Hot Water System

There are generally two types of hot water system used by households in the UK. Below is a brief explanatory guide to the systems.

High-Pressure:
Should you isolate your main stop tap and both your hot and cold water supplies are stopped, then, you’re the system you have fitted is known as a high-pressure hot water system and is delivered either instantly or by using an unvented hot water cylinder. A Lee Plumber is trained to work on all types of plumbing systems. In both cases the hot water is pushed through he system by the cold-water pressure, which means that when you isolate your mains stop you deprive your hot water of this pressure and as a result nothing comes out of the hot water taps.

Low Pressure:
With the low-pressure system the cold water that is stored cold in your loft cylinder, is situated as high in the house as is possible. The cold water store is linked by a single pipe running to the hot water cylinder below and the whole system operates by using gravity, when you open a hot water tap, the cold water in the storage tank runs down the connecting pipe and into the base of the hot water cylinder, pushing the hot water out of the top of the cylinder and off towards the tap. A Grove Park Plumber can fit new hot water storage systems.


Once you isolate your cold mains tap you will stop the cold-water storage cylinder from refilling. The hot water itself will continue to run not stop until the cylinder is empty. This cylinder usually has a capacity of at least 114litres of water but it can be much, much larger. You should not just rely on emptying the cold-water storage cylinder each time you want to stop your hot water from running.
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