Isolating hot water supply to kitchen tap

Tell me how

Hi,

I live in a pretty typical semi-detached. I need to replace the hot/cold tap fitting at the kitchen sink. The hot water is supplied to this tap by a fixed copper piper without a local isolation valve.

I have a Gas mains bolier in the utility and an immersion tank in the hot-press upstairs.

I cannot see any isolation valve on the hot water tank (outside of one without a turn handle on the bottom pipe entering the tank).

1. Do I need to isolate the mains supply to the house and drain the hot water system entirely?
2. Is the hot water tank typically fed from the mains or via the tank in the attic?
3. If I do isolate the mains and drain by turning on a hot tap, how do I avoid air traps when I turn water back on?
4. Should I cop on to myself and call a plumber?

Thanks,

P.S. I am technically minded but not so much on the water front.

Idioteque

If you can't find any gate valve or similar anywhere then one of these can be useful in your circumstance (If you don't want to mess around with draining or pay for a plumber).

Just note you need a decent power drill from lots of the comments on them.

Some good videos on Youtube with reviews etc.

Tell me how

Idioteque wrote: »

If you can't find any gate valve or similar anywhere then one of these can be useful in your circumstance (If you don't want to mess around with draining or pay for a plumber).

Just note you need a decent power drill from lots of the comments on them.

Some good videos on Youtube with reviews etc.

When I first read your post last night, my immediate response was this is some sort of QVC/infomercial type device, but, it does look impressive in the video. I had never heard of this sort of unit before.

I'm going to give a plumber a call as I am curious in learning a bit more about the entire system anyway. It seems strange not to facilitate maintenance debug for the price of a check valve.

I'm going to investigate this device further to see how it works, and what way it cuts so that the cut piece does impede flow or the device working.

agusta

The valve for turning off the hot water should be in the hot press above the copper cylinder.It will be on the pipe coming from the tank in the attic to the pipe connected to the bottom of the cylinder.i.e cold feed to cylinder. can you post a picture of copper cylinder and pipework above it

Browndoff

As far as I know it's a Building Regulation that there MUST be a cold-water-mains Isolating Valve - that's to minimise damage if there's a major leak in the house. This valve is usually in the kitchen or under the stairs.
As for the HOT water - you mentioned yourself an isolating-valve on the pipe running into the bottom of the Hot-Tank. Once this is closed, the water in the hot-tank will no longer be replaced and [unless there's an air-leak somewhere] it will quickly stop the flow of hot water to the kitchen-sink.
With BOTH of these valves CLOSED, open the kitchen-sink taps and run out any water still in the pipes. Then you can easily remove the old tap-set and replace it with your new favourite style.
I'm assuming, as normal, that all the pipes and fittings are standard ½" - but some modern [particularly US-types] taps use ¼" - in that case you'll have to get some special adapters to make your new taps fit in with your existing pipes. Otherwise, it's a really easy job [apart from the awkward places into which you have to crawl to reach the fittings under the sink!].

Have fun!