Is this electric shower any good?

susi

My daughter is having an electric shower fitted in her bathroom. She wants quite a powerful one, can you tell me if this one is any good, if not any recommendations?
Triton Opal 11
10.5 kw 240v

susi

bump!!! anyone???????

grumbler

Make sure that existing wiring is suitable for 10.5kW shower: http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/electricshower.htm

moneysavingplumber

10.5KW is about as powerful a heater shower as you are likely to get, although it's not Niagara Falls! Triton are a budget brand but not bad, and are probably the market leader.

As I presume the above link points out, a 10.5KW shower will almost certainly need a 10mm cable, a 45amp breaker and an RCD protected circuit. It's also worth checking that the main is supplied at 100 amps as opposed to the older 60 amps, as 60 minus 45 leaves you with 15, about enough for an immersion heater.

cozzie

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=61785&ts=04732

This is the gainsborough 10.5kw and is only £80 from screwfix with 3% c/b through quidco if that helps. Am hopefully buying it this week, does anyone knows if it's any good or not?

grumbler

moneysavingplumber wrote:

...As I presume the above link points out, a 10.5KW shower will almost certainly need a 10mm cable

In fact the link recommends 16mm2 for power 10.5kW and above. I am not an expert though ...

ivagoldfish

Susi,

Does your daughter have a combi-boiler?
If she does; why not take shower connect straight from that.
Close to mains pressure.

susi

Thanks folks, yes Iva, well she will have when its installed, we were thinking along the same lines of having one connected to the system, are there any downfalls to this? Cant think why we were told an electric one would be better????

moneysavingplumber

grumbler wrote:

In fact the link recommends 16mm2 for power 10.5kW and above. I am not an expert though ...

It is a recommendation on the site but I've rarely seen it, it depends on the distance of the cable run.

moneysavingplumber

susi wrote:

Thanks folks, yes Iva, well she will have when its installed, we were thinking along the same lines of having one connected to the system, are there any downfalls to this? Cant think why we were told an electric one would be better????

You will likely get a better performance from the hot and cold supplies compared to an electric, but other water activity in the house will interfere with it, so it would be essential to have a thermostatic model.

grumbler

moneysavingplumber wrote:

...it depends on the distance of the cable run.

No, this cannot depend on distance. This can depend on whether the cable is buried or not. Buried cable must be thicker. Exposed cable can be thinner.