Improved Heating in a Period Property

Brief 

Mr & Mrs Brazier were looking for a plumber who could offer a comprehensive range of services to assist them in renovating their 5-bedroom period property in Chobham, Surrey.  The plumber would need to be able to upgrade their existing heating system including new radiators and adding underfloor heating to the system, whilst being sympathetic to the period features within the property. They would also need to conduct a complete redesign and refit of the master bathroom to a high standard and provide some options for increasing their existing water pressure.

The Solution

Following a call, Shoosmith’s Heating and Plumbing arranged a home visit which would allow us to review the existing heating system and any internal features which needed to be taken into account and take any bathroom measurements ready for the new plumbing.

Underfloor Heating

Following this initial consultation, we recommended the installation of hydroponic (wet) underfloor heating in the, living room, study, snug and kitchen to provide increased levels of comfort and minimise drafts. The use of underfloor heating also meant that existing radiators in each of these rooms could be removed to create more room and wall space and removed the need for   a sympathetic radiator design or any additional consideration for period features.

As well as underfloor heating, we installed several smart thermostats, a receiver and a hub, all parts of a smart heating system. These controls gave the homeowner greater control of their heating, allowing the heating to respond to weather conditions automatically, or to be manually controlled whilst they were out and about saving energy and money for the homeowners in the long term.

Water Pressure

To improve the water pressure, we initially identified that the issue was due to low incoming water pressure into the property, resulting in poor water pressure / flow for both the hot and cold systems. To combat this issue we installed a   water accumulator, which boosts water flow for both systems by storing cold water during low demand periods (such as when you’re sleeping) and means that when you turn on the tap, the accumulator releases its stored water and provides the improved water pressure. Additionally, we also recommended and installed an unvented hot water cylinder to further improve water pressure within the hot water system.  The unvented hot water cylinder utilises mains water pressure, which is now boosted by the accumulator, and is then heated, providing a substantial increase in hot water pressure.

Plumbing

For the master bathroom we installed new piping and  a new bathroom suite, working closely with the homeowner’s tiler of choice to produce a stunning final bathroom

Review

“We contacted Shoosmith Plumbing based on positive reviews elsewhere, in order to undertake a major renovation of the plumbing in our period property. They immediately impressed us with their level of thoughtfulness about the problems we needed to solve. All of their work was to an extremely high standard; their team were very professional and courteous; and they dealt well with any curveballs our project threw out along the way. We particularly appreciated the good communication and felt we were constantly kept up to date with the project. We would certainly recommend Shoosmiths.”