Low Hot water Pressure - Halstead Best 40

[Stupoo]

Hi everyone. This is my first try at getting advice about a problem I have. Please tell me if more or clearer information is required. I would appreciate any responses.

Ok. I am flat caring at the moment and the flat I am in has a very low hot water pressure to all hot water outlets. The CH works ok. The cold water feed to the bathroom is ok and is fed from a storage tank above the shower. The water flow would take a long time to fill a sink! but it does get hot. I think it is an open vented system.

The shower is fed from an automatic shower pump that only kicks in if you start the shower with the shower head low (near to the tray).

The boiler is a Halstead Best 40db (gas fed) with an additional Halstead system pod attached (houses the CH pump and pressure vessel). I have a pressure reading, on the front of the boiler of 1.7BAR and I think that is what it should approx be.

(sales speil - wall mounted, fan assisted balanced flue natural gas boiler incorporating a cast iron heat exchanger. The appliance incorporates automatic direct burner ignition and electronic temperature control.)
I do not know the age of the system but it all looks fairly new (less than 3 years?) and as I have just moved in, I do not know whether this has been a long term issue.

I have checked all stop cocks (isolating valves) to ensure they are fully on.

Min boiler flow rate 15.27 gals pm / Water capacity 3L

Any checks I can do? what is the purpose of the Red pressure vessel in the boiler?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Bahco]

And your problem is.............

 

[Stupoo]

I have a very very slow rate of water coming out the hot water taps in the bathroom and Kitchen. It takes along time to fill a normal sink (or anything for that matter) !

As it is a flat, I would have thought there would be additional pressure on the hot water apart from just gravity? I thought thats what the pressure vessel could be for... but as you can probably tell, I'm not expert..

I don't know if its helpful or not, but until recently, turning on the tap in the kitchen slightly increased the flow of water to the bathroom. Not by much but noticeable. Both sets of taps are quarter turn mixers.

 

[ChrisR]

The problem is likely to stem from that CW tank being the header for everything, including the hot water. COmmon problem in flats. You could also have blockages etc of course. 1/4 turn taps are often designed for high pressure water supplies so give v poor flow on low pressure ike yours.

The red expansion vessel is for the boiler /system water, it accommodates expansion on heating. No connection with tap water.

 

[Stupoo]

Thanks for the info..

Are there cost effective ways for me to increase the pressure in the hot water system?

 

[kevplumb]

pump ?

 

[Stupoo]

Where would be the best place to put the pump (i realise, on the pipe

 

[Bahco]

Because your cistern is directly above your cylinder your pressure will be neglible possibly 0.05 of a bar.
Worth checking your supply is run in 22mm to all hot taps.
Also as ChrisR says consider changing your taps as a pump is likely to be the most expensive option
I nearly forgot the smiley

 

[kevplumb]

got them to work then?

 

[Stupoo]

Thanks. Does anyone know a good supplier of a hot water pump as I cannot find one.. I can find plenty of pumps for the heating system but nothing for the hot water itself..