework as Outkast_IRE said it will be a lot bit of work but possible.
no easy fix im afraid

yoshytoshy

I'd have thought installing a pump just for the first floor ,would solve the problem.

Split the connections at the cylinder and seperate downstairs from upstairs. If you had any showers upstairs ,you could bang in a hot and cold pump and split the cold aswell.

fcukhu

Thanks guys for your responses.

I don't see the possibility of raising the tanks as being a simple option as I fitted two very large "coffin tanks" up there and they are resting on the ceiling joist of the roof truss...I looked to-night, even to raise them, I could only get a max of 12" and it would mean cutting out another attic trap door the far side of the tanks to access the pipework to do the job... not the end of the world, I suppose... Would 12" elevation of the tanks made that much difference to the water pressure???

What is involved in this Secondary Return system??? any thoughts on what it might cost???

The pump option for upstairs... any idea what that might cost???

I am coming to a stage that I want to add 200mm extra insulation to the attic areas, so I want to get this plumbing gunthering done before the extra insulation is laid.

It just galls me to be wasting running water for several minutes waiting for hot water to reach the taps...and it will be costly too when the Water Charges come in.

There are 2 en suites upstairs. I Triton T90 thermostatic shower on a pull cord, the other an Aqualisa Power shower, plus a bath & 2 sinks. Rarely would both en-suites/ showers be in use at the same time.

yoshytoshy

A pump would probably cost a couple of hundred euro ,not sure how much the pipework would cost.
The thing is though ,you would be wasting water doing it that way. Water would have more power and take less time to reach you.

Secondary return is probably the best option like was mentioned ,I'd also check the taps and make sure they aren't high pressure ones (small bore).
It might be easier to get different taps ,to improve the flow.

fcukhu

Taps - Jeez, that's a thought... One is a "mixer" type, the other is a standard pair of taps, ( as far as I know ). No, the FLOW in the single taps is ok, just about.....not brilliant, but I can live with that...It's the length of time to get the Hot water to the tap that's my main problem

stephenmarr

a secondary return system will involve you to plumb in a loop coming from the hot water cylinder which will run uninterrupted to the furthest hot water pipe from the cylinder.
it will also need to be fitted with a small water pump and a non return valve.
it could be a tricky job to get done neatly.

Micky Dolenz

Secondary return not really an option in existing systems. A good point was made about the taps. A lot of these taps come from main land Europe where high pressure systems are the norm.

Your best bet as already suggested is to put a tap in your hotpress to pump water to the basins etc, both hot and cold.

Depending on where you are you could have a pump supplied and fitted for around €550.

Also the location of the hot water cylinder has no bearing on pressure, the height of the tank feeding it is key.

fcukhu

Thanks guys for your helpful responses. Jeez I stayed in Glenmalure Lodge last night, and when I turned on the Hot tap this morning, there was instant scalding hot water, this in a building standing since 1801!

I will have another chat with my local plumber, but I know he's not keen on working in tight crawling spaces in an attic...

Outkast_IRE

fcukhu wrote: »

Thanks guys for your helpful responses. Jeez I stayed in Glenmalure Lodge last night, and when I turned on the Hot tap this morning, there was instant scalding hot water, this in a building standing since 1801!

I will have another chat with my local plumber, but I know he's not keen on working in tight crawling spaces in an attic...

Nearly every hotel will have a secondry return fitted just so theres hot water quickly to the taps, possibly also pressurised hot water .