PigletJohn or anybody - can you help me with my pump please?

[CatsCantFlyFast]

We have a pump (to increase water pressure) housed in the siring cupboard at the top of the stairs. (The airing cupboard is a badly created cupboard stealing space from the spare room and is built from tongue and groove)
The pump is a beast (commented on by all plumbers who come to the house) and makes a huge noise that is heard throughout the house whenever loo is flushed/tap run upstairs/showers on etc. Is there anything we can do? Move if? Soundproof it? Replace it?

[johnd2]

Can you raise the water tank up? Do you have loft space?
Or at much greater expense you could get a combi boiler if you only have one shower, or even a megaflo cylinder.
Failing that get a new pump that's advertised as quiet and hang it from elastic. Use flexible pipe work to connect it.

[CatsCantFlyFast]

Combo boiler is an option in the future

Hanging pump from elastic is interesting point - it's bolted down at the mo and somebody has mentioned unbolting and an anti vibration mat?

Stupid question but how do other houses manage when their hot water tank isn't in the loft? I've never had a house with a pump before

[PetraDelphiki]

We have a pump too..it's a pita! We did put anti vibration mat under which helps a little - sadly our only other option is a complete replumb to put a bigger pipe up to the top of the house ...and I'm not going there!

We've also got ours on a timer so it doesn't run overnight which helps a lot!

[PigletJohn]

I expect you have a cold water tank. Is it in the loft, or is it on top of the hot water cylinder? If on top of the cylinder, do you know any reason why you can't put one in the loft?

Most people with a pump only need it when they want a shower. If yours runs even for a tap or to fill the WC cistern, it suggests that your cold water tank is unusually low (or the pump was fitted by a lunatic).

Please fill a bucket at the cold tap at your kitchen sink. Time it and calculate how many litres per minute you get. Do the test at the utility room and garden taps, if you have them.

How old is your house? Is it on mains water supply? Have you got a water meter? Are you in a farmhouse miles from the main?

[PigletJohn]

p.s.

It doesn't matter how high the hot water cylinder is.

[PetraDelphiki]

We have a cold water tank in the roof of a 4 story house...I still don't understand why we need the pump but if it's not running we only get trickles of water. One plumber said that the pipe up from the mains is too small? I did know whether the pump is on the mains side of the tank or the house side...but I can't remember :-(

[PetraDelphiki]

Kitchen sink is mains pressure as is outside tap...they are both pretty fast flow!

[PigletJohn]

How many litres per minute is that?

[PetraDelphiki]

Dunno - will check when I get home! Thanks!

[TeddyBee]

What kind of pump is it? We used to have a pumped system and replaced the pump (for about £60) every so often and the new one was always a fuckton quieter.

www.screwfix.com/p/grundfos-ups2-15-50-60-central-heating-pump/42635

Or is it one of these bad boys?

www.screwfix.com/p/stuart-turner-monsoon-s-positive-head-shower-pump-2-0bar/95134

Which my BiL has and is a FARKING NIGHTMARE. It sounds like you have a shower pump rather than a central heating pump. I would a) get a new one and b) get it plumbed in so it only pumps the shower rather than all hot water. In fact I would replace the entire central heating system frankly.

[PetraDelphiki]

Looks like I'm getting around 10 litres per minute at the kitchen tap (which I guess isn't all that much) - and I can't find the details of the pump at the moment (will go up into roof later)

It is a grundfos pump, that I do remember - it's I think something very like this

uk.grundfos.com/products/find-product/mq.html

Thanks for the help!

[PetraDelphiki]

And about 20 from the garden tap (which is about 1m from the mains stopcock)

It is highly plausible that the plumbing here was done by a lunatic mind you!

[PigletJohn]

20lpm from the garden tap suggests that the incoming supply is quite good, and is restricted in the kitchen by the tap, for example it might be a stylish import with a joystick.

If the supply to the house was poor, it might be more tiresome to improve it.

[PetraDelphiki]

Is a franke tri flow in kitchen!

Does it explain why we need a cold water pump?

[PetraDelphiki]

Thanks btw

[PigletJohn]

no, it would only explain reduced flow at the kitchen sink. I think the tap has a filter, that would also reduce it.

It's bathtaps that need the best flow. A cold water tank in the loft can give excellent flow.

In your case, if the watermain is delivering a reasonable flow, I would get a plumber to see what size the waterpipes, and especially stopcocks and service valves, are. It is quite easy, using modern flexible plastic pipes, to run them under floors and through ducts.

Sometimes people screw down stopcocks hoping to reduce plumbing noise. This has the effect of constricting flow.

[CatsCantFlyFast]

Sorry - late return to the thread.

I will calculate my flow downstairs tomorrow but suffice to say I've had a plumber say it's strong.

House is on mains water, in a town, on a meter, not a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere type scenario.

Cold water tank is in the loft.

Pump runs for any hot water tap in the house, plus shower in main bathroom, and cold water in main bathroom, and shower in en suite (but not loo or cold water tap in en suite). It being plumbed in by a lunatic is possible(!). If it only ran for the showers that would be fine - I'm trying to understand if there would be any reason for it to be needed for hot water taps in the sink in a normal setup. I can take a pic of it tomorrow as the crazy pipework might be telling

[PetraDelphiki]

Sounds as bonkers as ours!

[Wrinklytights]

We have a pump for the hot tap and shower in our loft conversion and it is really noisy. We also have lots of issues with plumbing all over the place. I frequently feel like ripping it all out and starting again!