Hot water system upgrade

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lxsw20

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#293112 29-Dec-2021 13:25

I've just moved house where the hot-water system is pressurised by old school header tank setup. Needless to say the pressure is pants.

The cylinder itself is only about 10 years old and is rated up to 7.6m head height.

Has anyone here upgraded from a header tank system in the past? I'm wondering if a pump is an option, or am I best to rip out the header tank and go for a 7.6m low pressure system?

Gas isn't really something I'm interested in converting to. I'm more after a good enough setup for the next 2-3 years.

Cheers

wellygary

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#2839961 29-Dec-2021 13:39

Are you on "town" supply, i.e not rural?

If you are on a connected supply then a mains pressure cylinder would seem to be the best solution?

lxsw20

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#2839964 29-Dec-2021 13:51

Yeap on town supply (Dunedin). Mains pressure probably is the best solution, but means replacing the tank. Im more looking to do a cost effective improvement/upgrade - this isn't a forever home.

coffeebaron

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#2840177 29-Dec-2021 22:01

Check with a plumber, but if going from low pressure to mains pressure, you may need to look at the taps / shower head etc around the house.

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#2840219 29-Dec-2021 22:25

lxsw20:
Yeap on town supply (Dunedin). Mains pressure probably is the best solution, but means replacing the tank. Im more looking to do a cost effective improvement/upgrade - this isn't a forever home.

My sister has just replaced a 7.6m valved system with mains pressure. Sure, there's more pressure but as far as I was concerned there wasn't anything wrong with the shower as it was. You probably don't have anywhere near 7.6m of head with the tank. Talk to a plumber about changing to a pressure reduction valve instead of the tank.

GenX

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#2840221 29-Dec-2021 22:29

We had a similar situation a few years ago. Moved into a house with a low pressure hot water tank and header tank in the loft. Hot water pressure was terrible.

Got the plumber in and he removed the header tank and fitted a pressure reducing valve and relief valve. He also replaced the shower hose and nozzle. All up cost us about $1000, but well worth it.

This saw us through until about a year ago when we replaced with a mains pressure hot water tank as part of major renovations.

lxsw20

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#2840224 29-Dec-2021 22:33

GenX:

We had a similar situation a few years ago. Moved into a house with a low pressure hot water tank and header tank in the loft. Hot water pressure was terrible.

Got the plumber in and he removed the header tank and fitted a pressure reducing valve and relief valve. He also replaced the shower hose and nozzle. All up cost us about $1000, but well worth it.

This saw us through until about a year ago when we replaced with a mains pressure hot water tank as part of major renovations.

Thanks, thats pretty much exactly what I'm thinking about doing.

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#2840225 29-Dec-2021 22:38

We had something similar to this and just went with gas, it was WELL worth it.

lxsw20

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#2840241 29-Dec-2021 23:16

Would have to get bottles here, and the price of just seems to keep going up. Prefer to go electric.

Zeon

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#2840245 30-Dec-2021 00:36

Had an interesting setup when moving into our current house. They had plumbed in a hot water recirculation pump (I'm thinking that is what it was) that would suck water out of the hot water tank and boost into the taps. Was super hard to get the pressure right and the shower may randomly turn cold if the pump decided it didn't need to run.

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rogercruse

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#2840272 30-Dec-2021 07:52

If you're going to upgrade your hot water system to improve the delivered pressure then you might also want to think about how the water is heated and consider a hot water heat-pump.... or combine your home heating / cooling for an intergrated system

We went for a intergrated solution for our new build home.

lxsw20

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#2840280 30-Dec-2021 08:44

Hot water heatpumps are not recommended this far south last time I looked. Also, like I said, im after a cost affective 2-3 year upgrade here. 😄

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#2840305 30-Dec-2021 09:18

Don’t forget insulation for the tank, pipes….. I know it’s a tad cold down there eh.
(probs a few GZ’ers, would freeze their nodes off…

lxsw20

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#2840308 30-Dec-2021 09:21

Not as cold as people make out, but it keeps the north islanders away 😉

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#2840422 30-Dec-2021 12:15

I prefer low pressure systems, that are fine if set up and valves adjusted correctly. Overflow back to valve and relief to gully trap. Low pressure shower mixer and rose. I now have larger cylinder and solar hot water controller.

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