Low hot water pressure All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[diy-dave]

Hi,

I live in a split level flat which is above a shop, it only has electric. The kitchen is on the 1st floor of the 'house' and the bathroom is in what is a loft conversion. In the bathroom is the airing cupboard containing the cold/hot water tank, this is a combination unit where the c/w header tank sits directly on top of the h/w tank and is located quite close to the celling.

The problem is that the pressure of the hot water to the shower is really low and you have to crouch in the bath for it to be at all useable - not great! The shower runs off a mixer tap on the bath. Also, when you turn the cold water on to lower the temperatue of the hot the shower goes freezing cold due to the difference in pressure.

Raising the height of the "c/w tank" to increase the head is obviously not possible in my situation.

Is there anything that can be done to improve the pressure of the hot water so the shower is useable? I'm getting fed up of having to use the shower in the gym all the time!

I've thought about installing a pump but I'm unsure of what type would be suitable for my system, though this is something I'd only consider as a last resort.

Cheers,

Dave

[plumbbob]

Unfortunately, there is no easy solution to your problem. A gravity shower will need a minimum of 0.1 bar pressure to work, which means the shower head must be at least 1 metre below the bottom of the header tank.

Pumping is not an solution either as the existing tanks do not have sufficient capacity to supply a shower.

The best solution is an electric shower, but as you can imagine, it is both expensive and not a job you can do yourself.