Home DIY

seal when you disconnect it

Ah right, I didn't realise that, I'll leave it for the Currys engineer to deal with I think.

Do low pressure bar mixer showers make an appreciable difference to water volume?

Just as a point of information, those bayonet fittings behind the cookers are not for the general public to connect or disconnect their own appliances despite it seeming to be the obvious reason for them.

You need a gas safe engineer to install or disconnect an appliance even using the bayonet and they will carry out a drop down test on the whole installation once the work is done in order to check there are no leaks.

Carry on as you wish but know that you can be prosecuted if the worst happens. (which it probably won't). In the case of the leaking cooker you would have justification for unplugging the bayonet and calling a gas safe engineer as it would clearly have been a safer route than whatever else you have been trying!

Amidst the talk of gas cookers this question I asked elsewhere may be more relevant here:

Any thoughts on gas ovens and grills? Most modern electric ovens would require a wiring upgrade so considering a gas oven. They used to be a bit crap with pretty inconsistent temperatures. Are they any good nowadays?

Fossil fuels aren't really the vibe these days.

I imagine they are just set up for a lower supply pressure so that it can still be mixed with a normal cold pressure. It will rate limit the total supply to achieve the temperature you've set so the water volume could be appreciably lower if you want a high temperature and your hot water supply is low pressure.

There are no cheap ways to achieve higher hot water pressure, you ether need a storage tank with good pressure or a large enough boiler. Most people get close to a solution with a larger boiler.

Unless purchased from a renewable-specific energy supplier, electric oven use will result in emissions roughly equivalent to a gas oven because ~50% of UK electricity comes from gas/coal/oil and generation efficiencies are ~50% or so.

Either way, we don't have a beefy enough electricity transmission network to enable everyone to switch to electric ovens/heating. Our electric network is near capacity already. But we do have a gas pipe network which can transfer >5x the energy. If only we didn't have to put fossil fuels in these pipes! Hydrogen gas made by renewable-fed electrolysis (or SMR with CCS) could be an answer but we're 10+ years off.

TL;DR: Gas ovens are, at present, no worse than electric ovens.

John Lewis have a pretty decent range of 13Amp ovens. I was faced with the same challenge and got a 13A oven, it's been no different in operation to a conventional 30A

On the topic of weak mains pressure, we are one of 63 flats, modern regulations would see a large pump providing pressure but the block went up in the 1930s and all we have is mains pressure - which is not great by the time it gets to us. Would a pump resolve this, or would it simply overwhelm the supply?

your best bet is to get an internal pump fitted

Who’s not buying their energy from a ‘green’* supplier in 2019?

*If you ignore all the carbon trading certificate obfuscation.

Oh - is there a sprinkler system or any plans to have one retrofitted to your block

No and no.

According to moneysupermarket.com, "13% of consumers are currently on a green tariff".

So 87% are not.

Of course there are many different shades of green: RE / bio-energy / nuclear / ROCs / LECs / offsetting, etc.

Cheers. Unfortunately I've got pretty specific requirements (freestanding cooker, 13A supply, hotzone above of 650mm or less) which none of those seem to fit.

Hello helpful forumengers,
I've taken receipt of this wonderful 1930s Wardle Prismalux bulkhead light for the porch ceiling. It's out of the weather.
There's a light there already so getting power there isn't an issue.
Question is, the feed comes into one end of the light. Do I need a short bit of conduit then some sort of vintage terminal box to take it into the ceiling?

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Didn't think to check electrical feed! I have the same issue it seems. Old cooker is on 13a. CU says there's a dedicated cooker circuit but I can't see an outlet.

You would potentially be starving other flats by sucking the supply in. The best way to achieve decent internal pressure is to use a cold water tank that feeds a pump which pressurises a smaller tank at 6bar which then provides 1.8 or something to the property. Problem is you need to check every pipe in the property can take the pressure and you need space for the tanks and pumps.

In theory small domestic property with low demand, i.e. only one bathroom, would not need the huge tank a 4 bed three bathroom place needs. You could probably calculate the requirement and have tanks very close to the optimum size.

Hidden behind a cupboard probably. Should say possibly :)

You've got a grommet on the end by the look of it. You could probably get away with black 'arctic' but it could be done with metal conduit and a metal exterior box, might compliment the style. Kind of depends on exactly how your existing light is set.

You would potentially be starving other flats by sucking the supply in. The best way to achieve decent internal pressure is to use a cold water tank that feeds a pump which pressurises a smaller tank at 6bar which then provides 1.8 or something to the property. Problem is you need to check every pipe in the property can take the pressure and you need space for the tanks and pumps.

In theory small domestic property with low demand, i.e. only one bathroom, would not need the huge tank a 4 bed three bathroom place needs. You could probably calculate the requirement and have tanks very close to the optimum size.

At the moment you can't run two taps at the same time, one will be a dribble and the other not much better.

It'd be awesome to have decent pressure, I'd be happy to install a small tank - however it appears that a shower uses around 50 litres of water, so for two people a 100 litre tank would be needed - which is going to be a significant volume to hide away somewhere.

Love our unvented cylinder. Still need to box it in, mind

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Our flow rate is 4.5 litres/minute according to my timing of 6.86 seconds per half litre.

This pump would boost that to 12 litre/min: https://www.stuart-turner.co.uk/product/mainsboost-flomate-mbf-12-46574

But would that also steal the water from all my neighbours?

How do you know that one or more neighbours haven't installed a pump already and that this is the reason you have shite water pressure?

Unfortunately not. Can only see the ring main running behind the units. Electrician's coming tomorrow to try and figure it out.