Pump to improve hot water pressure

[Meatymc]

Hi Guys

First post and a long story so bear with me please.

Have been on several other forums and had a load of help on various things but my current issue just keeps going round in circles.

What we had (property bought in April this year) and what we've had done (by contractors and me) have probably contributed to my current problem but what's done is done - most reaction elsewhere has been to point out what's wrong and what we should have done which is no help to me. Can I also say I'm expecting the problem outlined below to be resolved when we have a new boiler fitted next Summer so it's a temporary solution I'm after - if one exists! So here goes...

We have an oil fired boiler (no gas available), cold water storage tank (CWST) in loft and hot water cylinder (HWC) on 1st floor. It's a dormer bungalow hence CWST is only a few feet above the HWC. The boiler is old and not very fuel efficient but it works fine for now. The HWC supplies a ground floor bathroom and kitchen and 1st floor loo and wash basin. I've plumbed up for a shower room on the first floor but that will be cold water supply only (electrics also in place) so doesn't come into this.

We had a new bathroom fitted (cos the wife wouldn't wait for me to find the time to do it) including a concealed thermostatic valve control for the bath and a fixed shower head above with the bath supplied through a combined filler/waste set-up. Whilst it looks good now I've tiled the bathroom you experts out there will know what's coming next - no hot water pressure and impossibility to control the 'mix' of mains cold and HWC hot.

And of course no sooner had the plumber gone but the problems started - the mains pressure being so high it was pushing cold water through the mixer valve, up the hot water pipe, through the HWC and into the CWST causing it to over flow. I can safely admit it took me quite a while to work out what was going on - particularly as i suffer with tinnitus and couldn't here the 'squeel' of the cold water forcing it's way through the mixer.

So I tried 2 things to solve this problem - a non-return on the hot water pipe and a pressure control valve on the cold water but only just before the point of entry into the mixer valve so not to lose pressure elsewhere.

That at least solved the back fill.

As for lack of hot water pressure...

Been suggested I fit a twin impeller pump next to the HWC with a new cold water supply from the CWST to the pump and ho****er running from the CWST through the HWC so presssure are equal. Nice idea but running a new cold water supply from the pump down into the ground floor area is a non-starter - particularly given the new boiler solution next year. So my thoughts are a single impeller whole house pump powered off the immersion point (but on its own fcu) so no new pipe work.

Will this work?

What pump (at reasonable cost given short term fix) would you recommend?

Or do I just live with slow bath fill and forget a downstairs shower for now?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks for getting this far!

Cheers

 

[snowhead]

Something like this??

[DLMURL]https://www.tradingdepot.co.uk/DEF/product/!!HY%20PUMP50%20VSI!!/E017024/Showers%20&%20Shower%20Spares/Bristan%20Showers/Bristan%20Hydropower%20Showers/Bristan%20Hydropower%20Varispeed%20SI%20Shower%20Booster%20Pump%2050[/DLMURL]

 

[SimonG]

If you're changing boiler next summer then live with it. Whats the point of spending on a pump that you could be getting rid of in 6 months. You probably want a better plumber for the boiler change than the bathroom change tho.

 

[Meatymc]

If you're changing boiler next summer then live with it. Whats the point of spending on a pump that you could be getting rid of in 6 months. You probably want a better plumber for the boiler change than the bathroom change tho.

Quite agree although we've people staying over Xmas and it's frankly embarrassing waiting for the hot to fill a bath. Pumps I've seen that would do the trick are much more than I'm prepared to fork our for so unless a 'cheapy' comes up on fleabay and i'll do as you suggest. Do I take it you agree this would work if it does happen?

 

[peteheat]

Fit the pump suggested by snowhead (or similar) on the hot and cold going to the bathroom, if you can't isolate those two pipes be careful and don't buy a high pressure pump, you could end up with weeps and leaks on joints in the old parts of the plumbing system.

Don't buy second hand they may have been working when taken out but sitting on shelf in a garden shed for the last year, tends to ruin the seals.

 

[Meatymc]

Thanks guys - think I know where I'm going with this. One final comment based on a suggestion elsewhere - that was to fit a pump similar to that recomeneded by snowhead but just on the hot water feed going into the mixer valve itself rather than adjacent to the HWC supplying the whole house. Others poo-poo'd this idea but as my issue at the moment is solely filling a bath and possibly using the fixed head shower, is this a viable option? Just about to tile the bath panels in so could have the pump under the bath and run a power supply through the wall into an adjacent cupboard. Thoughts??

 

[peteheat]

The pump should work however can you be sure there isn't too much restriction (lowering pressure further) between the hot press and the bathroom?

I wouldn't like to have to explain why I have a 230 volt pump anywhere in the bathroom lots of regulations where electricity and water is concerned.

Why tile in a pump that should be redundant in 6 months?

Also they can break down so how do you maintain it?