Will an accumulator solve this issue?

[Agile]

Only when the situation has been assessed can the possible solutions be assessed and any decision on the best way to proceed be made.

An accumulator has a limited volume of flow enhancement and when that has been exhausted they can take 10-20 minutes to be refilled. They also take up a lot of space.

By contrast a mains supply upgrade gives a continual improved flow rate and requires no maintenance or replacement.

There are some situations where an accumulator is the obvious choice. At my Mother's house in Cornwall the mains supply had a static pressure of 3 bar but was from about 800 m of 15 mm tube and that gave an open pipe flow rate at about 2 litres per minute!

Tony

 

[Dan Robinson]

By contrast a mains supply upgrade gives a continual improved flow rate and requires no maintenance or replacement.

No cold water storage either .

 

[Agile]

In the case of this post I've recommended looking into restrictions in the supply first, because with a static of 5bar there is clearly a good chance of getting an improvement in flow rate. But it gives people the wrong idea to say 'always upgrade the mains pipe first' because, frankly, it is supposition - people then read these statements and take them as gospel.

Unfortunately you have both misquoted me as well as not understood what I actually said!

I said " Upgrading the supply pipe size would be the first choice before any accumulator. "

That means that when the different options are considered, having measured all the supply parameters, if a supply pipe upgrade is possible then that should be the first choice because it gives a continuous flow improvement, does not need any maintenance and does not take up any space.

To home owners, be aware that some contractors recommend a solution which gives them the best profit rather than the solution which is the best value and performance for the customer!

Tony

 

[LordFrederickIII]

Update: had the new PRV fitted and the hot water flow is massively improved. Cold seems to be as is

But there's another tank connected to the PRV - looks like some sort overflow that has about 20 - 30 litre capacity. We emptied that out as well and it was full of dirt and sediment. Is this something that needs to be serviced every so often or is there a bigger problem?

 

[Agile]

May be your heating feed and expansion tank.

But these are all things your local plumber should be advising you on as he can see them.

We can only guess!

Tony

 

[LordFrederickIII]

Its the expansion vessel in red. Plumber says that ideally it should be a white one and not a red one, as red is for central heating

My worry is it was full of what looked like sludge. Plumber said its normal, but I have a doubt in the back of my mind

 

[Agile]

Its difficult for me to imagine an EXV on the water to be sludged up. Thats usually a problem on the heating circuit.

Also slightly unusual to try to open them too!

Tony

 

[Madrab]

Also slightly unusual to try to open them too!

Especially when it is part of the un-vented hot water safety control system. Who removed the EV? Hopefully they are qualified - G3/UVHW Certification?

Red is for central heating and may be made of materials that are not WRAS approved and therefore should not be used on potable water supplies. Who installed yours as they may have used an old spare they had, with sludge included, rather than supply the correct one?
White or blue for potable water only.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Not necessarily.

 

[Madrab]

Fair enough, that was probably the worst case scenario and maybe a little extreme with the example, just as likely that it was a brand new unit, just surprised it has sludge in it, given it would normally be after the PRV strainer.

Just would surprise me that a certified installer would use a red EV on potable water that's all.

Lord - You mentioned this tank and it's connected to the PRV, this is the pressure reducing valve you are talking about? Can you post a pic of the setup??

 

[Dan Robinson]

I was suggesting that colour means little .

http://www.pumpsukltd.com/varem-horizontal-pressure-vessels.html

 

[LordFrederickIII]

OK, here's a pic. The red vessel is in the background at the top of the pic.
The pipe coming out of the PRV on the left and going to the red valve is the one that goes to the red vessel

 

[Dan Robinson]

Well it should be. Red vessel indeed looks like a heating one.

Can't remember previous posts - is this an OSO cylinder with an internal air bubble.

That red valve is on the balanced cold draw off from the Safety group.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Can you post a decent picture?

 

[Dan Robinson]

Also, with a 15mm inlet pipe I would say this installation is a total abortion.



Sorry.