Hot water

Hot water cylinder installation in London

The cylinder is the part of the hot water system nobody thinks about until there is no hot water. Vented cylinders fed from a loft tank, unvented cylinders running at mains pressure, and the controls and immersion heaters attached to both. We replace them, size them properly and service the ones still working.

  • Gas Safe registered and fully insured
  • DBS-checked engineers
  • Emergency callout available 24/7
  • Price agreed before work starts

Mon–Fri 8:00–17:30 · Emergency callout available 24/7

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What we cover

What this includes

  • Vented and unvented cylinder replacement
  • Cylinder sizing based on bathrooms and usage
  • Immersion heater and thermostat replacement
  • Expansion vessel and pressure relief valve faults
  • Annual servicing of unvented systems
  • Controls, timers and cylinder stats
Before you call

Worth knowing first

Some of this may save you a callout entirely. We would rather tell you than not.

Unvented cylinders are notifiable work

An unvented cylinder is a pressurised vessel and installing or servicing one requires a specific qualification on top of general plumbing competence. Ask whoever you are considering to show you theirs — for this work it is a fair question and a reasonable installer will not mind being asked.

Size is about bathrooms, not floor area

What decides the cylinder is how many outlets might run at once and how many people shower in the same hour. A big house with one bathroom needs less than a small house with three.

No hot water is often not the cylinder

On a vented system it is very often the immersion heater or its thermostat, both of which are cheap. Before replacing a cylinder, those should be ruled out — and we will rule them out first.

The airing cupboard is not always the best place now

Modern insulated cylinders lose very little heat, which is why an airing cupboard around one is no longer the drying space it used to be. If space is tight, a cylinder can often go somewhere more useful.

Questions

Common questions

Vented or unvented — which should I have?

Unvented gives mains pressure at every tap and needs no loft tank, which suits most modern refits. Vented is simpler, cheaper to maintain and fine where the existing tank and pressure already work.

Should I just switch to a combi instead?

Sometimes. A combi frees up the cupboard and the loft tank, but struggles where two showers run at once. For a one-bathroom flat it is often the better answer; for a family house with three bathrooms it usually is not.

Why is my hot water only lukewarm?

Commonly a failed cylinder thermostat, a failing immersion element, or a heating coil that is scaled up. All three are diagnosable without replacing the cylinder.

How often should a cylinder be serviced?

An unvented cylinder should be checked annually — the expansion vessel and safety valves are the reason. A vented cylinder needs far less, though the immersion and stat are worth checking with the boiler service.

Related work

Part of our heating & hot water work

If the job turns out to be a repair rather than an installation, these are the pages that cover it.

Need hot water cylinders in London?

Tell us what’s happening and where you are, and we’ll tell you what it costs before anyone starts work.