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High performance hot water
 Generally, this means mains fed hot water, in other words, water from the
cold water main supply is heated, either in a storage cylinder, or
effectively instantaneously to provide large quantities of clean, hot
water, which can provide high flows of hot water at multiple draw off
points and power high performance showering, etc. The design of the hot
water supply components as part of the overall heating system is a vital.
Often the failure of a shower to perform to expectations is down to the
inability of the hot water system to perform, rather than the shower
itself not being very good. There are three main forms of high performance
hot water system for domestic premises.
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In
smaller properties, a powerful combi boiler is sometimes an excellent
solution, however, once there are more than two showers in a property,
there are better systems. It is very common to upgrade an existing
central heating system by fitting a combi boiler, which effectively
replaces all the main components of the central heating system, except
the radiators.
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The
best known of these is what we call an un-vented hot water storage
cylinder, commonly called a ‘Megaflo’ system, after one of the best
known products on the market. This system has a high tech, high
pressure, stainless steel hot water cylinder, which is pressurised by
the cold water supply, and provides hot water from a store, just like
a traditional hot water cylinder, but, because there is no cold water
tank, the water is cleaner, and the system is far quieter, partly
because there is no ball tap running into a cold water tank. It
generally removes the plumbing from the loft, which reduces the risk
of freezing or leakage. This system give excellent performance, both
in initial heat up time, called the recovery time, and in flow rates
of delivery for hot water. We most often fit this type of system where
people require multiple power showers. It is usually quite
straightforward to incorporate it into an existing central heating
system.
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The
third option is called a thermal store, this can look a lot like a
traditional hot water cylinder, however the thermal store holds water
that is heated to allow the instantaneous heating of the incoming cold
water mains supply via a heat transfer coil which is inside the store
of hot water, a bit like a large combi boiler. This system can also
provide high flow rates, like the un-vented cylinder, and if the
correct type of thermal store is used, they are particularly suited
for integration of renewable products like Solar thermal panels or
heat pumps into a central heating system. They allow the connection of
more than one type of energy source, which is often the case where
renewable energy products are utilised.
In all these cases, the incoming cold
water mains supply has to be able to provide enough flow and pressure to
drive the system
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