2 incorrectly plumbed storage tanks in loft. Advice please?

[leakydave]

In some instances with lower water pressure/flow rate you use the water up quicker than the tank can refill. Hence the larger capacity to ensure you always have an adequate supply when you need it.

If you have a shower pump attached to this tank then that will certainly pull more water than the float valve can deliver.

 

[DIYNotIan]

OK, that explains it. I think we would be totally fine with just the one tank. When the missus next has a bath or shower though, I might out of curiosity take a peek in the tank.

If we ever sold the house, then I guess if a family moved in it might be a different matter. So I'll have a think whether it s worth future proofing at this stage.

When considering the volume of water available, presumably the water in the cylinder comes into the equation as well???

If you have a shower pump attached to this tank then that will certainly pull more water than the float valve can deliver.

Pretty sure we don't have one of those...

 

[JohnD]

presumably the water in the cylinder comes into the equation as well???

no, the cylinder is always totally full, so the amount of water you can get out of the taps is limited to the contents of the cold tank, plus whatever the ballcock delivers to the tank while you are drawing.

A cylinder is typically about 100 litres, so about enough for a hot bath.

 

[DIYNotIan]

no, the cylinder is always totally full, so the amount of water you can get out of the taps is limited to the contents of the cold tank, plus whatever the ballcock delivers to the tank while you are drawing.

Still confused by this I'm afraid

Let's say for a moment that I'm going to have a bath and the water is turned off completely at the main stop cock. As I understand it, the water available for the bath will be what is in the cylinder and what is in the storage tank. Have I got that wrong?

I'm so sorry if I'm missing the obvious and wasting everyone's time...


Oh, and just to add, these are the things which are fed by the storage tanks:

- Bath, hot and cold taps (cold tap by a separate feed from the tanks)
- Bathroom sink hot water tap only
- WC sink hot water tap only
- Kitchen sink hot water tap only

Everything else in the house is mains (although I did not check the washing machine).

 

[JohnD]

Water is pushed out of the cylinder by the incoming cold water. It comes out of the top of the cylinder, not the bottom. You cannot empty a cylinder using the hot tap.

So if you had a thousand gallon cylinder and a ten gallon cold tank, you could only get ten gallons out of the cylinder, or, ten gallons in total of mixed hot and cold.

If you had a ten gallon cylinder and a thousand gallon tank, you could get a thousand gallons out of the cylinder, or, a total of a thousand gallons of mixed hit and cold.

You could not get a thousand and ten in either case.

 

[DIYNotIan]

I'm so sorry if I'm missing the obvious and wasting everyone's time...

See? I was right! Thanks for explaining, and explaining so well. And for bearing with me. Makes total sense now.