Tap Question

[sotal]

We've got two mixer taps in our house, one in the en-suite and one in the kitchen.

Both are a bit rubbish, you can't do much mixing with them as cold water is mains pressure and hot is from the tank. You only seem to get hot when it's all the way across towards hot, any amount of cold gives cold water.

Also it's a bit of a trickle in the en-suite it's not really enough pressure.

I've been having a read on here and I think it's down to the wrong taps being fitted. I'm guessing they are mains pressure taps for combi boilers etc?

Is there any way to alter the taps to make them work better?

Is the pressure issue related?

I thought that hot water pressure was down to height difference between the cold water tank and the tap? We have another bathroom which has sperate hot and cold taps and that one gets much more hot water flow and is at the same height. The en-suite is further away though.

 

[BournemouthPlumber]

Sounds like you have unbalanced supply throughout your house. Generally speaking most kitchen taps are designed to cope with this and mix the water once it leaves the tap, rather than mixing it in the tap body - therefore you should get hot and cold as you wish - albeit at different pressures.

You will need a mixer tap for the en-suite that is designed for unbalanced pressures (surprisingly harder to find that one would imagine!!) As what happens is the pressure of the cold fights back the hot water when you try to mix the water - therefore it is only when the cold is right off (i.e. hot fully on) that it is able to come out the spout

You might be able to get round it with a pressure reducing valve on the feed to the cold tap - but can be bulky and not aesthetic. Generally it would be advisable to pop a check valve on the hot at the same time just as a precaution

Correct taps would be the ideal solution - Dual Flow is the type of mixer tap you want to search for.

 

[muggles]

Mixer taps never work well, and often don't work at all, where pressures are not balanced. You could install a flow restrictor on the cold side, this should help a bit, or get the cold re-piped to be low pressure off the cold tank in the loft

 

[sotal]

For some reason most of the house is on mains pressure. The downstairs toilet and sink are on mains cold, the utility room is on mains cold, the kitchen sink is on mains cold (as you would expect), the ensuite is on mains cold.

The only bit with tank cold is the main bathroom. I think both taps are mix in body taps so that's probably why they are rubbish!

I'll try and find one for the kitchen - not so bothered about the ensuite, and I still have the problem of the small amount of flow from the hot tap in the ensuite - any ideas on that one? am I right that as it's at the same height as the main bathroom it should have the same flow?

 

[BournemouthPlumber]

Most kitchen taps are dual flow anyway.

You might find that the ensuite taps are designed for mains pressure system hence the low flow

 

[ChrisR]

If you add a small pump to your hot water supply, things will get a lot better. It's modest, but usually turns something which is a pain, into "OK".

You should be able to get one for £120 or so, which to improve all the hot taps, is a reasonable step I think.
http://www.grundfos.com/web/homeuk....fa180256e0f00563537/$FILE/UPA 15-90 05 03.pdf

 

[sotal]

I like the idea of that pump but I'm not sure where I'd put it. The flow to all other taps is perfectly adequate, it's only the ensuite which is poor, or would it be worthwhile boosting everything anyway?

Would that pump be enough to operate a shower at a good enough flow rate?

At some point in the future I need to replace the main bathroom shower. It's currently a triton electric shower which is in the loft and it just has controls on the wall. I like this and to be honest another concealed unit would be best for the bathroom but electric ones are rare and expensive but there are plenty of neat concealed units which work of just hot and cold water. So it would be nice to use one of those if possible