Low pressure Hot water cylinders

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Low pressure Hot water cylinders

1 | 2

trig42

5810 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2271661 8-Jul-2019 10:04

Only other thing to be aware of if considering changing to Mains Pressure HW is if the houses hot water pipes are rated for mains pressure. If the piping has been redone, you're most likely OK, but older houses with older pipes and connections could have issues if you up the pressure inside them.

bfginger

1268 posts

Uber Geek

#2278003 16-Jul-2019 23:48

I don't think low pressure is going to trouble most people. To make much use of mains pressure in a shower could result in enormous water use.

Running out of hot water because of how small a 135L cylinder is is more likely to be a problem. If it is, investigate to see whether it's safe to lift the thermostat by 5 degrees as the default setting should be lower than the maximum permissible safe setting. The default element is only 2kw so you could find out how much bigger of an element could be safely installed in there. Other tanks can take the 3kw, 3.6 and 6kw elements that are available.

The amount of insulation varies between different cylinders. If it's cool to touch that's good. Others with minimal insulation will feel warm and in that case a $50 Greenstuf insulation jacket should pay for itself over time.

Piping insulation is inexpensive so make sure to insulate the length of any exposed copper hot water pipes coming off the tank you have access to. Plumbers should do it by default.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2278005 17-Jul-2019 00:02

Aredwood: Just try the shower and see how it performs. Just dont expect a water blaster.

A friend of mine described it as "like being urinated on by an eighty-year-old with bladder problems". He wasn't a big fan of low-pressure showers.

bfginger

1268 posts

Uber Geek

#2278015 17-Jul-2019 00:35

neb:
Aredwood: Just try the shower and see how it performs. Just dont expect a water blaster.

A friend of mine described it as "like being urinated on by an eighty-year-old with bladder problems". He wasn't a big fan of low-pressure showers.

Maybe using shower fixtures designed with mains pressure in mind could be part of the problem. The old Topliss should be ok.

kotuku4

483 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2278058 17-Jul-2019 08:35

If you use correct shower mixer there is no problem with low pressure hot water, in my experience.

I have felton mixer, the mixing valve comes in different variants, for equal high, equal low, unequal high, unequal low.

And the hot and cold isolation valves each side of the mixer seem to have some adjustment?

mclean

581 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#2278158 17-Jul-2019 10:03

Just looking at the photo, you might want to improve the seismic restraint. It's going to take off in a good shake. The restraint should be solid blocking fixed to the structure, with the straps only there to hold it securely in the blocking. Search for G12/AS1 Figure 14.

1 | 2