Hi, can anyone help me decide on what CH & HW system.
The house is terraced 3 storeys and mainly built in about 1802. The top (2nd) floor was originally built as 2 eaves bedrooms so I guess the floor joists are of sufficient strength for occupation. The current system is gas boiler, with vented hot water cylinder on 1st floor, and CW storage in the apex of the roof. I want to upgrade the system for good HW provision to 3 bathrooms (1 current and 2 to be added), plus the usual kitchen outlets. The addition of a guest bathroom means I have to get rid of the current cylinder cupboard on the 1st floor.
I thought of relocating the cylinder into the 2nd floor - still below the cold water, but within the eaves space - but I imagine that a newly imposed loading of some 170 kg on 2 square feet of 200 year old floor joists might end in disaster. So I then considered the meatiest possible combi boiler located on ground floor level, but there is approx 40' between prospective boiler position and the last outlets in the system on the top floor. This, I guess, would involve running the 2nd floor hot taps for ages before hot water came through, and the house is water-metered!
Then I thought maybe 2 combi's - one serving ground and 1st floors, and a 2nd small one dedicated to the top floor only (which could then be shut off when the top floor is unoccupied). However, further info says you can only do this by having 2 separate gas supplies into the house - to ensure sufficient gas pressure to run both boilers and the cooker hob simoultaneously. Is this true?? If so, can anyone give me an idea of the cost/difficulty of getting a 2nd supply. Obviously it means 2 lots of standing charges as well.
Failing that, does anyone have any other suggestions for a good efficient system that will answer my requirements without having to undertake serious structural reinforcement.
Many thanks for any suggestions.
The house is terraced 3 storeys and mainly built in about 1802. The top (2nd) floor was originally built as 2 eaves bedrooms so I guess the floor joists are of sufficient strength for occupation. The current system is gas boiler, with vented hot water cylinder on 1st floor, and CW storage in the apex of the roof. I want to upgrade the system for good HW provision to 3 bathrooms (1 current and 2 to be added), plus the usual kitchen outlets. The addition of a guest bathroom means I have to get rid of the current cylinder cupboard on the 1st floor.
I thought of relocating the cylinder into the 2nd floor - still below the cold water, but within the eaves space - but I imagine that a newly imposed loading of some 170 kg on 2 square feet of 200 year old floor joists might end in disaster. So I then considered the meatiest possible combi boiler located on ground floor level, but there is approx 40' between prospective boiler position and the last outlets in the system on the top floor. This, I guess, would involve running the 2nd floor hot taps for ages before hot water came through, and the house is water-metered!
Then I thought maybe 2 combi's - one serving ground and 1st floors, and a 2nd small one dedicated to the top floor only (which could then be shut off when the top floor is unoccupied). However, further info says you can only do this by having 2 separate gas supplies into the house - to ensure sufficient gas pressure to run both boilers and the cooker hob simoultaneously. Is this true?? If so, can anyone give me an idea of the cost/difficulty of getting a 2nd supply. Obviously it means 2 lots of standing charges as well.
Failing that, does anyone have any other suggestions for a good efficient system that will answer my requirements without having to undertake serious structural reinforcement.
Many thanks for any suggestions.
