Combis and showers

[Andy Hall]

Where did you get that haircut?

[Lobster]

Still doesn't make a combi a prerequisite... eg, we have an unvented system where all water, hot and cold, is at mains pressure. No tanks at all in the loft space (we do have a hot tank in the airing cupboard) and the boiler could have gone up there had we so wished.

You think THAT'S a cash withdrawal machine? Just wait till she's 15....

What, you reckon???!!!

David

[Doctor Drivel]

Two long pieces of unistrut from floor to very high, screwed to the wall at various points will strengthen the wall and hang the boiler very easily.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:55:42 GMT someone who may be "Jim" wrote this:-

Doesn't sound like a good place to put a boiler.

How do you produce domestic hot water at the moment? Where is whatever you use situated? How much room is there wherever it is situated?

Then it sounds like you are in the area where the advantages and disadvantages of a number of options are finely balanced. How is the house laid out?

[Doctor Drivel]

It does if only the boiler is there.

[Owain]

Why would the cold water supply tank need to be raised?

Owain

[Doctor Drivel]

You really don't know, do you.

[John Stumbles]

In that case (and assuming the house isn't big enough that you're likely to put in a second bath or shower room) then a combi is a reasonable solution. Check that the cold water mains supply is adequate: basically if mains pressure and flow is OK at the top of the house the the HW should be OK too.

The loft will need to be boarded, lit and the hathchway guarded (for safety of service engineers). Remember you'll need not only gas and CH pipework to the attic (you already have H&C water pipework there) but condensate waste and pressure relief pipework. These aren't always the easiest to arrange from a loft (although it's your installer's problem you do see PRDs facing horizontally, which will blow scalding water out over anyone below, so check what your installer puts in: ideally it should be taken to ground level).

In answer to your original questions: a combi can go on filling baths indefinitely (i.e. until it breaks down :-)), and your shower will be fine (pressure-wise) as long as it's not a multi-outlet whole-body thing, or a

2 foot diameter watering can head (IOW if you want fancy waterworks you'll need a fancy supply system at fancy prices).

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Total bollocks from the master of misinformation.

Of course you wont give a sensible answer, but give us all a laugh about how large an instantaneous heater of any sort would be needed to match a

22mm pipe with a head of perhaps an average 3 metres feeding stored water at 60C would need to be?

[John Rumm]

Assuming you have the water pressure, and more importantly the flow rate (do a test with a bucket and stopwatch), then you may find your pattern of use would be well enough served by one of the better non storage combis in the 35 to 40kW range[1]. These will deliver approx 15 lpm[2] of water at a usable temperature, which in plenty for most non fancy showers, and can do a bath in ten mins on the odd occation you want one. By going for a non storage unit you dramatically reduce the size, and weight and hence open up the range of places that you can install it. They tend to be chaper than these big box solutions also.

[1] I work on the premise that the only time you install one of the diddy 24kW combis is when you need something cheap in a hurry before you sell the place! [2] 15 lpm is what dribble used to call a "high flow rate combi" before he read about the storage based ones. Google back a few years and a 15 lpm gloworm remained his "boiler of the month" for several consecutive months!

[Doctor Drivel]

Which is a disgusting thing to do.

15 l/mim has never been high flow, although higher than 9 l/min.

Chav, you really don't know.

[Doctor Drivel]

Richard the senile one responded with bollocks....yes he said bollocks. He is a Cheggers fan you know.

[Doctor Drivel]

It does not have to be a ground level. It can be high up, at eves level as long as the pipe turns back and faces the wall, terminating about 1" from the wall.

Condensate drain? The Atmos boilers don't need one, and are condensing boilers.

A 16 litres/min combi can do a body jet Tower Shower. Not anything else but will so that fine.

[Fred]

What's wrong with keeping the existing vented hot water cylinder with cold water supply tank?

What's wrong with feeding the primary coil with an unvented system?

Who's talking about raising the cold feed tank?

I'm not the only one who doesn't know here so please let on.

[Doctor Drivel]

Get the point of the thread.

[John Rumm]

Chump, do you forget that the twaddle you spew out is recorded for all to see? It makes claiming you never said something in the past a bit difficult:

[Doctor Drivel]

Chav, 15.5 litre/min is just high flow, although flow are now higher for many combis. 15.5 litres/min with added cold will give you around 18 to 20 litres/min into the bath, which will fill a bath in around 5 mins. A 5 to 6 min bath fill is not slow at all and 99% of people would be very happy with that. You obviously don't know this being a Chav.

[Chris Bacon]

What the hell is it with Drivel and his lover-boys that produces long term symbiotic relationships? Why don't people just ignore him, and let him slip gracefully away?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

good enough for him. Regardless of what it means in practice.

I'd call 'normal flow' around 40 litres a minute at 60C at any time of the year which any half well installed storage system can manage to a bath.

But dribble is happy with dribbles...

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 18:32:24 +0100 someone who may be "Doctor Drivel" wrote this:-

Excellent, more personal abuse. Please do keep it up. The more the better.

I will let others decide on whether I clearly know anything about the subject or not. However, empty vessels tend to make the most noise.

When a reasonably priced combination boiler can fill a bath in less than five minutes your assertions will have more credibility. Until then those who believe your assertions may well be disappointed. If they are they can take the appropriate action, if they are able and/or willing.

No. I note the personal abuse though.

However, this raises an interesting thought. Perhaps someone in a boozer told you all that you spout.