Electric Shower Vs Thermostaic shower

ahll

I currently have to decide on which type of shower to install an Electric Shower or thermostaic shower.

At the moment there is a broken electric shower installed (connect to an old style wyrlex CU with wired fuses..no RCD).

I am currently looking into getting a first new combi boiler installed (so old system will be taken out water tank, cylinder etc).

So now I can go either way on the shower so I am looking for people thoughts.

Financially I am not sure which would be the cheaper option to install ? (The house will be rented out when ready).

I am also looking for recommendations for showers to install...

ic

My house had an electric shower and a combi boiler. I fitted a thermostatic shower feeding off the boiler - and get far far better showers from the boiler. Cheaper to run too!

abankerbutnotafatcat

For a rented house with a combi boiler (i.e. no alternative method of heating water which a conventional boiler with a hot water tank has) then an electric shower has the advantage that it will still work if the boiler is broken. Just a thought.

loracan1

I'm not sure if they're cheaper to run (due to how much longer you end up staying in there), but a thermostatic shower has a far more stable temperature than an electric and - in our case - a far better flow rate.

TimBuckTeeth

As you are installing a new combi boiler a thermostatic mixer shower has many benefits over an electric -
better flow rate, safer, more reliable, neater, cheaper to run.

It will probably work out to be not much difference in cost to install either. Depends if you add the cost of a new RCD protected fusebox to the electric shower install, but I assume it will be replaced anyway as it sounds quite old.

cddc

Agree with all of the above, thermostatic every time.

The only downside is that if someone else in the house turns a tap on whilst you are in the shower you lose both flow rate and temperature, which can be annoying till they turn it off again which is normally three seconds if you scream at them to do so!.

In every other way a thermostatic is far superior.

jkpd

Thermostatic every time.

loracan1

cddc wrote: »

Agree with all of the above, thermostatic every time.

The only downside is that if someone else in the house turns a tap on whilst you are in the shower you lose both flow rate and temperature, which can be annoying till they turn it off again which is normally three seconds if you scream at them to do so!.

In every other way a thermostatic is far superior.

I don't find this with the thermostatic shower, it might lose a bit of power for a fraction of a second but any fluctuation in temperature is barely noticeable - can well remember the yowl when someone turned a tap on with the electric one we used to have, just right/freezing cold/scalding in the space of 20 seconds!

As someone pointed out though, the downside is if your boiler breaks down and can't be fixed immediately (been there) you've no means of hot water.

keystone

Thermo unless you really really want the belt and braces of "I can still shower when the boiler breaks" approach. A submariner's bath will always suffice though.

Cheers

A.Penny.Saved

You can't have heating and a shower at the same time with a thermo. While showering, the bathroom and the rest of the house is getting cold. Thermo showers are probably cheaper to run.

keystone

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

You can't have heating and a shower at the same time with a thermo.

If its a combi then yes but thats boiler dependent not shower dependent. DHW always has priority with a combi.

While showering, the bathroom and the rest of the house is getting cold.

LoL how long do you stay in the shower?

Cheers