Gravity and mains pressure hot
water from an open vented hot water cylinder
Mains pressure hot water systems
are extremely popular these days, but they can prove to be a
significant investment. The beauty of mains pressure systems is
the performance you can expect to achieve (providing you have
sufficient pressure and flow rate in the cold water main supply - see
note below).
It's one thing to desire, it's
another to be in a position to spend the money and prepared for
the upheaval.
ShowerCyl - Hot water cylinder
with mains pressure shower coil
The ShowerCyl cylinder is
an interesting hybrid of a mains pressure and gravity pressure
cylinders. The ShowerCyl is an open vented 'gravity'
cylinder with all the functionality you would expect, but with an
additional heat exchanger fitted internally near the top which is dedicated purely to
providing mains pressure hot water for a shower. (Similar to
a shower take-off, but instead of drawing water from inside the
cylinder it heats mains water passing through the
coil.)
Gravity hot water cylinder
with mains pressure shower take
off
By installing a high
efficiency mains pressure heat exchanger inside the
cylinder in the top of the cylinder (where the hottest water is) and
passing cold water through it (which is fed directly
from your main) you produce mains pressure hot water in
sufficient quantity to enjoy a high performance mains
pressure shower (Please see note below) from it's own
dedicated take-off on the cylinder.
The rest of your household
hot water plumbing continues to operate under gravity
conditions exactly as it did before. |
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Having a mains pressure hot water
supply to your shower could do away
with the need to install a shower booster pump to increase
performance (providing of course your mains pressure supply is
adequate). In such a scenario it would of course be prudent to
provide a mains pressure cold feed to your shower valve also -
thus providing fairly well balanced supplies. (Shower equipment
connected to a mains pressure feed should be of the
'thermostatic' type.)
(Note: The
performance of a mains pressure system
is entirely dependant on the pressure and flow of the incoming cold water
main and is subject to the normal fluctuations in pressure,
temperature and/or flow. Once installed a mains pressure supply cannot be boosted if you are
subsequently unhappy with performance. To do so is in
contravention of Water Bye Laws. With ShowerCyl the same rules
apply to the mains pressure coil and associated output, but you
are at liberty to continue doing anything you wish with the
stored gravity hot and cold water in your system. Interestingly
this leaves you the option of reverting back to your gravity
stored water if for any reason you find yourself unhappy with
performance which would then enable you to install a pump. For
this reason, if no other, it might be considered wise to request
a direct shower take-off when ordering your cylinder.)
The
ShowerCyl is available in the
following cylinder formats:
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(Click the link to the relevant
cylinder type) |
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The benefits and savings
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Mains pressure hot water from
your gravity system from a dedicated shower take-off without comprehensive re-plumbing of your house.
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No need to worry about G3
Building Regulations or an annual service on the cylinder.
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Save money on the cost of 1) a
shower booster pump (no need to buy a pump), 2) a Surrey
Flange for your cylinder (a necessary component if you
install a booster pump), and 3) a larger header tank for the
loft (often required to cope with the higher demand for
water created by the pump).
Please be advised, the ShowerCyl
cylinder can produce enough mains pressure hot water for you to
shower, it is not suitable as a cheap alternative for providing
mains pressure hot water to your enture dwelling. If you like the principle of the system but would like
to supply the entire house by this method you should look at the
TORRENT range of cylinders on
this website. The ShowerCyl by comparison has a limited output
to the Torrent and is designed to cope with the lesser demands of a typical shower. |
