Electric showers ? is it possible to have an electric shower that looks victorian

puddy

I want an electric shower for ease of use, but dont want a white plastic box on the wall of the shower, I want one of those big victorian shower heads and chrome piping with victorian style levers.
Is this possible, I keep seeing nice looking showers in home magazines and cant imagine that NONE of them are electric, but cant seem to find any electric showers that dont include that horrible box on the wall??

nickcardwell

you can get a wireless electric shower
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Manufacturers/Triton/Triton_T300SI_Wireless/

Not quite what your looking for (not victorian) but no white plastic box.

puddy

no, not quite but it has got me thinking. the reason im asking is because we are buying a house and hoping to move soon. the house has a combi boiler and an electric shower. my own property has only ever had a normal boiler with hot and cold water tanks and a mixer shower, its really powerful.

i like my showers so now am worried that the electric shower where we are moving is not going to be powerful enough AND i want an edwardian/victorian look, i cannot stand those boxes on the wall (even the wireless one above), but i notice that in that picture, the 'shower box' is piped up out of the actual shower, so would i be able to fix in piping to the shower box in the house, say by putting it in the ceiling, and then have only the fancy goods on show, but how would i turn it on and off??

jackie11

Hello, you say that the house you are moving to has a combi boiler. Is there any reason you would not wish to change to a mixer shower running off the combi boiler ? This option would enable you to source an appropriate "victorian looking" mixer, lose the white box and have a more powerful shower. There are downsides to this option - if the boiler is out of action you lose your shower and you would need to alter the plumbing to give hot and cold supply to the shower. We lived happily with the combi + mixer shower option for 20+ years.

saintlee

jackie11 wrote: »

Hello, you say that the house you are moving to has a combi boiler. Is there any reason you would not wish to change to a mixer shower running off the combi boiler ? This option would enable you to source an appropriate "victorian looking" mixer, lose the white box and have a more powerful shower. There are downsides to this option - if the boiler is out of action you lose your shower and you would need to alter the plumbing to give hot and cold supply to the shower. We lived happily with the combi + mixer shower option for 20+ years.

The only advantage of having an electric shower with a combi system is for that reason, it gives you a source of hot water IF the boiler breaks down.

For me it isn't reason enough to deny yourself of a great high pressure shower that you would get from a shower installed on a combi system.

It would also be the easiest way to meet your asthetic requirements (victorian shower) as thermostatic mixers are availalble in many traditional designs and would be suitable for the system you have.

If the system is a low pressure system then a thermostatic mixer is still a viable option, with the addition of a fitted shower pump either under the bath, in the airing cupboard or even in the loft space (as long as you meet the head requirements)

If you would like any further information regarding suitable brands or what you should be paying etc, please send me a pm

Lee

puddy

jackie11 wrote: »

Hello, you say that the house you are moving to has a combi boiler. Is there any reason you would not wish to change to a mixer shower running off the combi boiler ? This option would enable you to source an appropriate "victorian looking" mixer, lose the white box and have a more powerful shower. There are downsides to this option - if the boiler is out of action you lose your shower and you would need to alter the plumbing to give hot and cold supply to the shower. We lived happily with the combi + mixer shower option for 20+ years.

i dont really know enough about combi boilers, what i cant work out, is how it keeps enough hot water flowing through when running a bath or shower. i can understand if theres hot water tank becuse theres a whole load of hot water but if its being heated up instantly in a boiler, how do you have a load of hot water coming out of it??

puddy

saintlee wrote: »

The only advantage of having an electric shower with a combi system is for that reason, it gives you a source of hot water IF the boiler breaks down.

For me it isn't reason enough to deny yourself of a great high pressure shower that you would get from a shower installed on a combi system.

It would also be the easiest way to meet your asthetic requirements (victorian shower) as thermostatic mixers are availalble in many traditional designs and would be suitable for the system you have.

If the system is a low pressure system then a thermostatic mixer is still a viable option, with the addition of a fitted shower pump either under the bath, in the airing cupboard or even in the loft space (as long as you meet the head requirements)

If you would like any further information regarding suitable brands or what you should be paying etc, please send me a pm

Lee

thanks for that. how does the water get up to the bathroom from the boiler at a good water pressure? i thought the tanks had to be above the bathroom in order to provide water pressure? (you can tell i know nothing about plumbing etc)

i thought you couldnt have a pump with a combi boiler?

latecomer

Combi boilers should provide good water pressure and they heat the mains water as it passes through so its unlimited apart from by your mains pressure. i.e. you can have trouble if you have multiple showers on simultaneously or run hot taps when the shower is on etc

saintlee

jenner wrote: »

thanks for that. how does the water get up to the bathroom from the boiler at a good water pressure? i thought the tanks had to be above the bathroom in order to provide water pressure? (you can tell i know nothing about plumbing etc)

i thought you couldnt have a pump with a combi boiler?

The combi boiler uses mains water pressure to supply the hot, so header tanks and pumps are not required.

There is a difference between flow rate and pressure. Flow rate is how many litres per minute that comes out of the tap. Pressure is the force that the water comes out at.

Because a combi heats the water instantaneously, it cannot generate as much volume of water as say a headertank sat 2 metres above the shower with 22mm pipework, however the force of the pressure (ie the water mains) is a lot greater so it results in a fantastic shower, as the water is forced throught the shower head.

However as the previous poster said, if any other taps are in use, the water rate will slow dramatically (as the pressure is being let out elsewhere) or even stop.