On 28 Dec 2003 13:13:17 -0800, (Martin) wrote:

To comply with the warrenty of a shower pump I have to replace my 25
gallon water tank in the loft with a 50 gallon. I've read lots of
postings on this subject.

I've read somewhere that in a year or two new regs will require a dry
loft for new builds.

Really? News to me. I was talking to somebody at WRAS a couple of
weeks ago on a similar subject and this didn't come up.


There is always a good reason regs are changed
and therefore although I do not have a new build I do like to be
compliant.

There is a trend anyway to fit combi boilers into some types of new
build property simply to be able to de-skill the plumbing operation.

However, in a new property it is possible to easily provision an
adequate mains water supply. This may not be so easy in an older
property, so before rushing off to chase imaginary regulations, do
check the mains water supply to make sure that it is adequate.


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.

The only way to meet the backup requirement is through some form of
storage - none of the mains fed hot water systems inherently do that.

In terms of mains fed hot water systems, apart from combi boilers you
can have a pressurised hot water cylinder - stores the hot water and
is heated via a coil similar to an open vented system - or a thermal
store where the bulk water is heated directly or indirectly by the
boiler and that is pumped through an efficient heat exchanger when
required. Both of these get you over the rate of heating problem of
low to mid range combi boilers in that they store the hot water or the
energy to heat it.

However, they are only as good as the mains supply.

Having said that, there are on the market, pressurised water storage
vessels. IIRC, these operate on a similar principle to the pressure
vessels used in sealed CH systems- i.e. with a diaphragm with air or
nitrogen on one side, water on the other. The application is for
where the static pressure of the supply is OK but the flow rate poor,
and there is a requirement for periodically large amounts of water.
I believe that these can be fitted on a ground floor - I tried to find
the manufacturer, but can't for the moment. ISTR them being quite
expensive, however.



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.

Thanks in adavnce for your advice.

Regards,
Martin.

..andy

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