I noticed that some plumbers have undergone a common training on the hot and cold water piping work inside a bathroom. Some of these aspects can go wrong sometimes. I have heard few plumbers say one stop cock is enough when splitting solar and geyser hot water. Dont be stuck with cold water all the time and wrongly conclude that Solar is of no use. So I will detail here a simple drawing for you to consider.
Right approach to Hot and Cold Water Plumbing Connections for bathroom
Explanation:
Solar water heater connection enters the bathroom at some common point as indicated in the picture. The entry is based on where the external piping is done. The plumbers follow the rule of hot water pipe below the cold water pipe. I suggest to follow similar rule in all bathrooms, than being random. This will help you recollect at some point if you need to repair the connections.
Cold water pipe also enters the bathroom at same point through a hole in one of the bathroom walls again depending on external piping.
The key to designing the piping is to have minimal bends in the water pipes which will help to minimize pressure drops. Avoid more than one bend[elbows] within 1 feet. Try to use a smooth bend joint in case you require more bends in a short span.
As see in the picture the cold pipe connection goes all the way upto geyser point. A TEE joint splits the water into 2 streams. One output towards the Geyser and one output towards the mixer[Diverter]. Check where the cold pipe makes a T intersection.
Mixer cold water point is done but hot water point is pending. We have two inputs [ Geyser ] and [ Solar ] but only one input for hot in the mixer. The logical thing to do is again use a TEE joint and connect Solar to one and Geyser to the other and 3rd part of the tee to Mixer. But here two questions arise
What if solar water is cold because weather is gloomy.
What if Geyser is not switched on and geyser water output is cold.
So the logical step is to be able to stop one of these two hot water points. The only way to do this is to have 2 STOP cocks [ one for geyser just before the TEE ] and [ one for solar just before the TEE]. see the figure.[S] and [G] points.
On a HOT Summer day :
Solar Stop cock should be ON.
Geyser Stop cock should be OFF [ because geyser output is giving cold water since it was not switched on]
On a Gloomy Cloudy day without the Sun
Switch on the Geyser power. Wait for it to get HOT.
Geyser Stop cock should be ON
Solar Stop cock should be OFF [ Else solar water will be cold due to no sun and this cold water should not mix with hot water from geyser ]
Note that hot and cold water should be separate until it reaches the mixer so that you can control how much HOT and how much COLD water needs to mix inside the mixer for ideal temperature to take bath.
If you do not use 2 STOP cocks then cold water will mix even before it reaches mixer and mixer will receive cold water in HOT connection point. This is normally where the plumbers try to mess with your understanding.
NOTE: There is another option of connecting the solar to geyser input and avoid one stop cock. After all the discussions with various people it is a very bad idea to do that and not worth to save a simple stock cock which does not cost you much. Here are some points against this
If you connect solar pipe to geyser input, the geyser can get spoilt because solar water reaches high temperature.
Sometimes the first person may take bath is slightly warm water of Solar while the geyser gets hot. If you connect solar to geyser point, then the geyser cannot function while you keep using the water from geyser.
Since geyser can take around 5 litres of water, the solar water will reach your tap much later due to extra cold water in the geyser. This becomes a normal process.
So in simple words let the hot water from solar and hot water from geyser reach the mixer through two separate connections and controlled by a stop cock. It is the best option.
After finishing
Stop cock position when Solar is On and geyser offStop cock position when Geyser is On and solar is off
24 thoughts on “Solar and Geyser Plumbing Drawing for Bathrooms”
Hi ,
We have a solar water heater and made a provision for electric geyser on loft slab all work is finished and we are in. When we have planned to install a geyser the technician noticed that our plumber has not provided any valve to stop solar water or even geyser water ,only he has raised a solar pipe on loft as out let and a cold water pipe as inlet in such case we will not be getting sufficient hot water on using solar or geyser as well ..
If I have got it right , your hot water from geyser will arrive premixed with solar and will be cold before it comes to mixer..It’s a classic plumbers problem which I have described..One solution is to cut open a tile as indicate in my diagram and finish by placing a stop cock..You will need cutting and chiseling tool. I would not recommend hammer as it is painful to watch it! You will need a spare tile to replace . But a permanent solution..
Second option is stop valve at outlet of geyser. Will be useful when solar is hot and you don’t want cold from geyser to mix. But who will reach the loft every time u want to switch..This is my view..Try checking with some other plumbers as well for a second opinion
Dear Sir
I would like to ask you a query, If we give solar geyser connection to input of electrical geyser , and output of electrical geyser to diverter mixer, is that ok?
Thank you for your comments.
As mentioned
1. Initially even in solar you get cold water for some time.
2. Flow rate/pressure of hot water will drop if connected through geyser. But if cold water has sufficient pressure not an issue.
Can do it if geyser guys say it’s ok. All the best. Hope you find the articles useful. My intention is to make sure people consider all options and make a conscious choice more than right or wrong. Cheers. 🙂 all the best for your project
Thank you so much for your quick response, Sir.
I Practically checked one site and as you are 100 percent right there is lot of drop in flow rate of water. So I have decided to go as per your diagram and not to connect solar output to geyser input.
I may also go for heating coil in the solar tank.
Another thing that I would like to ask you is.. We are having a duplex row bungalow. The water tank will be right above the Two bathrooms. So there is hardly any height we get for the tank. We can raise the height of the Water tank by maximum 5Ft. So I am planning to put the Water Pressure pump. So could you please guide me on that !!!!
I have 2 bathrooms on fist floor right above which the tank will be installed.
1) Is the 5 ft height for tank is sufficient for pressure to rain shower.
2) How to connect soloar and normal water connection through pressure pump.
3) Do I need 2 pumps, one for hot and one for cold water.
4) Will my electrical bill go up significantly?
5) Can you please give me a drawing for pressure pump connection.
Sir few things to check if you are yet to complete the purchases.
1. High flow diverter.(to an extent helps for first floor)
2. Thermostat+diverter to automatically maintain set temperature and prevents hot water from burning skin.
I bought in Jaquar but available in other brands as well.
For piping diagram of pressure pump the pump dealer will provide.sorry I am yet to try a pressure pump.
I have placed at 10 ft height and gives enough pressure for me when used with High flow diverter. But please check in one room if feasible.
Hi Sir,
Yes , I am yet to complete the purchase.
10 Ft Height from diverter to bottom of the overhead Tank Right?
or 10 ft height from shower panel?
Do you have model no of the diverter you purchased?
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Sir check this as there are lot of new models and also visit Jaquar experience center if near your place for product demo. Make sure you select one with shower, hand shower and spout(tap) all 3 supported in one diverter.
Read the complete details here on benefits of high flow and thermostat. https://www.jaquar.com/products/aquamax-thermostatic-mixers
My tank is placed 10 ft above terrace.
So 10+7ft to diverter nearly
Try to keep both stop cocks next to each other and height close to ground so that people can operate it easily. If stop cock is far or near to geyser it will be difficult to operate.
Also make sure water is there in geyser when turning geyser on.
Other than that no issue.
Will add a picture to the blog. Please check how it looks when using solar and when using geyser when both are close.
I have done my plumbing for my house many years back (around 8 years ago). I did not have solar water heater at that time. I only had installed geysers in each bathroom.
Plumber has laid the solar line going to each bathroom with one stop valve in each bathroom and kitchen, such that solar water goes to INPUT of geyser.
Now I want to install the solar water heater on rooftop. Once I open this solar stop valve, the water from solar should come and get stored in the geyser tank (geyser electricity will remain OFF). As the geyser is insulated, I think, water will stay warm for longer (compared to just flowing in pipes). This was done to minimize wastage of water and time as in most houses, I have seen they open the solar hot water for long time for any hot water to start coming in the mixers – lot of water is wasted.
So if geyser water is not hot enough, we can further heat the luke-warm water with the geyser (on cold days)
Hard water has effect on all water components. Solar heater may require maintenance but you can check with your dealer on three years or once costs for descaling if any. Water softeners from 3m and others are available in market. Solar is definitely useful. Different types of solar are available. In general solar does not require maintenance. People use it for 10 yrs without issues before maintenance.
For sometime i thought a two way diverter may work. You could give it a try. But not sure if 100% it can block. But flow rate not sure. Diverter normally reduced flow rate. You could try high flow divert if available.
Thank you for very useful information.
above question mentioned about using – a single two way stop cock or diverter.
can you please suggest a make / model.
I would like to use one for selection of “geyser hot water” or “solar hot water”, and output hot water line is common.
also please advice how much it will drop the force.
Thanks and appropriate your help.
I have a 2 floor house
• 1 solar &1 geyser in same line
• gyeser is on ground floor and the plumber said , when you close the solar valve the gyeser water will circulate ( which does) , he also said same water will reach the second floor by symphon action
• intitally it did ( but I doubt ) and now only the solar water is circulating in upper floor bathroom .
Good points, Naveen. Thanks for taking time to spread useful information. I have a slightly different question related to preserving Solar hot water. I use the Jaquar regular hot/cold mixer for tap/shower. During usage would generally keep the hot and cold levers at an ideal position to get the right mix . With the two levers in the suitable position then its a matter of adjusting the centre lever to full right for shower usage or keep in middle while not using and then keeping at extreme left after bath. Does keeping in the middle portion for longer time make the cold water flow back to solar geyser and thus losing the hot water? Sorry for the long explanation
Thomas, You could refer to the plumbing drawing for jaquar model of your mixer. From what I could see let’s say hot comes to left valve and cold comes to right valve then the center diverter is at stop position and mostly won’t allow water to go to other side. Also the diver sometimes do have a NRV or the geyser also comes with a NRV. A Non Return Valve does not allow water to flow in reverse direction. So probably two mechanisms prevent that from happening.
Hi ,
We have a solar water heater and made a provision for electric geyser on loft slab all work is finished and we are in. When we have planned to install a geyser the technician noticed that our plumber has not provided any valve to stop solar water or even geyser water ,only he has raised a solar pipe on loft as out let and a cold water pipe as inlet in such case we will not be getting sufficient hot water on using solar or geyser as well ..
Please suggest me any solution for this
If I have got it right , your hot water from geyser will arrive premixed with solar and will be cold before it comes to mixer..It’s a classic plumbers problem which I have described..One solution is to cut open a tile as indicate in my diagram and finish by placing a stop cock..You will need cutting and chiseling tool. I would not recommend hammer as it is painful to watch it! You will need a spare tile to replace . But a permanent solution..
Second option is stop valve at outlet of geyser. Will be useful when solar is hot and you don’t want cold from geyser to mix. But who will reach the loft every time u want to switch..This is my view..Try checking with some other plumbers as well for a second opinion
Dear Sir
I would like to ask you a query, If we give solar geyser connection to input of electrical geyser , and output of electrical geyser to diverter mixer, is that ok?
Thank you for your comments.
As mentioned
1. Initially even in solar you get cold water for some time.
2. Flow rate/pressure of hot water will drop if connected through geyser. But if cold water has sufficient pressure not an issue.
Can do it if geyser guys say it’s ok. All the best. Hope you find the articles useful. My intention is to make sure people consider all options and make a conscious choice more than right or wrong. Cheers. 🙂 all the best for your project
Thank you so much for your quick response, Sir.
I Practically checked one site and as you are 100 percent right there is lot of drop in flow rate of water. So I have decided to go as per your diagram and not to connect solar output to geyser input.
I may also go for heating coil in the solar tank.
Another thing that I would like to ask you is.. We are having a duplex row bungalow. The water tank will be right above the Two bathrooms. So there is hardly any height we get for the tank. We can raise the height of the Water tank by maximum 5Ft. So I am planning to put the Water Pressure pump. So could you please guide me on that !!!!
I have 2 bathrooms on fist floor right above which the tank will be installed.
1) Is the 5 ft height for tank is sufficient for pressure to rain shower.
2) How to connect soloar and normal water connection through pressure pump.
3) Do I need 2 pumps, one for hot and one for cold water.
4) Will my electrical bill go up significantly?
5) Can you please give me a drawing for pressure pump connection.
Please guide Sir
Sir few things to check if you are yet to complete the purchases.
1. High flow diverter.(to an extent helps for first floor)
2. Thermostat+diverter to automatically maintain set temperature and prevents hot water from burning skin.
I bought in Jaquar but available in other brands as well.
For piping diagram of pressure pump the pump dealer will provide.sorry I am yet to try a pressure pump.
I have placed at 10 ft height and gives enough pressure for me when used with High flow diverter. But please check in one room if feasible.
Hi Sir,
Yes , I am yet to complete the purchase.
10 Ft Height from diverter to bottom of the overhead Tank Right?
or 10 ft height from shower panel?
Do you have model no of the diverter you purchased?
Sir check this as there are lot of new models and also visit Jaquar experience center if near your place for product demo. Make sure you select one with shower, hand shower and spout(tap) all 3 supported in one diverter.
Read the complete details here on benefits of high flow and thermostat.
https://www.jaquar.com/products/aquamax-thermostatic-mixers
My tank is placed 10 ft above terrace.
So 10+7ft to diverter nearly
Thank you so much
Will it work if we give one stop clock at solar water supply line and another stop clock at cold water line supply to geyser..
Try to keep both stop cocks next to each other and height close to ground so that people can operate it easily. If stop cock is far or near to geyser it will be difficult to operate.
Also make sure water is there in geyser when turning geyser on.
Other than that no issue.
Will add a picture to the blog. Please check how it looks when using solar and when using geyser when both are close.
Thanks navin for sharing innovative information.
Can you please suggest me an efficient solar geyser brand?
Thanks author for sharing such a informative post.
regards
https://www.byoindia.com/
Thank you for your wonderful website.
I have done my plumbing for my house many years back (around 8 years ago). I did not have solar water heater at that time. I only had installed geysers in each bathroom.
Plumber has laid the solar line going to each bathroom with one stop valve in each bathroom and kitchen, such that solar water goes to INPUT of geyser.
Now I want to install the solar water heater on rooftop. Once I open this solar stop valve, the water from solar should come and get stored in the geyser tank (geyser electricity will remain OFF). As the geyser is insulated, I think, water will stay warm for longer (compared to just flowing in pipes). This was done to minimize wastage of water and time as in most houses, I have seen they open the solar hot water for long time for any hot water to start coming in the mixers – lot of water is wasted.
So if geyser water is not hot enough, we can further heat the luke-warm water with the geyser (on cold days)
Do you see any problems using this system?
Point 11 in the blog talks about this point. Again my view..please feel free to take this decision. Cheers
Very valuable information, my problem is our location comes under hard water(salty) is it worth using solar and it’s maintenance.. pls suggest
Hard water has effect on all water components. Solar heater may require maintenance but you can check with your dealer on three years or once costs for descaling if any. Water softeners from 3m and others are available in market. Solar is definitely useful. Different types of solar are available. In general solar does not require maintenance. People use it for 10 yrs without issues before maintenance.
Can we get single two way stop cock for geyser hot water and solar hot water which can be fixed before mixture unit
For sometime i thought a two way diverter may work. You could give it a try. But not sure if 100% it can block. But flow rate not sure. Diverter normally reduced flow rate. You could try high flow divert if available.
Thank you for very useful information.
above question mentioned about using – a single two way stop cock or diverter.
can you please suggest a make / model.
I would like to use one for selection of “geyser hot water” or “solar hot water”, and output hot water line is common.
also please advice how much it will drop the force.
Thanks and appropriate your help.
I have a 2 floor house
• 1 solar &1 geyser in same line
• gyeser is on ground floor and the plumber said , when you close the solar valve the gyeser water will circulate ( which does) , he also said same water will reach the second floor by symphon action
• intitally it did ( but I doubt ) and now only the solar water is circulating in upper floor bathroom .
What could be the problem ? Please suggest
Good points, Naveen. Thanks for taking time to spread useful information. I have a slightly different question related to preserving Solar hot water. I use the Jaquar regular hot/cold mixer for tap/shower. During usage would generally keep the hot and cold levers at an ideal position to get the right mix . With the two levers in the suitable position then its a matter of adjusting the centre lever to full right for shower usage or keep in middle while not using and then keeping at extreme left after bath. Does keeping in the middle portion for longer time make the cold water flow back to solar geyser and thus losing the hot water? Sorry for the long explanation
Thomas, You could refer to the plumbing drawing for jaquar model of your mixer. From what I could see let’s say hot comes to left valve and cold comes to right valve then the center diverter is at stop position and mostly won’t allow water to go to other side. Also the diver sometimes do have a NRV or the geyser also comes with a NRV. A Non Return Valve does not allow water to flow in reverse direction. So probably two mechanisms prevent that from happening.