Power/Electric/Mixer Shower?

meggles

i'm confused. we're redooing the bathroom and we need to get everything.

i'm american and in the US we don't have electric/power showers. we only have mixer showers (b/c the water coming into the house is of high enough pressure due to water towers in most/all towns or pumped well water).

we have an electric 9.5v shower at the moment. and it's crap. the flow is so bad that i wash out my hair in the bath taps.

can we simply upgrade to a 10.5 or 10.8 V power shower? or do we need to buy a power shower. and just for clarification sake, does the pwoer shower have an interral pump & heat up cold water?

any insight, recomendations, woudl be very helpful. i need a powerful shower!

if it helps we have a header tank in the loft, a hot water tank in the airing cupbard which is adjacent to the shower wall.

agent_orange_2

Hi, Your electric shower runs from a cold feed only (mains). The electric shower basically heats the water as it goes through 'can'. The colder the weather - the colder the water, so the harder the heating element has to work to get the water to the required temperature - so less flow.

As for the increase from 9.5v to 10.5v, well, I would assume that your 9.5v electric shower is running of a dedicated 10mm cable which would be adequate for the increase but it would be best to have it checked first - it's always possible it could be running of a 6mm.

A pumped power shower is always going to be best but that will involve changes to the pipework, installation of a pump. All in all, a fair bit of upheaval including the removal of the tiles etc.

Hope this helps.

meggles

thanks for that. we won't be installing the shower ourselves. is switching from 6 to 10v cable a difficult job for the electrican to do?

we're redooing the bathroom- new tiles, etc... so this would be the best time to put in a power shower if we want one.

there's no way of putting in an electric shower now, and then if the flow isn't necessary, putting in an auxillery pump in the loft near the header tank?

i've seen things like this:
http://www.showerspares.com/details/Showers/188/
http://www.showerspares.com/details/Showers/16/
http://www.showerspares.com/details/Showers/181/
http://www.showerspares.com/details/Showers/260/
http://www.showerspares.com/details/Showers/7/

they "seem" to be electric & power showers together. are they?

cajef

meggles wrote: »

if it helps we have a header tank in the loft, a hot water tank in the airing cupbard which is adjacent to the shower wall.

When we had a new bathroom we had a mixer shower fitted, the plumber took a cold supply from the header tank and hot from the existing tank in the airing cupboard, as both are fed from the header tank the pressures are equal.

If you are re-doing the bathroom, why not have one fitted, ours was also on the adjacent wall and it was a simple job to do.

meggles

i worry that the mixer showers won't have enough pressure.

cajef

meggles wrote: »

i worry that the mixer showers won't have enough pressure.

Well we have no problem and the header tank is only about 1 metre above the shower head, but you could always have a pump fitted if you were not happy with the pressure.

meggles

really? can a mixer shower be attached to a combi boiler? i'm not sure if i have one or not- checking with plumber who installed a few months ago. can i assume since i have a hot water tank, i DON'T have a combi boiler?

this is a power shower, right?
http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/191-2416

So as far as I can figure (with your help!)

Electric
Fed off Mains Cold Water
Flow Rate dependent on temp outside, rating of unit (7.5-10.8V)
If 9V or above, need 10mm cable.
If under 9V, can use 6mm cable
(not sure which cable we have)
Must have sufficent capacity on fuse box (since i already have electric shower- can I *assume* this is so?)
Cheaper- £150-£220

Power
Looks like an electric shower- but... has extra pump inside the actual unit
fed off cold water header tank & hot water tank
so... once you use up hot water tank.... hot water gone
can be noisy
pricer- £300-£400
Not good for combi boilers as they don't provide enough hot water at one time

Mixer
Takes water directly from header tank & hot water tank
Pressure dependent on incoming water pressure
Can install auxillery pump. Where does this go? How much does this cost?

QUESTION
Can you install mixer shower and if it doesn't have enough pressure- THEN install a pump? Will that go in the airing cupboard or loft? (ie- won't mess up the tiling job that has just been done)

meggles

can i ask a very american question-

if a standard mixer shower provides good pressure- why doesn't everyone have one? why are these ugly electric/power shower boxes so freaking common?

"in the us"- i've never seen a shower box like everyone has here.

i really want this one:
http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/1050-15910

which i think is a mixer shower.
good price too (as compared to electric showers)
we've gotten a price fo £100-£150 for a plumber & electrican to replace the exisiting electric shower. if we installed a mixer shower instead- no electrician, right? is it more costly to install mixer shower? i assume they need to run pipes from hot water tank & loft cold water tank.

what is the price to install a pump if necessary?

cajef

meggles wrote: »

really? can a mixer shower be attached to a combi boiler? i'm not sure if i have one or not- checking with plumber who installed a few months ago. can i assume since i have a hot water tank, i DON'T have a combi boiler?

Mixer
Takes water directly from header tank & hot water tank
Pressure dependent on incoming water pressure
Can install auxillery pump. Where does this go? How much does this cost?

QUESTION
Can you install mixer shower and if it doesn't have enough pressure- THEN install a pump? Will that go in the airing cupboard or loft? (ie- won't mess up the tiling job that has just been done)

I am not a plumber, no doubt one will be along to correct me if I am wrong but if you still have a header tank and hot water cylinder I do not think you have a combi boiler, (have a look at >>this site<<) sounds like you have a regular condensing boiler.

Mixer does not depend on mains pressure, just the height of the header tank above the shower head.

Yes you can have a pump fitted later if you find the pressure is not enough, presumably in the airing cupboard or loft depending on space, not sure about prices, once again ask your friendly plumber.

meggles

Electric
Feeds off Mains Cold Water- only one pipe coming into box
The water is heated inside the small box (most often mounted on your shower wall)
Flow Rate dependent on many things: incoming water temp (hence less pressure in winter), rating of unit (7.5kW-10.8kW)
If 9kW or above, need 10mm electric cable.
If under 9kW, can use 6mm cable
Must have sufficent capacity on fuse box
If the boiler ever cuts out- you still have hot water
Can be used with any type of boiler, since water is coming from mains
An example is Mira or Triton models:http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0093718.htm
Cheaper- £150-£220
Cost to install- if you're replacing existing electric shower (no need for new plumbing or electrics)- approximately £75-£150.

Power
Looks like an electric shower- but... has extra pump inside the actual unit
Feeds off cold water header tank & hot water tank
Once you use up hot water tank.... hot water gone
Not good for combi boilers as they don't provide enough hot water at one time
Can be noisy
An example can be seen here:http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0094346.htm
Pricer- £300-£400

Mixer
Feeds off cold water in header tank & hot water tank
Pressure dependent on incoming water pressure
Can install auxillery pump (may or may not be needed). This would installed under bath, in loft, in airing cupboard. Therefore, not as noisy as power shower.
An example of a pump is here: http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/1648-0000
Moderatly priced: http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/1050-15910

meggles

question- is there any way to know if the incoming pressure (from feeder tank in attic & hot water tank in airing cupboard) are enough for a mixer shower?