I've got a new house with a "Boilermate II from Gledhill Water Storage Ltd" which resides in my upstairs airing cupboard. When your other half hoards as much junk as mine, you need every spare inch of space, and when she spends as much as she does, you need to save every penny ;-)
Therefore I was thinking about moving it directly up into the loft.
My plan of action was to stop the water, drain the system, 'unplug' from mains, cut a hole in the loft above it then lift it up. Build a platform to hold it (I presume it isn't light !) then simply extend the pipework up into the loft. Easy.
Seems obvious. The only downside I can see is that there's a timer and winter/summer setting which we only change occasionally so not a problem.
So why don't the builders do it, and is it something that I can ?
Stop her from wasting your money. Only give her 3/6d pocket money a week.
Very sensible.
It is a matter of just extending the cables and pipes up above. Make sure you insulate all the pipes to the Boilermate in the loft with the thickest pipe insulation you can find.
When you refill make sure you put enough inhibitor in, which will be about 3 to 4 1 litre cans. Check with Gledhill. The installation instructions are on their website.
Make sure the support can take the weight. You may want to install a small rad in the airing cupboard. Have this taken off the flow and return pipes from the boiler top the Boilermate, so it always works in summer and winter. You may want to put a straight in-line thermostat valve in the cupboard, running vertically just behind the door frame where it hinges, at about 1.5 meters from the floor. it is then easy to regulate. Or, strip off the insulation of the Boiler flow and return pipes as they run through the airing cupboard. This will keep it warmish in there. Make sure you seal all the pipe and cables with silicon as they run through to the loft and have twice the insulation thickness over the cupboard.
One point is freezing in the loft in winter. You want to install a frost pipe stat on the return to then boiler. If the temp get below 1C or so the boiler kicks in to maintain it above theta temp. In reality frost protection may be unnecessary, as Gledhill thermals store are "very" heavily insulated., so keep the pipe wit the thickest insulation you can get.
Keep the timer on 24/7 on the Boilermate. Replace the roomstat with a Honeywell T6667B1085 CM67 Prog Room Stat With Optimum Start.
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Make sure you get the optimum start model - well worth it. This will then replace the timer on the Boilermate, and give you far more flexibility than the Boilermate timer, and save on fuel too. Also easy to get at.
Gledhill advise to keep the DHW on, 24/7.
They are dickheads. I bet they put your boiler in the kitchen or utility room too. If they had brain they would use a Gledhill Gulfstream 2000 in the loft, saving space everywhere, and all in one box in the one place. That is too easy isn't it?
Check the installation instructions. I think the frost aspect is built in . Anyhow have it on 24/7 overcomes any frost problems. You may want to put an MDF/ply large cupboard around it, and over this have insulation.
I hope you both have good service contracts for them! A quick search seems to indicate a lot of people with nightmare experiences within a couple of years!
Been perfect. I searched and the problems mainly on the Boilermate are rather silly and minor. One on plumbing pages had a silted up plate heat exchanger. Gledhills come with strainer. I assume it was left off.
It has a control board and Maxie may tell us if he gets may Gledhill boards in these days. You can strip out the board and install a blending valve, flow switch, stem stat and away you go.
Gledhill have a large install base. They are invariably fitted in new homes, not existing homes. Professionals design the systems on the new homes so choose appropriate equipment, while jobbbing plumbers would die looking at a Boilermate as they don't understand them and would not fit one. Gledhill make units with all the punmps insiode the square casings. Very neat.
The Gledhill's do not have flow switches or blending valves, modulating the DHW pump to maintain the DHW temperature at the taps. If a blending valve requires replacing it may cost as much as a Gledhill control board. As Gledhill have few mechanical components, cost of maintenance over the years will be less than other heat bank systems. Also the control boards do far more than basic mechanical and electro/mechanical controls, making them cheaper to run in most cases.
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