HW cylinder types.

[Matthew]

Hi All,

I asked recently about the need to buy a larger

160 litre cylinder. I'll probably go for one by Albion or Gledhill.

One general question I do have is our existing cylinder has the hot water output at the very top. Some of the cylinders I have been looking at have a fiiting at the side instead. Are there any issues with this and the general plumbing?

With Albion I can buy either a British Standard (BS), Ultracyl or Superduty. The Ultraccyl is a beefed up BS cylinder, a bit more robust maybe. The superduty is tiny but has a very fast reheat time (7 mins I think). I dont know whether this would be suitable for a house with a large bath though, probably not....

Gledhill along with the BS range do a range called the Condencyl HE for condenisng boilers that are meant to be super efficient. Our boiler is not a condensing type can it still be used?

Again if any body has any experience with either manufacturer I would be interested.

I presume they are compression fittings.

Thanks for any advice, Matthew

[Christian McArdle]

A top outlet gets the maximum capacity out of the tank. A side outlet near the top provides less capacity, but better potential flow rate. It is normal to have the top outlet used generally, but run a pumped power shower from the side, due to the high flow rate requirement.

Before you buy a new cylinder, do consider installing a mains pressure solution, like a heat bank or unvented cylinder. Although a little more expensive (but not much compared to vented stainless cylinders), they do provide much better performance, particularly for umpumped showers. However, you must check the suitability of yours mains water supply.

Christian.

[Michael Chare]

See also

(if the site works!)

Living in a hard water area I installed a corrosion resistant one with double (50mm) foam lagging.

I got £25 for the old tank and that was after I had cut it in half!

Mine did but I would expect the answer to depend on the specific tank. The previous tank was BSP.