Piglet John- remember when I said I loved you?

[DIddled]

Looking for your expert advice. We have just started an extension adding extra bathroom and bedroom to our 3 bed 30.s semi. We have an oldish Worcester boiler which has been great but we are thinking we might move the boiler from the kitchen to the (newly created utility) and get a new boiler. We can source a discount via a contact on a new Worcester Bosch. Any good in your opinion? How big, which model do we need please? Much appreciated x

[PigletJohn]

have you got a hot water cylinder?

what's wrong with your existing boiler?

[DIddled]

No cylinder I don't think. Current boiler is about 20 years old- it's massive and it's in the kitchen can't be boxed in- so but of an eyesore. It's been ok lately have has a few problems in the past years. Just seems a good time to do it as we need the space anyway. Thanks

[PigletJohn]

if the old one is 20 years old, then a new one will be smaller and more efficient, so will use less gas. you might save a couple of hundred £ a year on gas efficiency.

If you have no hot water cylinder then you presumably have a Combi. in which case, the boiler will be sized to give enough power to run a bath. This will usually be more than enough to run the heating, which needs less.

I am not keen on a combi in a house with two bathrooms.

You might consider upgrading to Megaflo or similar pressurised cylinder, with a conventional boiler (which will be smaller and simpler than a combi). for this to be successful you need a good flow of water from your incoming water main. Fill a bucket at the kitchen cold rtap, and again at the garden tap if you have one, time it, and see how many litres per minute the supply provides. Flow is not the same as pressure. a megaflo does not use a cold water tank in the loft, it runs straight off the watermain, and can give a very superior hot water supply. With a modern boiler, it will be fully hot in about 20 minutes, from cold. It will not suffer from the usual combi problems of cool baths, and water temperature fluctuating in the shower when somebody turns a tap on or off, or flushes a WC.

[Erebus]

Unlike piglet- I am no expert- but I'd second what he's said about a Megaflo. We had one put into our 2 bathroom house, in the loft, 3 years ago and it's amazing.

You need to 'check' it every 4 months or so the make sure the bubble is still there (you'll know as your hot water pressure will decrease gradually, and your 'emergency overflow' copper pipe may drip a bit) but it's real easy to re-establish the pressure bubble.

It can warm a 275 litre tank from cold in 25 minutes. Yes, it was £3000 installed but I believe it'll go on working for years.

[DIddled]

3k eeeek don't think I can afford that!!! X

[PigletJohn]

my second preference would be for a conventional cylinder and a cold water tank in the loft, but if you haven't already got a cylinder this would be just as much work.

Do the flow measurements with your bucket, that will give a clue on what you can expect from a modern combi.

How old is your house, does it have wooden ground floor or concrete; between your house and the road is there gravel and flowerbeds, or concrete?

[DIddled]

1930s semi with wood floors- outside is Tarmac and grass at front flags and grass at back. I wouldn't anticipate using both bathrooms at same time anyway- so would that mean a combo might be ok? Downstairs will only be a shower room- we have a bath upstairs but rarely use it as we prefer showers. Thanks

[SpecialJK]

can I crash this thread please I've just had a worcester bosch unvented boiler fitted last week, with a megaflo (well, actually it's a Main cylinder) in the loft (in fact, the guys are still here as the boiler isn't working!) Since it's been installed the water pressure has gone through the roof on our cold taps, so much so that there is significant water hammer every time you turn off a cold tap or the toilet finishes filling the cistern. When I flush the downstairs loo, it is quite noisy throughout the house as the water rushes through the piping from the loft to fill it up again. I asked them to fit a PRV, which they have done after the hot water cylinder (as they said the one on the tank isn't adjustable). It was ok for a day, but now it's hammering again. They say they can't stop it unless the clip all the pipes everywhere, even ones they haven't touched whilst doing the job. But we didn't have this problem before. I'm concerned the pressure will eventually do damage. Any ideas?

[TheLacuna]

Can anybody recommend a plasterer and decorator in South Manchester? Thanks.

[TheLacuna]

So sorry-new to this lark and obviously posted in the wrong place!

[PigletJohn]

d1ddled - When you have measured flow with your bucket, we will know how much water is available. To run a bath, you need a lot, if your water pipe can deliver that much, and if you are going to have a combi, it is worth buying quite a powerful boiler. If your water flow is very poor, e.g. you live at the end of a country lane, or have a narrow and squashed old lead pipe, it can be improved by laying a new pipe out to the mains in the pavement.

specialuk

for the WC cisterns, I expect they used to be fed from a cold tank in the loft, at low pressure. Now they will be fed straight off the water main. They probably have low-pressure ballcocks inside. You can buy high pressure ones, though I would go further and get modern "silent" filling valves. Whatever the pressure, they are always quieter than ballcocks, and much less prone to chatter or hammer. A plumber can fit them, you don't need to pay heating engineer rates. They look quite different with a very small float. They do cost a few pounds more, but ballcocks are not expensive. it is possible to take apart your old ballcocks and fit a high-pressure cone, but I think not worth the effort, unless you like tinkering.

Here are some examples. They are mostly made by Fluidmaster now, which amalgamated with the company that used to make the Torbeck valve. Those are the two best known brands. You might consider having new flushing valves or flappers fitted at the same time, which give a powerful and reasonably quiet flush. They look very different from the big old syphons. Ask around for a recommended plumber. Unlesss he is very traditional, he will be familiar with them. I don't know if the latest model comes with a pressure reducer; ask him to fit it if it does. It is just a bit of plastic in the pack.

Because your pipes are all now running at high presure, any looseness or inadequate fixing will cause more noise. Certainly have all visible pipes clipped tightly to the wall for a start. Maybe you will not need any underfloor pipes clipped as well. Old plumbers are usually very experienced with noisy pipes.

If the taps are noisy, or start to leak, consider buying British taps, which have larger waterways than most imports and run quieter. Bristan is a very good brand. If the taps or other fittings are old and worn, they are more likely to be troublesome at high pressure.

[SpecialJK]

Thanks piglet John. They have had to replace both toilet valves anyway as the old ones couldn't cope with the pressure, I think we were running at about 8 bar after the new system went in. The prv is holding it down to 2-3 bar and I think they've tied some more pipes down today and done some lagging so fingers crossed it is all ok.

We're getting the bathroom done soon so thanks for the recommendation on taps!

[DIddled]

Piglet leave that with me thanks xx