Shower Doesn't Work cos v. low water pressure

MissyMinx

Hi can anyone help - major confusion,
We recently had a loft bathroom put in and decided to have a shower put in rather than a bath as our plumer said this should be fine. Spent alot of money having the cubical installed and having it tiled from floor to celing etc and the whole bathroom layout was designed around the shower, but the electric shower installed doesn't work - we don't get that much more than a cold dribble from it.
The builders who installed it said they have done so correctly.
The shower manufacturer has told us that the shower is not faulty but the reason it doesn't work is because we don't have enough water pressure.
Our water supplier has said that the supply they are providing us with is enough to comply with the legal requirements.
Initially a plumber told us we could fit a pump but then we were told we can't - and its all very technical and we are now very confused - We need a shower up there and want to know whether we can get a pump on it to sort out the pressure or whether we need to buy another shower and if so what type?
We have a new combi boiler (and therefore no water tanks) and the electric shower we bought is a Triton Inscription. The Shower was installed with the water supply coming straight off of the mains. Is it possible to change the water supply so that it comes off of the combination boiler rather than the mains supply, and install a pump?
Please help a maiden in distress?
Jo x

DVardysShadow

Probably better dealt with in the DIY section [even if you get someone in to sort it].

Do you have any other taps in your shower room? How well does the cold work from those taps?

MrsE_2

I had the same problem.

You need a PUMPED electric shower. AFAIK only two on the market Triton & Mira (both a similar price). I've got the Triton, but if I'd had time to think about my purchase (& not find out on the fitters last day that I needed one) I would have sourced the Mira.

Cardew

If you cannot get sufficient cold water pressure up to your electric shower, you will have the same problem with getting hot water from your combi and cold water up to a conventional shower.

I am no plumber, but I thought that pumped electric showers(referred to above) are fed from the cold water cistern - which, with a combi, the OP will not have.

However I cannot understand why a pump cannot be used to pump up water to the shower. It seems to me that it would just be a case of inserting the pump in the pipe leading to the shower.

MrsE_2

Cardew wrote: »

If you cannot get sufficient cold water pressure up to your electric shower, you will have the same problem with getting hot water from your combi and cold water up to a conventional shower.

I am no plumber, but I thought that pumped electric showers(referred to above) are fed from the cold water cistern - which, with a combi, the OP will not have.

However I cannot understand why a pump cannot be used to pump up water to the shower. It seems to me that it would just be a case of inserting the pump in the pipe leading to the shower.

I thought everyone would have a cold feed?

Cardew

MrsE wrote: »

I thought everyone would have a cold feed?

The pumped electric shower takes water from the cold water tank in the loft.

With a combi you normally do away with the cold water tank(and the hot water tank) and use mains water pressure.

This is why to have a combi fitted you need sufficient mains water pressure.

Also electric showers need a water supply of sufficient pressure to operate. If you have an electric shower installed in, say, a loft(as you and OP have?) then if the mains pressure if not sufficient, you feed direct from cold water tank and the pump in the shower creates the pressure. However the OP has no cold water tank.

As said above, I can't see why the feed to the shower cannot be fed via a pump.

Failing that a small cold water tank put in the loft and a pumped electric shower.

Again I am no plumber, but could some of the qualified plumbers comment?

david29dpo

What the water pressure like from the hot & cold sink taps in the new bathroom?

lapat

this should be in the diy section but the willing to help
firstly i would be going back to your plumber asking why he didnt check the water pressure was at a compatible rate of flow to the shower he installed.
then when you get no joy from him, you will need to fit a pump as fitting a tank in the loft space isnt going to help, because if it cant pressurise your shower its not going to fill a tank quick enough. the only other option is you are going to have to replace the shower unit with a pumped version and there is loads of these available nowadays, i owuld personally go for a groehle or aqualisa of which both do pumped versions of showers fed from combi boilers. do shop around for prices though as you will be looking between £400-£700 for one of these units. also most of the aqualisa are remote units so the pump can be hidden away from the shower unit.....good luck
hopefully this helps