Leak protection system for hot water tank

[waxingsatirical]

Hi,

 

I'm having my heating system overhauled and as part of that a new pressurised hot water tank is being installed in the loft. It's going to be a lot of water above the house, so I am worried about what would happen if there were a leak. I asked the installers what they can provide in the way of leak protection and they have said that there isn't really anything on the market, people don't generally do it.

 

In my mind I have this picture of a the tank, and all joins in the pipework sitting above a set of trays, each draining to an overflow that goes out the exterior wall. Does this sort of system not exist? Is it not feasible? Is it just not worth it?

[ProDave]

Your present system probably has a cold water tank in the loft, often a very flimsy plastic thing, did you worry about that?

[waxingsatirical]

I didn't install it

[PNAmble]

We installed a Grohe Sense Guard - all water goes through it.  So if there is a leak it shuts off.  I works on a volume or a pressure test.   Suppose I’ll never really know if it was worth it until I have a burst pipe.   
 

 

[JohnMo]

Shelly do a leak detector and so plenty of other smart devise manufacturers.

 

To be of any use, it needs to turn off the supply of water. Depending on the leak, you may have to stop a mains pressured cylinder from emptying it's contents, how you do that? If you 60 miles away and a phone alert, what are you going to do?

[Jilly]

Do they not make bunded tanks like those for oil?

[waxingsatirical]

I guess some sort of bunding tray, with a leak detector to shut off the mains would offer some protection.

 

Not the off-the-shelf system I was hoping for though. Probably not going to bother.

 

Thanks for your answers though.

[JohnMo]

16 minutes ago, waxingsatirical said:

guess some sort of bunding tray, with a leak detector to shut off the mains would offer some protection

If you went that route it would need to big enough to take the cylinder.

 

I would, floor the area under the cylinder and pipes in waterproof chipboard, then small spills and drips can be mopped up easily without damaging other places you can't get at.

[dpmiller]

build it on a tray with an drain to outside?

[MikeSharp01]

When / if I replace our loft HW tank in millstone manor I intend to stand it in the bottom section of a plastic barrel, I have one for the purpose standing by, then duct this via an overflow pipe out of the roof and latch shut off the mains via a sensor in the barrel, there is already a valve that does this when we set the house alarm so we don't need to worry about turning it off if we go out, I can tap into the alarm system to control it.  

[Tennentslager]

I'm currently in a rental in Quebec and the tank is in a tray, with a drain.

Also the wee white thing is a sensor which turns off the water in event of a leak.T

[Pocster]

Having had loft tanks leak and destroy ceilings . I always wondered why they can’t sit in a tray with a simple pipe to outside - like older toilet systems use to have the overflow from the cistern go outside .

[waxingsatirical]

For anyone who was following this thread some months ago.

 

A few weeks ago my old cold water tank sprung a leak, not from a joint, the tank itself. No, I hadn't been playing around with it, it hadn't been touched in the 20 odd years I expect it sat there.

 

I saw the drips coming through the ceiling as I read my son a story before bed, he would have gotten very wet, or worse, if I hadn't spotted it when I did.

 

This confirms my dismay at the lack of leak proofing being fitted loft tanks, and strengthens my resolve not to repeat the error when I have the (now new) tank replaced.