Water Pressure Help

[Richo106]

Hi,

I have just renovated my house and the plumber has been round to finish of the bathrooms, in the ensuite I've had a thermostatic shower and when i tried it the water hardly makes it out the end. I have a hot water tank in the loft (not a combo boiler system) and the shower hasn't got a separate feed to it from the tank and would be a big job (especially now its all finished ) to do so. So i was wondering could i have a pump(s) to increase the pressure of the hot/cold water throughout the house. what would be the best way of the doing this? and typical costs of how to do it.

All advice greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[Richo106]

Also is there anyway of improving the pressure i.e. valves being open/closed or anything like that? I am complete novice when it comes to plumbing

 

[rocketmanbkk]

What did your plumber say when he tested it? Did you ask him about it?

It sounds like it needs a pump as you say.

 

[Chalked]

There are ways to do this, but it's really job specific. It's a shame your plumber didn't mention, you were going to have a lack of pressure.

 

[Richo106]

I don't want to use the same plumber as who carried out my work but he mentioned something like I would have to put a pump on both the hot and cold water pipes to keep them equal pressure is this correct? Could anyone recommend a pump to use? Where would the pumps be installed.

 

[Riley]

Hmm sounds a big thing to not mention

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Why wouldn't that have been done as part of the install? Smells fishy to me

He mentioned it but didn't install.

Again what did you say when the shower was tested? Did he mention a pump then?

What did you say?

What location are you in? Maybe a forum member able to help sort this out.

 

[Riley]

Why don't you want plumber back

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Why don't you want plumber back

Carp?!!

 

[Riley]

Carp?!!

Well yes but I can't believe any proper plumber wouldn't mention the flow/pressure issue

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Well yes but I can't believe any proper plumber wouldn't mention the flow/pressure issue

I agree

 

[Riley]

Builder???

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Builder???

YouTube plumber?

 

[Richo106]

Plumber was a family friend and did us a favour, just need a solution to help me put it right, yes I'm not sure why he didn't test it etc...

So would I need two pumps and where abouts in the system would they need to be installed?

 

[Riley]

We would need some pictures of your hot water cylinder and is the shower head above or below the bottom of the cylinder

 

[rocketmanbkk]

You need a plumber to look & advise

 

[Chalked]

It really depends on the plumbing. You can pump the hot and cold in a house (whole house pump) but there are so many variables to consider. It's not somthing that can be advised on without knowledge if your complete instsll.

 

[Richo106]

has anyone fitted the shower power boosters found on showerpowerbooster.co.uk?

 

[Richo106]

sorry for my complete ignorance but the mains water comes into the house at the kitchen, i have a hot water tank in the airing cupboard and a water tank in the loft. what kind of system is this?

 

[PlumbBobBob]

has anyone fitted the shower power boosters found on showerpowerbooster.co.uk?

I fitted one a couple of years ago, didn't see much change tbh

 

[Chalked]

sorry for my complete ignorance but the mains water comes into the house at the kitchen, i have a hot water tank in the airing cupboard and a water tank in the loft. what kind of system is this?

Open vented gravity fed hot water.
The hot is fairly straight forward. It's the cold that will cause issues, as you will have a mixture of gravity fed and mains cold outlets. Without a knowledge of old installs, you will be clutching at straws. Even with experience, you make an educated guess.

 

[Radioman]

has anyone fitted the shower power boosters found on showerpowerbooster.co.uk?

Yep, great solution in the correct application. Made a difference to the flow.

However, tell us more about the work your plumber did on your system?

Also what make and model of shower valve fitted, picture would be good too!

 

[Richo106]

he only fitted the shower and sink for me, i chose the shower myself and didn't even consider that water pressure would be an issue. the shower is Hudson Reed Triple Exposed Thermostatic Shower Valve with Luxury Rigid Riser Kit found on victorian plumbing.

 

[Radioman]

This is spec of your valve if fitted in accordance with manufacturers spec.
0.1 Bar flow: 5.5 l/min
0.5 Bar flow: 14 l/min
1 Bar flow: 20 l/min
2 Bar flow: 29 l/min
3 Bar flow: 44 l/min
Don't confuse flow with pressure.
Not the best valve for a vented low pressure system.
The installation should have 1st draw on the hot cylinder and a dedicated supply from the cold water storage, both with individual isolators and plumbed in 22mm pipe up to the valve. I would assume you will not have more than .5 bar. I would recommend you get a qualified plumber with a good rep to survey the installation and make a recommendation and specification. Also worth mentioning that the outlet of the tray must be large enough to remove the increase in water volume.

 

[Richo106]

Thank you radioman

The boiler is around 16 years old (age of house) so another discussion we had was to replace our current system with a combi boiler

Would this solve my low pressure issue i have with my shower? as well as all the other benefits of a combi.

Would this be a simple job, boiler in garage, tank in airing cupboard and loft. would any of the existing pipe work to the taps etc.. need altering