Hello,
My friend bought an old bungalow last year, and it has a pretty outdated plumbing setup. He is looking to overhaul it urgently. It’s a combi boiler with a hot water storage tank (unused by the looks of it) and another tank in the loft. The water pressure of his mains supply is low, and therefore all plumbers that have visited his property have told him that a heat only boiler with a hot water storage tank replacement is a non-starter due to low water pressure (around 10-13 psi). To explain things better I shot a 2 minute video of his current setup and attached it.
Questions:
1. Is replacing the current combi with a bigger 30-35kW one the only option? His shower water runs out in 5-7 minutes and then he has wait for 2-3 minutes before he starts getting some hot water.
2. We suspect the hot water storage was connected to an old heat only boiler, which was subsequently replaced by previous owners with combi boiler and additional water tank in the loft to increase water pressure (gravity fed).
3. If we were to swap the combi with heat only boiler from a plumber, would we need to move the existing setup (actuators etc in the loft) in the existing airing cupboard where the disconnected hot water storage tank sits? We could add a pump for the shower to fix the water pressure issue, but one plumber said that we need minimum 16-17 psi for the pump to work.
4. Any other option like fitting solar panels with diverter valve and re-purposing the hot water storage tank? Would still need the boiler in winter though. Heat pump install has been declined by installers because it is an old bungalow.
Video attached.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance!
My friend bought an old bungalow last year, and it has a pretty outdated plumbing setup. He is looking to overhaul it urgently. It’s a combi boiler with a hot water storage tank (unused by the looks of it) and another tank in the loft. The water pressure of his mains supply is low, and therefore all plumbers that have visited his property have told him that a heat only boiler with a hot water storage tank replacement is a non-starter due to low water pressure (around 10-13 psi). To explain things better I shot a 2 minute video of his current setup and attached it.
Questions:
1. Is replacing the current combi with a bigger 30-35kW one the only option? His shower water runs out in 5-7 minutes and then he has wait for 2-3 minutes before he starts getting some hot water.
2. We suspect the hot water storage was connected to an old heat only boiler, which was subsequently replaced by previous owners with combi boiler and additional water tank in the loft to increase water pressure (gravity fed).
3. If we were to swap the combi with heat only boiler from a plumber, would we need to move the existing setup (actuators etc in the loft) in the existing airing cupboard where the disconnected hot water storage tank sits? We could add a pump for the shower to fix the water pressure issue, but one plumber said that we need minimum 16-17 psi for the pump to work.
4. Any other option like fitting solar panels with diverter valve and re-purposing the hot water storage tank? Would still need the boiler in winter though. Heat pump install has been declined by installers because it is an old bungalow.
Video attached.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance!
