Plumbing woes

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AMGeed

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Bournemouth/Poole Dorset
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I woke this morning to see a small brown patch on the Living room ceiling below the Hot Water Cylinder located along with a conventional boiler in the spare bedroom upstairs.
I had visions of a burst pipe in the loft but no, nothing so easy. The heating element within the cylinder has corroded through and water was bubbling out of the cap that covered the electrical connections for the immersion.
i threw down plastic and towels under the cylinder, turned off the mains water, pulled the fuse from the socket its connected to and proceeded to drain down the HW tank to below the leak with a hose out the bedroom window on to the drain plug. My plan was to get another element, undo the old one and replace.

This is where it went wrong. Not having a blow torch to apply heat, the box spanner I had wasn't man enough to undo the element and I didn't possess big enough stilsons. I was left with calling in a plumber who to his credit arrived an hour later.
It's an old copper tank and I was warned it could be damaged whilst trying to remove the element. The element came out, and a new one fitted and the water turned on again. Unfortunately as soon as it filled to just below the new fitting, it started to pour water from a leak.:wallbash:.
Out with the wet vac and towels and the tank was drained again.

I'm left with three options
One, just replace the old direct HW Cylinder and retain the existing 6 year old Glow Worm boiler for an estimated £600+VAT.

Two, utilise the boiler, but replace with an indirect cylinder that will do away with the cold water tank in the loft, and give us mains hot water with a far better pressure than the current gravity fed system. The immersion heater remains as back up should the boiler pack up. Cost £1600+VAT approx.

Finally, a new combi boiler with extensive pipework changes but around £2500+VAT.

Some of these quotes may be OTT to where you live, but I have a decent plumber who will do the job early next week and supply all parts and dispose of the old cold water tank and cylinder.

We have plumped for system 2 thinking that's our best option. So that's an expense I could have done without so soon after Xmas.
The Quaife LSD fund has been emptied.
 
Ouch Rog sorry to hear of this

If it were me I would say go for the Combi boiler install, you will love the instant hot water on demand with no need to have a tank etc. I recently had a GlowWorm Energy installed.
 
Ouch, boilers, heating and the sorts are a real pain in the backside.

Not so bad when you can get a decent plumber/gas engineer that knows what they are doing and does things properly.

I've had experience last year of British Gas "engineers" that seem to know less than me!

I wouldn't rule out the Combi route if this may be suitable in your situation as you'd then likely have a system fully covered.
Of course it may not be suitable, in my situation a boiler and water tank is best solution.

[Edit to add]
Honest I wrote Ouch before I read it.

Aren't there boiler grants available in England for new energy efficient systems?
 
^ Understood Abs, but the tank will be heated twice daily and still give constant hot water. Not so economical, but less initial cost.
We are also thinking about a possible house move in the not too distant future, so that came into consideration as well.
 
^ Understood Abs, but the tank will be heated twice daily and still give constant hot water. Not so economical, but less initial cost.
We are also thinking about a possible house move in the not too distant future, so that came into consideration as well.
If you are thinking about moving relatively soon mate then I would just go for the cheapest reliable solution your plumber recommends and keep the cash saved to put towards any renovation/improvements to your new place…
 
Cheap if moving, otherwise No.2 as I feel like it's chucking a lot of money on new combi that should be good for 5+ years.

The benefit with the tank and immersionis that if some sort of green energy thing comes along (e.g. solar) you can capture unused power as heat into the tank. You can get systems that do this which is particularly beneficial if you happen to be on one of those lucrative feed in tariffs from back in the day.

I think as we all move to electric, it won't be long before a proper thermal store system is mandated. Tank always hot for instant radiator hot water when turned on. A copper helix passes through the thermal store for isn't any hot water, taken by conduction of heat through the copper helix with the cold tap water turning to hot as it passes through.
 
Fitment of a Mains pressure cylinder will be dependant on dynamic pressures and flow rate, if it adds up with out doubt at this stage put the mains pressure cylinder in. They are leagues ahead regards performance, this assumes you wont have to sell your Benz to pay for it, if so, suggest a crowd fund page:)
 
Your title had me thinking of something a little more personal Roger :rolleyes:

Joking aside, hope you get it sorted with out too much hassle.


Matt :thumb:
 

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