Martin wrote:

Therefore my question is what soultions are available to achieve a dry
loft? I will not consider a combi bolier solution, mainly because
there is no backup for hot water should it fail, and unless you have
good reliable mains pressure power showers are out of the question.
Ideally I'd like to store my cold water downstairs in the utility
room, ofcourse this would not work with a standard tank as there would
be no pressure for taps above the tank etc etc.


We have a thermal store, and we're very happy with it. It's a
single cylinder, with a built in header tank. The water in the
cylinder is heated directly by the boiler, and circulated
through the radiators. Hot water is achieved by passing cold
mains water through a heat exchanger coil housed within the
cylinder (some systems use a plate exchanger, which is in some
ways better).

The system is simple, and has many advantages over non-store
setups. The main one is the large energy buffering capacity,
which allows long, continuous boiler burns.

--
Grunff