Thanks. I'll get my plumber to come out and have a look. Don't worry not jumping in without seeing what will and won't work. The outside tap and the tap in the utility room is filling a litre jug is less than 4 seconds. Not as as good as my last house but seems ok.
New Combi or Unvented Cylinder
- Thread starter ddsull
- Start date
Thanks. I'll get my plumber to come out and have a look. Don't worry not jumping in without seeing what will and won't work. The outside tap and the tap in the utility room is filling a litre jug is less than 4 seconds. Not as as good as my last house but seems ok.
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I did because fitting a non-vented cylinder and the necessary safety devices in this cottage would have been difficult and would have not been "efficient" in terms of water wastage due to long pipe runs.
Check that your plumber is qualified to work on pressurised systems (G3)- there are some quite specific requirements for unvented cylinders which may affect where it can go.
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The vented cylinder can be installed close to where the hot water is needed. When the hot tap is turned on the cold water in the pipe is wasted until hot water reaches the tap, Then when the tap is turned off the hot water in the pipe cools down and is often cold before the hot tap is turned on again,
In my cottage the only location for an unvented cylinder and the safety system would have been in the kitchen about 12 metres of pipe run from the bathroom. The vented cylinder with no requirement for safety pressure relief pipe work could be installed in the bathroom avoiding the long pipe run for hot water.
A second vented cylinder is installed in the kitchen to supply the kitchen, utility room and a wash basin.
I knew it!
Spend some time planning, come up with the best solution, and implement that. What you don't plan for, you pay extra for.
You will use most of your hot water in the bathroom, so locate the cylinder as close as possible to there. As for a 250 litre cylinder, what nonsense have you been fed that led you to believe that a 250 litre cyl would not be wasteful, if not in lost heat then by (soon to be) teenagers emptying the tank in one go as they fall asleep in the shower? For a family of 2 + 2 an unvented cylinder of no more than 150 litres will be more than adequate...the heating coils in these will re-heat your tank (typically) in around 30 minutes.
I read that your present cylinder is located behind an aquapanel in the shower. Don't even consider enclosing an unvented cylinder there unless you create much better access for maintenance, etc., and you must also be able to run a 22mm/28mm safety discharge pipe to an outside location with a constant fall, something else to consider.
I would suggest going the UV solution, but plan out your extension proposals properly and do the right job first time. UV will also cure your kitchen tap shortcomings. As said earlier, a cylinder will allow an electric immersion heater to be used, useful if the boiler is down or when (someday soon) gas gets switched-off or becomes too expensive to have in the house.
I also suggest that you plan any extension roof to be as south facing as possible so that solar PV panels can be fitted to give you cheaper hot water.
Thanks for all the replies.
I had an unvented cylinder in my last house so happy with how they run and like having the pressurised system.
I think the UVC next to the boiler is the best option as there is space there. The garage will always remain garage so that won't change. We had a 250l in our last house so I'd be looking at the same again. 30 mins to refill when you need a shower after the kids/wife have used the water isn't the best option! ha ha!
The garden is south facing and could connect any solar to the tank going forward.
One other question. As the heating system is gravity fed with a header tank is there an easy way to make it a closed system (i.e. remove the tank) and just have all the heating/water items setup in the same place.
I had an unvented cylinder in my last house so happy with how they run and like having the pressurised system.
I think the UVC next to the boiler is the best option as there is space there. The garage will always remain garage so that won't change. We had a 250l in our last house so I'd be looking at the same again. 30 mins to refill when you need a shower after the kids/wife have used the water isn't the best option! ha ha!
The garden is south facing and could connect any solar to the tank going forward.
One other question. As the heating system is gravity fed with a header tank is there an easy way to make it a closed system (i.e. remove the tank) and just have all the heating/water items setup in the same place.
Yes. Check with your boiler docs as to its suitability for sealed system. You'll need extra safety components and an expansion vessel of suitable size. Most (all?) sealed system boilers have the pump on the return path to the boiler (sensible as the pumped medium is cooler), so you may want to relocate yours too, and in the garage it'll make the house quieter too*.
MM
*This does not apply when teenagers are in the house.
MM
*This does not apply when teenagers are in the house.
D
Deleted member 294929
Keep the boiler and fit an unvented cylinder. Moving forward.
I'm definitely going with the existing boiler and adding a new UVC. Any recommendations on a cylinder? I had an Albion Ultra-steel in the last property and it was fine. If looking at future proofing is there a type of cylinder which can use for solar hot water going forward or will any cylinder do? Thanks
D
Deleted member 294929
I honestly think they are much of a muchness. I'm sure I'll get shot down but there is very little to go wrong
Unvented cylinder: Pressure reducing valve, pressure relief valve, temperature and pressure relief valve, high temp cut off motorised valve, strainer, expansion vessel or air gap.
Versus
Vented cylinder: Ball valve in cold water storage cistern (and gravity but if that fails you'll have other problems to worry about)
D
Deleted member 294929
and an annual safety check on those critical components
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