Hello all...

Fancy a HW system question?

My current house has a combi instant-heat HW system, and my previous
house had a megaflow - as you folks will know, both give lovely near
mains-pressure HW (as well as giving mains pressure cold water to all
taps, and no dead pigeon-infested cold water tank in the loft).

Now, I've got used to this, and I like it, but oh dear - the new house
I am about to move in to has an old-style gravity system, complete with
pigeon-water tank in loft and very feeble showers. And I don't want a
HW pump - had one of those before, didn't like it!

It's a reasonably-sized 4 bed house (but currently only 2 of us are
living in it). What should I get - combi instant or megaflow
pressurised HW cylinder? What are the pros and cons of each?

Thanks if you can help....
Richard

wrote:
Hello all...

Fancy a HW system question?

My current house has a combi instant-heat HW system, and my previous
house had a megaflow - as you folks will know, both give lovely near
mains-pressure HW (as well as giving mains pressure cold water to all
taps, and no dead pigeon-infested cold water tank in the loft).

Now, I've got used to this, and I like it, but oh dear - the new house
I am about to move in to has an old-style gravity system, complete with
pigeon-water tank in loft and very feeble showers. And I don't want a
HW pump - had one of those before, didn't like it!

It's a reasonably-sized 4 bed house (but currently only 2 of us are
living in it). What should I get - combi instant or megaflow
pressurised HW cylinder? What are the pros and cons of each?

Thanks if you can help....
Richard


I live in just that kind of house, complete with nasty gravity fed
system and I too dream of a happyer installation so would be interested
in any reccomendations too, I am also particularly concerned about ease
of conversion as obviously some pipe rework is to be expected.

What I really fail to understand is that my house is only 9 years old,
so why the pedestrian water system? I've lived in houses from the
seventies back in Denmark and never encountered such things.

//J

In article ,
Jan Larsen wrote:
I live in just that kind of house, complete with nasty gravity fed
system and I too dream of a happyer installation so would be interested
in any reccomendations too, I am also particularly concerned about ease
of conversion as obviously some pipe rework is to be expected.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with a gravity fed system if it's done
properly and you have enough head, which is easy enough in most houses. Of
course the pipework has to be done with more care too as any restrictions
effect the performance. But the beauty is once correctly installed,
there's nothing really to go wrong or needing expensive maintenance, or to
be influenced by outside factors.
The 'pigeon in the tank' bit is crap - the storage tank should be covered,
and most wouldn't want access for pigeons to a roof void anyway...

What I really fail to understand is that my house is only 9 years old,
so why the pedestrian water system? I've lived in houses from the
seventies back in Denmark and never encountered such things.

There will be disadvantages with the system used in Denmark (whatever that
is) if transferred to the UK. There always is. ;-)

--
*Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 26 Aug 2006 07:23:55 -0700 someone who may be
wrote this:-

and no dead pigeon-infested cold water tank in the loft).

There are no dead pigeons in any of the cold water tanks that I keep
an eye on. Never have been, never will be.

What should I get - combi instant or megaflow
pressurised HW cylinder? What are the pros and cons of each?

This is a DIY group, so why not try a bit of DIY? You should also
add a thermal store/heatbank to your search as this is another way
to provide mains pressure hot water.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 04:06:40 +0100 someone who may be Jan Larsen
wrote this:-

I live in just that kind of house, complete with nasty gravity fed
system

What is nasty about it?



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
There's nothing intrinsically wrong with a gravity fed system if it's done
properly and you have enough head, which is easy enough in most houses. Of
course the pipework has to be done with more care too as any restrictions
effect the performance. But the beauty is once correctly installed,
there's nothing really to go wrong or needing expensive maintenance, or to
be influenced by outside factors.
The 'pigeon in the tank' bit is crap - the storage tank should be covered,
and most wouldn't want access for pigeons to a roof void anyway...
Yes I agree, to a point, it is a nice and easy system requiring little
maintenance and yes naturally my tank is covered, it is also insultaed
and such things, however the pressure provided by it is, in lack of a
better description, not exilerating.



There will be disadvantages with the system used in Denmark (whatever that
is) if transferred to the UK. There always is. ;-)

I'm sure there is I just don't understand why it is possible for a ~20
year old system (at the time) built in the seventies to give so much
better performance than a ~10 system built 26 years later, given that
both systems had been running fairly effortlessly for their lifespan at
the time of sampling unless the latter is either poorly designed or
poorly implemented.

//J

David Hansen wrote:
On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 04:06:40 +0100 someone who may be Jan Larsen
wrote this:-

I live in just that kind of house, complete with nasty gravity fed
system

What is nasty about it?



Lack of pressure, the fact that I have a large body of water taking up
space in the attic.

//J

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 19:56:35 +0100 someone who may be Jan Larsen
wrote this:-

What is nasty about it?

Lack of pressure,

Does that particularly matter for filling toilets, basins and baths?

With showers what matters is a combination of pressure and volume.
Some people like to feel that they will shortly be flushed down the
plug hole, but others do not. Provided at least the minimum head is
available and the pipe runs are properly designed and installed a
gravity shower is acceptable to most people.

the fact that I have a large body of water taking up
space in the attic.

In most houses it doesn't take up very much space in the loft. Those
who resent the space it takes up would probably do well to get rid
of some of their clutter.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

David Hansen wrote:

Does that particularly matter for filling toilets, basins and baths?
No I would say it mostly matters for the shower(s)


With showers what matters is a combination of pressure and volume.
Some people like to feel that they will shortly be flushed down the
plug hole, but others do not. Provided at least the minimum head is
available and the pipe runs are properly designed and installed a
gravity shower is acceptable to most people.

Perhaps what is causing my discomfort is the flow rate, I do not know. I
do however think I understand the difference (in relation to
electricity) what I detest about the shower is not so much that it does
not, as you put it flush me down the plug hole, it comes at what I would
class as the lower levels of acceptable pressure, i.e it could quite
comfortable do with a bit more. However the really problematic bit is
that whenever someone runs a hot tap or even worse uses the other
shower, the temperature changes significantly, which can lead to quite
the rude awakening!

the fact that I have a large body of water taking up
space in the attic.

In most houses it doesn't take up very much space in the loft. Those
who resent the space it takes up would probably do well to get rid
of some of their clutter.


Again I tend to agree, however the amount of clutter necessary to my
very existence is not entirely determine by myself.

//J

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:57:08 +0100 someone who may be Jan Larsen
wrote this:-

However the really problematic bit is
that whenever someone runs a hot tap or even worse uses the other
shower, the temperature changes significantly, which can lead to quite
the rude awakening!

That has absolutely nothing to do with it being gravity fed. Rather
it has to do with poor design of the system. Mains pressure showers
behave the same way if poorly designed.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

In article ,
Jan Larsen wrote:
With showers what matters is a combination of pressure and volume.
Some people like to feel that they will shortly be flushed down the
plug hole, but others do not. Provided at least the minimum head is
available and the pipe runs are properly designed and installed a
gravity shower is acceptable to most people.

Perhaps what is causing my discomfort is the flow rate, I do not know. I
do however think I understand the difference (in relation to
electricity) what I detest about the shower is not so much that it does
not, as you put it flush me down the plug hole, it comes at what I would
class as the lower levels of acceptable pressure, i.e it could quite
comfortable do with a bit more. However the really problematic bit is
that whenever someone runs a hot tap or even worse uses the other
shower, the temperature changes significantly, which can lead to quite
the rude awakening!

This is down to bad design. The shower should have its own feeds so it
doesn't vary with other water use. But exactly the same can happen with a
mains pressure fed one - indeed it's likely with a combi boiler too.

--
*If you can read this, thank a teecher

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Jan Larsen" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Hello all...

Fancy a HW system question?

My current house has a combi instant-heat HW system, and my previous
house had a megaflow - as you folks will know, both give lovely near
mains-pressure HW (as well as giving mains pressure cold water to all
taps, and no dead pigeon-infested cold water tank in the loft).

Now, I've got used to this, and I like it, but oh dear - the new house
I am about to move in to has an old-style gravity system, complete with
pigeon-water tank in loft and very feeble showers. And I don't want a
HW pump - had one of those before, didn't like it!

It's a reasonably-sized 4 bed house (but currently only 2 of us are
living in it). What should I get - combi instant or megaflow
pressurised HW cylinder? What are the pros and cons of each?

Thanks if you can help....
Richard


I live in just that kind of house, complete with nasty gravity fed system
and I too dream of a happyer installation so would be interested in any
reccomendations too, I am also particularly concerned about ease of
conversion as obviously some pipe rework is to be expected.

What I really fail to understand is that my house is only 9 years old, so
why the pedestrian water system? I've lived in houses from the seventies
back in Denmark and never encountered such things.

Plumbers in the UK still think Victoria is on the throne.