Hi all,

I have just done up my bathroom only to find that the modern mixer taps
cause an extremely low flow rate.

The base of my hot water tank is actually about 12" lower than the taps...
and it is a tall tank with a small header tank built in above.
There is insufficient height in my loft to relocate any header tank, and I
don't really want to have to install a combi boiler just to drive mixer
taps! I was wondering about using some sort of pressure activated pump.

If I installed a pump on the hot water outlet from the tank, this would give
all the taps in the house a huge performance increase. I assume it is
possible to get a pump that is automatically activated by sensing water
flow??

Does anyone have any comments? suggestions? indeed, is this possible at all?

System is a conventional and vented... OH and can someone answer why it is
that here in the UK these junky (sh*ty) systems are common as opposed to
much better systems on the continent/USA ??? why do we hold on to bleedin
convention in this country even when its inferior??? grr /rant

Regards;


Pete.

If I installed a pump on the hot water outlet from the tank, this would
give
all the taps in the house a huge performance increase. I assume it is
possible to get a pump that is automatically activated by sensing water
flow??

Yes. They are called shower pumps. Stuart Turner are known for quality
versions. Otherwise, cheapies are available. They are quite capable of
running more than just showers.

System is a conventional and vented... OH and can someone answer why it is
that here in the UK these junky (sh*ty) systems are common as opposed to
much better systems on the continent/USA ???

They were banned until the late 1980s. They are widely available now, if you
can persuade a typical Luddite installer to install them. They are usually
known to them as "Heatrays", an anglicised version of "Heatrae Sadia
Megaflo". Most installers think they eat children, or at least shine
ionising microwave radiation into them.

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:
If I installed a pump on the hot water outlet from the tank, this
would give all the taps in the house a huge performance increase. I
assume it is possible to get a pump that is automatically activated
by sensing water flow??

Yes. They are called shower pumps. Stuart Turner are known for quality
versions. Otherwise, cheapies are available. They are quite capable of
running more than just showers.

System is a conventional and vented... OH and can someone answer why
it is that here in the UK these junky (sh*ty) systems are common as
opposed to much better systems on the continent/USA ???

They were banned until the late 1980s. They are widely available now,
if you can persuade a typical Luddite installer to install them. They
are usually known to them as "Heatrays", an anglicised version of
"Heatrae Sadia Megaflo". Most installers think they eat children, or
at least shine ionising microwave radiation into them.

Christian.

Didn't the OP just mean combi or pumped type systems?

The trouble with many of the mono taps that are on sale is that they are
designed for continental fully pumped systems, so are not compatible with
conventional UK systems.
If you take them apart its quite obvious the bore, when they are fully open,
is pathetic, never mind the narrow feed pipes.
Get proper taps designed to work on gravity systems and remove any flow
restrictors.

System is a conventional and vented... OH and can someone answer why
it is that here in the UK these junky (sh*ty) systems are common as
opposed to much better systems on the continent/USA ???

They were banned until the late 1980s. They are widely available now,
if you can persuade a typical Luddite installer to install them. They
are usually known to them as "Heatrays", an anglicised version of
"Heatrae Sadia Megaflo". Most installers think they eat children, or
at least shine ionising microwave radiation into them.

Christian.

Didn't the OP just mean combi or pumped type systems?

The trouble with many of the mono taps that are on sale is that they are
designed for continental fully pumped systems, so are not compatible with
conventional UK systems.
If you take them apart its quite obvious the bore, when they are fully
open,
is pathetic, never mind the narrow feed pipes.
Get proper taps designed to work on gravity systems and remove any flow
restrictors.



No -- Christian has the idea - the thermal store type systems etc... much
better idea. Combi's have there place too, but I wasn't specifically
referring to them...

and... due to the price of brassware - and the direction that most stylish
brassware/bathroom hardware manufacturers are going, I believe the answer
definately ISNT to change everything because of bleedin "Great British"
tradition... grrr

Isn't it about time we lost this "great british" arrogance and started
adopting systems/conventions used elsewhere in the world, so we can at least
take advantage of enhanced style/price/quality etc etc???

Remember - I only have this problem because WE decide to be different in
this country. grr.

/rant lol again

Pete.

"[UK]CuteSpunkyLad" wrote in
:


Isn't it about time we lost this "great british" arrogance and started
adopting systems/conventions used elsewhere in the world, so we can at
least take advantage of enhanced style/price/quality etc etc???

Remember - I only have this problem because WE decide to be different
in this country. grr.

/rant lol again

Pete.

You may be right, and I've often tought of changing, but I worry about what
happens if the water is interrupted, as ISTR it once was, quite frequently.

The tank in the loft would tide you over for a bit

mike r

[UK]CuteSpunkyLad wrote:
System is a conventional and vented... OH and can someone answer
why it is that here in the UK these junky (sh*ty) systems are
common as opposed to much better systems on the continent/USA ???

They were banned until the late 1980s. They are widely available
now, if you can persuade a typical Luddite installer to install
them. They are usually known to them as "Heatrays", an anglicised
version of "Heatrae Sadia Megaflo". Most installers think they eat
children, or
at least shine ionising microwave radiation into them.

Christian.

Didn't the OP just mean combi or pumped type systems?

The trouble with many of the mono taps that are on sale is that they
are designed for continental fully pumped systems, so are not
compatible with conventional UK systems.
If you take them apart its quite obvious the bore, when they are
fully open, is pathetic, never mind the narrow feed pipes.
Get proper taps designed to work on gravity systems and remove any
flow restrictors.



No -- Christian has the idea - the thermal store type systems etc...
much better idea. Combi's have there place too, but I wasn't
specifically referring to them...

and... due to the price of brassware - and the direction that most
stylish brassware/bathroom hardware manufacturers are going, I
believe the answer definately ISNT to change everything because of
bleedin "Great British" tradition... grrr

Isn't it about time we lost this "great british" arrogance and started
adopting systems/conventions used elsewhere in the world, so we can
at least take advantage of enhanced style/price/quality etc etc???

Remember - I only have this problem because WE decide to be different
in this country. grr.
I think you'll find we had proper plumbing before most of the rest of the
world.
You can get stylish modern 1 lever taps that do work with UK systems but not
the cheap import stuff they sell in B&Q.

Isn't there just an unbalanced hot water only solution ?

Yes. I installed such a system in my last house. It is called a single
impellor pump. I had mains cold to every outlet and pumped hot to my bath
and shower only. I decided not to pump the kitchen as the flow was fine
there (due to the much greater head) and I didn't want the noisy pump going
off at night just because you turned the kitchen tap on.

Obviously, you could also install a Megaflo, if your mains are good enough,
and your wallet thick enough.

Christian.