Kitchen tap help - low hot water flow

[MooMooKerchu]

Hello

Can anyone advise please?

We have very low pressure for hot water all throughout the house - probably the worst in the kitchen.

We need new taps as the ones we have aren't practical for many different reasons (almost identical to this Current

Ideally we'd like to move to something like this New

But as they're pillar taps at the moment, approx 19cm apart, how do I know if the new one will fit the existing holes. Or is it almost a given that that won't? I can't see anything giving a width of the water opening/fixing.

Or maybe that's not how bridge taps work...... I don't really understand it. All I know is that I need something suitable for very low HW pressure (very high CW pressure).

Can anyone help?

Thanks

[MooMooKerchu]

Or this might work for us better but is basically the same style

Tap 2

[nemno]

I've just been through tap choosing. You need to go to a website that give specifications, some online shops are useless for this. Usually best to go to brand's own website eg your 2nd tap
www.vado.com/products/kitchen-taps-and-mixers/kitchen-mixers/ast-353-cp/astra-lever-2-hole-sink-mixer-deck-mounted-with-swivel-spout/1709
Then click on the (usually) pdf that gives the details you want, in this case they are under installation and care on the left hand side.

[MooMooKerchu]

Ahhh yes, why on earth didn't I think of that!?

Great idea, I'll check it out now

[stuntcamel]

Have you got a combi boiler? We've got the same issue, the hot water pressure is rubbish.

[MooMooKerchu]

No, no combi boiler, ours is an open vented condenser boiler - I'm led to believe it's a good one so I don't envisage changing it any time soon, so I'm trying to make the best of a rubbish situation

We had to get a pump installed to power the shower which works amazingly but the kitchen is truly shocking even compared to the other taps.

[PigletJohn]

Pillar taps of UK design will give better flow than other types. My preference is for Bristan. They are likely to have a half-inch stem, which is quite big, and can be fitted to a 15mm pipe. The type with a capstan head that screws up and down open wider that quarter-turn ceramic valves.

More stupid stylish taps may have connection tails the size of a pencil. You can see if you look underneath.

Taps are often connected using flexible braided hoses which are smaller inside and constrict the flow.
www.screwfix.com/p/flexible-tap-connector-with-valve-15mm-x-mm-x-300mm/3558g

They may also have ball-type isolating valves in the pipework which have a tiny hole in the middle which constricts flow. The cheap ones often leak for no particular reason.
www.screwfix.com/c/heating-plumbing/isolating-valves/cat3830002

If you have poor flow, and any of these, better alternatives are available.

Have you got a hot-water cylinder? What colour? Are you in a flat?

[MooMooKerchu]

Hmmm OK - a pillar tap doesn't fit our needs quite as well as I think a mixer might but I'll carry on researching.

They're not fitted with flexible tap connectors (at the moment).

They do have the ball-type isolating valves which have been in place for 8 years without leaking issue but could look to change them.

I believe we have a tank in the loft, with very little room to raise it any higher. There is a water cylinder in the airing colour which is a green colour (I think) and no we're in a house.

[PigletJohn]

ok, so you have a green cylinder. The flow of water will depend on the length of the pipes, their width, and constrictions such as elbows and valves. You can get "full bore" valves which have a bigger opening so constrict the flow less, another trick is to fit a larger size (e.g. 22mm) valves and fit them on (e.g. 15mm) pipes, they are about twice as big, you use a small brass adaptor to make them fit.

If you are going to the expense of buying and fitting any new valves, buy Pegler ones which are superior quality and last longer. They are a bit dearer, but nothing over a 20-year life.

Examine the pipe run as much as you can. A constricting valve might have been used e.g. when a pipe run was altered or a new sink fitted. Valves used for washing machines are often very constricting, and there is an easy-fit type that spears a spike into the pipe and may be troublesome.

Also look in the cold tank in the loft for drowned mice or pieces of loft insulation clogging the outlets. If it has a close-fitting plastic lid (it should) these should not be present. There may well be a valve on the pipe coming out of the bottom of the cold tank. There shouldn't be one on the cylinder, but there might be.

The pressure will depend on the height of the tank above the outlet, it is not the same as flow.

[MooMooKerchu]

Thanks so much as always - most informative, shall double check upstairs in the left too!