No hot water. How to resolve.

[danzx2]

Hi,

I hope you can advise me here.

Since moving into our house we have had very little hot water. If the boilers on for 6 hours it is only just better than the cold tap. The radiators get nice and hot as you would expect them to.

We had a plumber round to quickly look and he said it was the Diverter Valve at fault and that it could be replaced. Although he said that the hot water tank was not big enough to have a bath and due to the height between that and the water tank in the attic it would be best to go for a combination boiler.

Now the boiler was installed in 2002 and so was the tank etc. The boiler is a Vaillant Thermocompact and the tank size is 96 litres. From the top of the hot water tank to the bottom of the tank in the attic is less than a metre.

I have a few questions which I hope you can answer.

1. Would fitting a larger hot water tank be an option and what would the approximate cost be for a larger tank and a new diverter valve installed? The tank sits above the stairs so cannot be positioned any lower.

2. Looking at the photo would installing a combination boiler be an easy job and what would the approximate cost be to be installed? Could it also be moved into the attic? The boiler is currently not against an outside wall and the flue goes into the attic and straight out the roof. I think there is also a over flow waste pipe from the boiler out of the attic too.

3. A radiator was installed into the lounge and has been installed using plastic pipes. Are these OK as the plumber wasn't keen on them?

4. 6 rooms have radiators all with thermostatic valves. The shower is electric. Would it be an option to have a room thermostat fitted to one of the rooms i.e. the lounge to control the temperature?

Ideally I am looking for a solution to the hot water problem. If a combination boiler is the best option I am happy to pay for it. I don't like the idea of having the boiler on to heat the water if I am only going to wash my hands (sounds like the combi maybe the answer). I would just like a bit more insight from people in the know.

Thanks in advance,

Dan

 

[spacethegas]

1st impression.

nice spur fitted beneath boiler..

 

[spacethegas]

just concentrate on your 'diverter problem' for now.

plastic pipework does not look nice otherwise its ok.

do you need hw for a bath or do you just require it to wash your hands ? this is a little unclear.

a room stat is a good idea.

 

[namsag]

Fitting a combi would be straight forward as you have all the services there and the gas is also 22mm so that should be ok.
But why go to that expense.
unusual for the divertor(mid position valve) to fail and not give hot water as that is its rest position .

Plastic to rads looks rough and is not as good as copper.

Tank should be big enough to give you enough hotwater if HW problem is fixed .
Can you take a picture of valve and any valve on the pipe that comes out of the bottom of cylinder

 

[ChrisR]

WHoa, just get the diverter valve fixed for now and see how you find it. ANd sack your "plumber".
If you want a better shower, assuming you have a mixer you could have a pump fitted. If no mixer, a pumped ("power") shower.

It's unusual for a diverter valve to leave you without hot water, so get another diagnosis first

 

[danzx2]

Thanks for the replys so far.

Yes I agree about the pipes looking bad but aslong as they work OK.

I have a 3 month old son so a bath is essential now, it wasnt such an issue before and we lived without it.

Can a room stat be wireless as i'm not sure how a cable could be dropped down?


Picture is below, valve is sunvic.

 

[namsag]

Could be couple of things cylinder stat could be shot , just move strap out the way and lay cylinder stat beside cylinder basically so its not sensing the cylinder if the water then gets hot you know its that , that is faulty.

Motorised valve could be jammed in CH position and only letting a little bit of water to HW cylinder taking the chill of it ,You could take the head off it and move the spindle 90 degreees at a time to see if you get hot water after a while(having CH AND HW on at clock).
And if it is a faulty motorised valve you could prob get away with just the head

 

[Razor900]

Love the PRV discharge pipe

 

[danzx2]

The diverter is like the 3 way one pictured here http://www.sunvic.co.uk/momo_valves.htm

It has a dial. Can I move this to test it?