Which Unvented hot water vessel?

[Reg Man]

I am doing my homework on choosing which unvented hot water vessel to use. I know what capacity I require, its now down to choice of manufacturer. These are the following I have looked at: Fabdec Excelsior, Gledhill, Heatrae Sadia Megaflow ECO, Telford Tempest, Vaillant Unistar, Santon Premier Plus, Ariston Aquabravo. Fabdec comes out cheapest and Megaflow most expensive. The rule I normally follow is cheapest is not always best and most expensive is normally a rip off. So I thought I would put it out to you all to get your views on what you use and what you find most durable, reliable and value. Before anyone goes on about safety, G3 and you must be qualified and all that, I am qualified to work on UVHWS.

 

[Ted1]

OK, newbie to this forum, but this thread seems to follow closely to my requirements, so here's the situation:

House ~30 years old, small 3-bed detached, pretty good insulation & double glazing
1 bathroom with bath + shower attachment. May add shower ensuite in future,
Boiler ~6 years old, i-Ideal HE15 15kW, room sealed condensing, vented system.
Hot Water - Gravity fed system, huge cold water storage tank in loft, rubbish pressure!!!!

Thinking of exchanging regular, vented cylinder with unvented to get mains pressure cold + hot water supply throughout house. May add solar panels later.

So, attracted to Santon Premier Plus solar indirect 210ltr, but not sure whether or not to go for Megaflo equivalent?

Am I right to go for the Santon?

 

[Dannypipe]

Depends how deep your pockets are, Megaflo's are great quality in my opinion. Just more expensive.

 

[Ermintrude]

No Stanton Is rubbish. ACV out perform it all day long. Or oso or even a main it's the same but 1/3 cheaper

 

[THEJoeb]

I would look at, space ease of access and ease of connecting controls etc, if the normally fit the vaillant boiler with the rest being vaillant too, makes it easier to link everything up, I don't go for pre-plumbed.

agree cheapest is normally cheap for a reason but most expensive can be best quality a lot of the time,

 

[Worcester]

Based on the costs of install - see elsewhere, you are looking at about 2 days work, go for one of the better ones, ACV, OSO, Joule ... 90% of our installs are Joule. Great service and massive range of shapes / sizes / coil configurations to suit every need.

It will need to be installed by someone that is G3 certified, and before you decide that and unvented cylinder is the way forward you need to have the mains pressure and flows tested.

 

[Reg Man]

I did Unvented hot water under CITB first time back in 1988 and have updated this under the G3 since.

Up date on the Unvented situation is, I have put bigger mains pipe in and now have sufficient flow, but can't get the pressure up much above 1bar, so have decided not to go forward with an unvented system. Did look at break cistern and pump, but does not make much sense, as a couple of shower pumps will be sufficient for the requirements. Thank you for everyone's input.

 

[bigads28]

I've fitted and few Gledhills now and think they are good. You can have any cylinder tailor made from them which I find really handy if you are in a tight space. If you'd have asked me this question a year ago I'd have said a Megaflow but I've had quite a few now where the internal bubble won't hold its charge. Then on the other hand when an external vessel goes it makes a real mess!

 

[Ted1]

It will need to be installed by someone that is G3 certified, and before you decide that and unvented cylinder is the way forward you need to have the mains pressure and flows tested.

Cold water mains really good:
Static ~4.5bar
Dynamic ~2.7bar
Flow ~22ltrs/min

How to ensure my installer/plumber is G3 qualified?

 

[Dannypipe]

Ask to see a copy of his qualifications. Check they are in date. Then ask how the installer notifies his installations. If he is registered he will be able to tell you straight away.