"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

A couple of years ago I converted our gravity-fed HW into a fully
pumped CH system.I put all the pumps and valves in the airing cupboard
after a tee in the vent pipe, such that there is always a clear run
from the boiler to the top of the header tank.

I have been "encouraged" by SWMBO to relocate the pump and valves into
the kitchen, to free up room in the airing cupboard and to reduce
whirring noises in the night. This leaves me with a dilemma over what
to do with the vent pipe.

The pipes that go upstairs would be one pipe for CH and one for HW but
both of these would be "behind" a motorised valve. Is the easiest
thing to add a new pipe that runs direct from the boiler flow to the
header tank? Because it is designed to carry boiling water in an
emergency, does it have to be copper all the way?

I'm not sure whether I could use my existing pipe work but with a
valve such that it would short-circuit the pump and motorised valves
and allow water to flow in an emergency (the vent is tee-ed off the HW
cylinder pipes). Is this allowed? I'm thinking that the rules probably
say it must be a completely open pipe with no valves all the way to
the top of the header tank, just in case the valve fails?

Thanks,
Stephen.


If it is just the noise of the pump that you want rid of, then bridge the
existing pipework for the pump and site the pump somewhere else on the CH
loop. As long as you don't compromise any zone valves, then your system
should continue working without problems.