Recommendations for unvented 300L cylinder?

[Colink]

Situation
House has oil fired boiler.

Plan to fit a 300L vertical hot water cylinder to replace current standard vented cylinder.
Please assume that current boiler is suitable to supply heat to the cylinder. One plumber has said it is, will take advice from others.

Intend to fit a twin coil cylinder for possible future solar heating.

Looking online cylinders seem to vary in price from <£600 to > £1500

Before getting quotes from local plumbers, who will have their own preferred make, model and features, I would greatly appreciate some suggestions from the experts on this forum so that I can have a reasonably informed discussion with local plumbers to help choose from options offered.

I am happy to receive suggested make / models, features I should be looking for or both.

i don’t want to spend £1500 only to have unnecessary features, at the other end I don’t want to spend <£600 to find big heat loss or missing features.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[SimonG]

RM for me, never had a problem. Stay away from the heatrae sadia megaflo, only paying for the name and not worth the inflated cost.

 

[Gasmk1]

i like OSO's unvented

 

[SJB060685]

You need to check incoming static and dynamic pressure and flow rates to ensure your supply is adequate first before committing to this idea, too many so called plumbers agree to install before doing these checks and often can end in an undesired output.
Besides that listen to these guys, you have quite literally decades of experience behind us all.

 

[Scott_D]

Joule are good quality and well priced

 

[Chalked]

After checking you incoming main pressure and flow. I recommend RM. it’s at the low end of price. But has the features of the higher end.

 

[townfanjon]

First choice would be ultra-steel ( kingspan Tribune ) or RM

 

[Colink]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will look at these and make sure the mains water pressure is tested.

if mains pressure is low can this be compensated with an electrical pump?

Are there any specific features I should be looking for or any insulation properties?

 

[Stigster]

First choice would be ultra-steel ( kingspan Tribune ) or RM

I agree on the Tribune, I've always liked those. OSO has never given me any cause for concern either. Both seem to be close in price too so I would pick either one of those.

 

[townfanjon]

I agree on the Tribune, I've always liked those. OSO has never given me any cause for concern either. Both seem to be close in price too so I would pick either one of those.

Tribune is a market leader IMO , an ultrasteel is actually a Tribune in a different colour .

 

[EvilDrPorkChop]

We've fitted a few different brands, RM, OSO, CentreBrand, Ariston, Heatrae, Telford and the ones I prefer are - Telford Tempest or Heatrae Sadia Megaflo for me. Both opposite ends of the budget, however both good cylinders.

Much prefer Tempest over RM. Having fitted a couple of RM I find their physical cylinder sizes bad for getting in cupboards. For instance a Tempest 250l is smaller in height but slightly fatter than the RMCylinder 210l. You also get a Honeywell MV with the Tempest. Their a budget range cylinder but I think they're good for the money with a lifetime warranty on the cylinder.

MegaFlo IMO the elite of the range, I find you get better performance out of MegaFlo than other cylinders (They have a patented cold inlet diffuser I believe in the bottom of the cylinder for better flow rates), the coils are 24kw (In the Eco range) allowing for quicker recovery and the heat retention is one of the top. The internal expansion is a bonus too if you're stuck for room. I currently have a 17 year old MegaFlo and when I come to replace it i'll be having another.

 

[Colink]

Thanks again for all the responses.

Regarding second coil (1st one for oil boiler) for future use for solar heating.

Do Thermodynamic panels for water heating require a special cylinder / coil, or will most of the cylinders named in this thread work just as well with standard Thermal Solar panels and Thermodynamic panels?

 

[king of pipes]

If your thinking of going down the thermodynamics route then buy it as a package so everything is compatible is my advice . Kop
[automerge]1579970775[/automerge]

 

[journeymanplumber]

I agree on the Tribune, I've always liked those. OSO has never given me any cause for concern either. Both seem to be close in price too so I would pick either one of those.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will look at these and make sure the mains water pressure is tested.

if mains pressure is low can this be compensated with an electrical pump?

Are there any specific features I should be looking for or any insulation properties?

Hi Colink
Even if your mains water pressure is not up to scratch you have a few options you can get a 22mm moans connection to replace your existing 15mm connection that would involve talking to your water supplier.
Or you could install a break tank which I supplied with water from your existing mains supply similar to the way a water citern on a toilet work and the outlet from that tank is pump into the house with a pump spected for the flow and pipe size.
The tank is similar in size and shape to an oil storega tank but is made specifically for storing potable water usually there black in colour to stop sun light getting to the water.

 

[Stef]

We've fitted a few different brands, RM, OSO, CentreBrand, Ariston, Heatrae, Telford and the ones I prefer are - Telford Tempest or Heatrae Sadia Megaflo for me. Both opposite ends of the budget, however both good cylinders.

Much prefer Tempest over RM. Having fitted a couple of RM I find their physical cylinder sizes bad for getting in cupboards. For instance a Tempest 250l is smaller in height but slightly fatter than the RMCylinder 210l. You also get a Honeywell MV with the Tempest. Their a budget range cylinder but I think they're good for the money with a lifetime warranty on the cylinder.

MegaFlo IMO the elite of the range, I find you get better performance out of MegaFlo than other cylinders (They have a patented cold inlet diffuser I believe in the bottom of the cylinder for better flow rates), the coils are 24kw (In the Eco range) allowing for quicker recovery and the heat retention is one of the top. The internal expansion is a bonus too if you're stuck for room. I currently have a 17 year old MegaFlo and when I come to replace it i'll be having another.

interesting to hear as I see some pretty awful reviews of Tempest on Trustpilot. Admittedly only a dozen or so. However the 200L direct would be the perfect fit for my cupboard space so I am considering it.
Telford Group is rated "Poor" with 2.3 / 5 on Trustpilot - https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.telford-group.com