Electric shower

seikothrill

I have a Triton Jade II 8.5W electric shower that has just broken.

I would like the same shower but all I can find is Triton Jade II 9.5W.

What does the different W (wattage??) mean?

Thanks in advance

Raksha

I think it will mean it can heat the same flow of water to the same temp as your old one quicker, or heat more water to the same temp in the same length of time. I don't think it will change your elec consumption so long as you don't start having hotter showers or increasing the flow of water.

WestonDave

In practical terms it may mean a big headache! Moving from an 8.5Kw shower to a 9.5Kw shower may mean upgrading the cable from your consumer unit to the shower, which if its nicely tiled in etc is going to mean a big mess. The higher power rating of the new shower may cause a lower rated cable to overheat potentially leading to a fire. On that basis before you upgrade you need to get an electrician to check what cabling is in place and whether it is already up to the higher powered shower. On the basis that you'd need to be slightly mad to install an 8.5Kw shower when you have the electrics for the 9.5kw, I would strongly suspect its not going to be possible without a rewire.

In terms of shower you'll get more hot water out of the shower - you are likely to want the water at the same temperature and as the heater in these showers is either on or off (possibly with a useless summer half heat setting) you will use more electricity - it will just heat more of it so the flow will be better. However if at the moment you are spending ages under a dribble rinsing shampoo out of your hair, you may find that a more powerful shower acheives this more quickly so there may be some offset in the increase.

WestonDave

Is this near enough to be a direct replacement? (can probably get it cheaper elsewhere than Homebase) http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=20001&partNumber=116237

seikothrill

WestonDave wrote: »

In practical terms it may mean a big headache! Moving from an 8.5Kw shower to a 9.5Kw shower may mean upgrading the cable from your consumer unit to the shower, which if its nicely tiled in etc is going to mean a big mess. The higher power rating of the new shower may cause a lower rated cable to overheat potentially leading to a fire. On that basis before you upgrade you need to get an electrician to check what cabling is in place and whether it is already up to the higher powered shower. On the basis that you'd need to be slightly mad to install an 8.5Kw shower when you have the electrics for the 9.5kw, I would strongly suspect its not going to be possible without a rewire.

In terms of shower you'll get more hot water out of the shower - you are likely to want the water at the same temperature and as the heater in these showers is either on or off (possibly with a useless summer half heat setting) you will use more electricity - it will just heat more of it so the flow will be better. However if at the moment you are spending ages under a dribble rinsing shampoo out of your hair, you may find that a more powerful shower acheives this more quickly so there may be some offset in the increase.

Cheers Dave - in view of your comments I will stick with an 8.5W electric shower

seikothrill

WestonDave wrote: »

Is this near enough to be a direct replacement? (can probably get it cheaper elsewhere than Homebase) http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=20001&partNumber=116237

Again, cheers Dave - funnily enough I have been looking at this product. I will be checking measurements etc upon my return to home and if same I will purchase as I really don't want too much upheavel in my en-suite

WestonDave

Just out of interest have you tried the shower doctor site to see if you can get the relevant bits to fix your current one - depending on how old it is and what has stopped working that might be a worthwhile route to investigate.