Megaflo? (clueless...)

[Pinkfizzy]

Hi

I have a condensing boiler (not a combi) and 2 separately pumped power showers. Also an immersion. There is a small tank in the space above the water tank. We have 2 baths but they are never used as such.

This system works ok - I don't think that our pressure is very good as we get trickles from the non-pumped hand showers in the baths, hence partly why no one ever uses them.

We are having a big renovation, in which the top floor bathroom will be refitted, no bath just shower, wc & basin. Our builder has suggested a megaflo and lose the pumps altogether. There is space - I'll gain a great airing cupboard into the bargain & lose the loud pump noise when anyone showers.

My questions are - is this sensible? We're probably having all floors up to reroute the boiler from off the kitchen to top floor shower room.
Also how expensive might it be?
If you've done it, what made it a worthwhile change?

Last thing - we almost never run out of water unless all 4 shower one after another. But we do every time family are staying - immersion goes on for a bit, but I think any system would struggle with 8 or so showers, wouldn't it? (apart from weedy electric showers)

Bump?

(please - hopeful that PigletJohn can give me a steer!)

fill a bucket at the kitchen sink cold tap. Time it. How many litres per minute does it deliver?

Did the person suggesting a Megaflo do that?

What colour is your incoming water pipe? What diameter?

We had a megaflo system fitted . Love it. Fabulous shower pressure and a fast bath.

Hello!

Builder didn't test anything, just commented on present setup. (and said it would be approx £12K but if we do it, best with everything else happening rather than later.

!0 litres per minute

15mm? pipes - we have old lead pipes from kerb; nothing upgraded in the 17 years we've been here.

What do you think?

They did say that water co. would need to lay new pipes outside & they would have to increase the pipes coming in...

We had it in our old house and it was good. Showers were good etc.

Would I go to the trouble of replacing our mains pipes from outside and spending all that? Not sure. It would have to be terrible and a long term house.

We have a megaflo and have lovely pressurised hot water. There are lots of different makes of unvented cylinder on the market, Albion, GAH, Telford, Megaflo etc. they all come with 25yr warranty and immersion heaters but I believe the Megaflos are the more expensive - so would be good to shop around (only reason we have a megaflo is that hubby worked for potterton who maked them at the time so got staff discount)

You need to ensure that whoever fits it has an Unvented G3 ticket and expect to pay in the region of £1000 - £2000 supplied and installed depending on size and make.

You do need good mains water pressure for an unvented cylinder so If once your mains has been upgraded and you don't have that an Accumulator can be installed

They are great though, love ours and can't wait to get home for a decent shower when we have been away.

Thank you all, that's very helpful.

I can only see more problems on showers on the horizon as both DC are approaching teenagedom...If I can swing the budget, and it doesn't cost horrific amounts, I think that we'll go for it.

Pinkfizzy

?how many litres per minute?

If you are going to run a new pipe out to the pavement, preferably have 32mm plastic, or 25mm at the minimum. The labour cost is the same and materials cost is very similar.

Also new large full-bore stopcocks, and 22mm copper pipe all the way to the megaflo, and on to the bath taps. Don't let anyone cut corners.

Thank you PigletJohn.

Sorry, mistyped earlier, it's 10 litres a minute.

I agree, if we're going to go for it and leave other things till later, I really want a proper job done first time.

just checked again; it's 10 ltres per minute with a Thames water restrictor on the kitchen tap, which according to TW has reduced the flow by 8 litres per minute. Does that sound right?

Hopeful bump...have come across boostamain.co.uk as well, which seems to cover our situation, I think?

try the garden tap (if you have one) or even the washing machine valve (may be splashy)

The estimated effects of the restrictor might not be accurate.

In any case, if you have a lead water pipe, it is overdue for a change, and a new, larger plastic pipe is pretty sure to improve flow.

Ask your water co to do a (free) test of drinking water for lead content. You might be eligible for a Lead Replacement Subsidy, or possibly free/reduced price connection of new pipe, or they might replace their lead under the pavement at the same time, which makes connection much easier.

No, boostamain is not the right solution. A bigger pipe is.

I'm having similar decision-making issues. Trying to decide between mega-flow and a really powerful combi boiler. Did you consider a combi at any stage?

Unequivocal answers - I like!

Saves me making costly mistakes.

Thank you PigletJohn.

Paloma12, I did consider it 7 years ago when we replaced the boiler, but was clearly advised then that it wouldn't suit - sorry, can't remember why, but we have had 6 adults living here & showering daily for quite large chunks of time - I think that was a factor.

We have a stelflow recently installed - similar to megaflo but the cylinder was not as expensive. Its great! We have ours downstairs though - I have heard that they can vibrate if you have them upstairs - I'm not sure if that is true though - but worth looking into.

If you have an outside tap, you can get your plumber to test you have sufficient water pressure - they should have a little gadget, or you can do it with a bucket and stopwatch. We have upgraded all our internal pipework though too - whole house was renovated so it was easier.
If you run out of hot water on the odd occasion it heats up really quickly. The water pressure on our showers is on par with a great pump/ power shower.

If you have multiple bathrooms, a combi may not work for you. If you only run one bath/shower at a time a combi would be fine - that's what I've been lead to believe anyhow.

A plumber has told us there would not be much to choose forbid between mega-flow and a very powerful combi. Grateful for a view from piglet john if poss (sorry to hijack!!). We have 2 bathrooms. Combi boiler recommended is Worcester 440 I think.

If you have sufficient water flow, and can afford it, I don't think there is any other solution as good as a pressurised cylinder such as a Megaflo. You can even heat it with an immersion heater if your boiler is out of action or if you have Solar.

If you haven't got sufficient water flow, then a combi will be no better.

There are some people who say that combis break down no more often that the alternatives. I am not one of them.

Hijack away! We can all learn!

I've been told that moving the boiler may kill it - apparently boilers aren't keen on being moved - and we plan to move it from the kitchen exterior wall to the top bathroom exterior wall.

Interesting about the mega-flo vibration. I had seen them on the ground floor in a couple of houses but hadn't appreciated why, just thought that's where the space must have been.

Following

Largish Edwardian villa type house here and a mega flow type boiler ( different brand) and it's amazing. 5 adults can all have showers and still hot for washing up, the actual showers are good pressure despite the distance from the boiler.
The heating is good too and we have ours linked to a nest type system so we can change the heating and water from phones as well as on the wall. Great for monitoring and warming the house a bit more when it was really cold in the winter and we were away but elderly dad was home and feeling the cold ( bless him it was almost tropical in the house)
Also means I gained the use of the large airing cupboard as nothing in there now

Look at the different brands too

On the vibration front it is in the loft and despite being in an older house no sign of creaks or groans at all