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Ok - we have a gravity fed system with a hot water cylinder - building a new shower, so what kind of pumps are there available ? Plumber has recommended 2 bar pressure - just wondering if there are any quiet running pumps out there?
Any info would be appreciated!
I wouldn't live without our power shower. A few weeks ago Homeserve came to do a job on the heating and the engineer bust the old pump. They replaced it with a cheapo crap thing that's got no good reviews on the web, appears to be a Grahams in-house brand and isn't really powerful enough for the 2 showers it feeds.
However, in real life it's perfect and whereas the old one shook the house to its foundations this one is so quiet you can hardly hear it.
Just get any twin impeller pump you find and it'll probably be OK. Just like coffee machines - ignore the bar rating. It's made up. Probably.
Ours is a right noisy bastard but you get used to it and the kids are now conditioned to sleep through it so long as I have a shower before midnight or when it's time to get up. I could turn it off and shower using gravity fed but never do.
Great having the pressure/flow but they're not quiet, even the ones that are meant to be.
No idea what pressure ours is, the pump is built into the unit. Very nice mind, more than enough power, rarely use it on anything over half power.
Mira XS Thermostatic.
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http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/mira-event-xs-thermostatic-2125-5038
Yeah - don't worry too much about the bar rating for one shower.
I think all shower pumps are reasonably noisy. We've a "quiet" one, a Salamander RSP50, can hear it throughout the house, but it's not so noisy that it would interfere with conversation or watching TV. Doubt I could sleep through it though, being right next to the bedrooms.
We've got a gravity fed system and got an Aqualisa Quartz Digital fitted about 12 months ago. It's awesome.
Press the button and wait for the light to stop flashing to show its at the correct temp and get in.
Loads of power (plus a boost button) and the pump is sited next to the hot tank (which is the bathroom in a cupboard) so not a noise problem.
If anyone does have a properly quiet one, I'd be interested to know what it is.
I don't find the noise from mine particularly offensive, but it would be good to know if there's anything better out there for when/if it needs replacing.
The aqualisa pumped showers are great. The Quartz above is very good but the Visage digital is perfectly fine and you can get them for £330 (my Mum's got one 🙂 )
Stuart Turner are probably one of the best pumps.
All pumps are noisy, how and where they are fitted has a major influence on noise though
Stuart Turner are probably one of the best pumps.
Mine randomllly cuts in and dead heads if I forget to turn it off - I'm not a fan. I does feed all of the hot water system downstream of the tank though.
I wish I'd just ripped out the tanks and gone for a mains pressure hot water system when I had the chance.
Excessively noisy , emptied our hot water in record time, so powerful couldn't really stand under it. Took it out and let gravity do its thing via a thermostatic mixer, which is fine.
If anyone does have a properly quiet one, I'd be interested to know what it is.
The so-called "digital" ones (we have a Mira Platinum, others are available) are almost silent but they're only really practical if you're starting from scratch or are prepared to do some re-plumbing to remove the existing mixer. Our non-digital one on the other hand sounds like a 747 preparing for takeoff.
I can't believe all the above posters who say they are living with noisy pumps and don't seem to have done anything about it!
We have a Salamander, probably the smallest available because we didn't want to empty our rather small tank in one shower. The pump is attached to the pipework by four flexible hoses, which is a good first step in reducing noise. The first thing I did was to isolate it from the floor by standing it on something dense like a sheet of thick rubber on top of some sound-absorbing felt. After that I built a case to go over it made from plywood and chipboard lined with old carpet underlay; where there are pipes to fit around I cut long slots a couple of inches wide, the underlay bridges over inside the slot and has a cut running along so that you can slide the box around the pipe and the gap closes behind the pipe. Finally I cut some pieces of felt and packed them on top and around the outsides of the case.
It's just a question of surrounding the pump with enough sound-absorbing material to soak up all the high frequencies.
The result? You can hardly hear the pump at all, just a faint hum coming from inside the airing cupboard.
Although it is worth pointing out decent Stuart turner is £300 probably and how old is your hot water cylinder as you could be faced with changing that if it is old. Better to invest in a decent stainless steel unvented cylinder. You must check available pressure and flow first though.
We're currently having our bathroom refitted and we've just got this pump on the recommendation of our plumber. Reading around, 1.5 bar should be more than enough for a single shower.
Also if you do use a pump make sure it is connected correctly. You can't just tee into pipework randomly.
It's just a question of surrounding the pump with enough sound-absorbing material to soak up all the high frequencies.
I considered something similar, but it seemed like a bit of a recipe for overheating.
Double post.
Overheating? When the pump is designed to handle water at 60 degrees or more? For five minutes? Don't forget also that for every litre of hot water there's a litre or so of cold water passing through the pump as well. Ours has been running fine inside its insulated box for five years now and not missed a beat or changed its sound.