Poor pressure in bathrooms - can I hook it up to mains?

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eamonn123456

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Cold water in bathrooms has very poor pressure (currently fed from header tank).

Plumber has suggested he hook it up to the mains.

What are the pros and cons of doing this?
 
Is your hot water fed from the storage tank?
Cold water from mains is stronger but if mains goes down you have no storage. Any mixer showers you have(taking hot and cold water) would need to be equal pressure so the colds to the showers may need to be fed from tank.
 
Thanks Davy. Hot tank is a standard immersion, and is fed from storage tank.

Do I need to worry about the building regs for a second hand house?
 
I am unaware of regulations regarding direct fed systems, thats not to say there isn't any. I took this from the SEI website:
There are two main types of cold water supply systems within the house. These are known as 'direct' and 'indirect'.

Direct cold water supply system
In this system water from the cold water service pipe feeds all the cold water outlets including the sanitary appliances.
This system may be found in old houses, but otherwise it is not recommended for the following reasons:
1. In the event of mains failure there is no reserve.
2. Mains supply exerts increased pressure on fittings.
3. During peak demand the pressure may be reduced.
Advantages of this system include:
1. Economical on pipework
2. Only a small cold water storage cistern required to feed the hot water tank.
3. Drinking water available from all the cold water outlets.
Cold Water Storage and Distribution:
Indirect cold water supply system In this system all cold water outlets with the exception of one drinking water outlet are supplied indirectly from a cold water storage cistern, usually located in the roof space. 'Indirect' means the water is not coming directly from the mains to the outlets, it is piped to and stored in the cistern in the attic.

Advantages of this system:
1. A reserve supply in case of mains failure.
2. Less pressure on the taps and valves resulting in less wear.
Disadvantages of this system:
1. More pipework required.
2. Provision and installation of a storage cistern in the attic.




Remember to leave showers hooked up to tanks if they are mixer types.
 
eamonn123456 said:
Do I need to worry about the building regs for a second hand house?
Click to expand...
AFAIK, any new work shall comply with regulations in place at the time the work is done.
Have a look at Technical Guidance Document G "Hygiene" for water feed from mains /storage tank.
 
The Regulations say should, and there is a big differance between should and shall.
Every apartment in the country is not to current standard if this is the case. Most apartments have combi boilers so both hot and cold are mains feed. No cylinder and no storage tank, because of the lack of space.

Every house with a pressurised cylinder is also breaking the rules as both hot and cold are fed from mains.

I wouldn't worry about hooking up to the mains,(from a regulation point of view) it will never cause a probelm even when you are to sell.
 
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