Moving to mains pressure from gravity

[cashmax]

I live in quite an old house - circa 1900, with extensions over the years, the last of which was in the 80's.

We have an oil (no gas) boiler and everything is fed via two very large tanks in the loft and a hot water tank upstairs. I don't like having so much water in the loft and having to be constantly replacing or repairing shower pumps. Ideally I want to move to a mains pressure system with a single tank in place of the hot water tank.

My concern is that this will of course mean that all the plumbing will suddenly be at mains (or at least much higher than normal) pressure and I am worried this might cause leaks in places that are hard to access and I won't even know until the damage is done.

Does this kind of thing happen, or am I being paraniod?

[LooneyTunes]

It could, but a pressure reducing valve (PRV) would go in to manage the pressure (and help balance hot/cold).

[dickymint]

Get a plumber to pressure test with air.

[LastPoster]

I went from tank to mains. Replaced all rads and the shower mixer with a TMV and didn’t have any problems.

60s house all pipe work in copper

[Jeremy-75qq8]

Bear in mind there is capacity and pressure.

If you have multiple bathrooms make sure there is sufficient flow to allow them to be used.

We have a large new build house with a 1000 lt tank and a large pump for this very reason ( common on larger houses ) as the mains supply cannot cope if multiple bathrooms are in use.

[Schwarz930]

Jeremy-75qq8 said:

Bear in mind there is capacity and pressure.

I have just converted my plumbing (100+ year old house) from an open system with tank in the loft to a sealed system with mains pressure cylinder. I have goodish mains pressure (about 3.5bar) BUT the incoming mains pipe from the meter to the stopcock is only a 1/2" pipe so whilst I have pressure, the flow isn't sufficent if more than one tap is open. For example if you flush the toilet before getting in the shower the shower is weak until the toilet has filled.

So pressure is only half the story. I will be replacing the incoming supply pipe when I get a chance.

[megaphone]

OP do you have central heating? You may need to think about this going sealed/pressurised as well.

[cashmax]

megaphone said:

OP do you have central heating? You may need to think about this going sealed/pressurised as well.

Yes, does that need to be converted at the same time?

[megaphone]

cashmax said:

megaphone said:

OP do you have central heating? You may need to think about this going sealed/pressurised as well.

Yes, does that need to be converted at the same time?

Depends on the current system, do you have motorised valves? Or is it basic gravity? Ideally you'd want to get rid of the small vent tank as well and go sealed, you'd need a pressure vessel installed. Again one for your plumber.

[dhutch]

cashmax said:

Yes, does that need to be converted at the same time?

No, they are independent.