HAVING A BESPOKE HOT WATER CYLINDER MADE

Design or adapt a cylinder to your specification

Having a hot water cylinder made to your specification

Cylinders can be manufactured with the connections (tappings) positioned just where you want them. When retrofitting, this can make the task of connecting to existing pipe work less of a problem.

Maybe a horizontal cylinder could be the answer

If height is a problem maybe a Horizontal Pattern cylinder might be the answer. A much larger capacity of stored hot water can be achieved where headroom is low or a standard vertical cylinder takes up too much space.

Maybe a cylinder is not the answer

Hot water storage comes in many shapes and sizes - square, rectangular or even triangular! But be aware, water is more often than not stored in a cylindrical vessel for good reason.

Water places considerable outward force of a storage vessel which can distort the walls if they are flat sided. One cubic metre of water weighs 1 metric tonne! (1000kg!). This is one good reason why water is normally stored in a cylinder - where the load is evenly distributed on the walls of the curved structure. When a vessel is flat sided the walls need to be thicker than those of a cylinder and may even need to be internally braced to enhance strength.

Having a storage vessel which is anything other than cylindrical is an expensive exercise so our advice is to avoid if at all possible. There will of course be scenarios where a cylinder just won't work so if you are absolutely sure you need a flat sided tank then send your ideas to use for a quote.

Please don't hesitate to call for advice.

We have had many cylinders manufactured to solve numerous requirements - both physical and operational.

• Loft conversions
• Hallways and landings
• Restricted cupboard space
• Irregular shaped storage
• Farm and agricultural use
• Vented storage with additional mains pressure hot water take off

Please don't hesitate to give us a call if you would like advice or wish to discuss your requirement.

Improving the performance of a cylinder

A High recovery heat exchanger

It is possible to improve the performance of a cylinder by upgrading the properties of the heat exchanger. Cylinders can now be specified to contain high performance heat exchangers denoted as 'high recovery or super-high recovery'. A high recovery cylinder is designed to heat up quicker than a standard model.

You must be aware however that having a high recovery cylinder is not a magic bullet. Unless your heat source can provide enough energy to warrant a bigger heat exchanger you will be wasting your money. It will be like buying a sports car powered by a moped engine!

The Kw output of your boiler (heat source) should be matched to the kW rating of the heat exchanger in the cylinder.

When matched correctly, a high recovery heat exchanger can prove more economical to run. As more heat is imparted to the cylinder more effectively, a boiler can operate more efficiently and may need to cycle less often and for shorter periods.

Improved insulation

Whatever type of vessel you store your hot water in you should always insulate well. There is little point wasting energy heating a volume of water if it will simply go cold before you get a chance to use it.

A well insulated cylinder can save you quite a lot of money!

Adapting a hot water cylinder to your design specification

You may require a standard size and shape of cylinder but need the tappings or bosses relocated to match as close as possible into existing pipe positions. This is a common requirement and often has no effect on the price or lead time.

Example: If you wish to run power showers, It is possible to incorporate dedicated shower take offs on a cylinder.

Should you need to order such adaptations it is important we all speak the same language when describing position and dimension. For this reason we use a system as illustrated below.

Please note: Whilst every effort is made to position tappings and bosses to the required positions it cannot be guaranteed that minor adjustment of existing pipework will not be necessary. It is for this reason important your measurements are accurate.

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How to draw the bespoke hot water cylinder you require.

This can be faxed, posted or emailed to us and should look roughly as follows:

So a typical sketch might look something like this
	Your order will pass through several processes once received so it is important that everything you require is clear to all concerned (instructions can be mis-interpreted, embellished or mis-understood if passed on by word of mouth). So make sure the details of your requirement are clear and easy to understand. Your drawing need not be a work of art, just something understandable. Indicate on your sketch what each marking represents together with it's position and height from floor to centre (if this is important). If you do not specify a 'height from floor' for any element the cylinder will be manufactured to a 'standard' pattern (often a good idea).
	Diagram shows an indirect cylinder, the position of heat exchanger in relation to cold water inlet, immersion heater boss and two additional shower take offs.

Click Here for Bespoke Cylinder Form (.pdf)

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