cost to change shower ?

Legacy_user

we have a combi boiler but an electric shower ,does anyone know the approx cost to change the shower so it runs off the boiler ?

Hintza

You will need to rearrange the plumbing behind the shower to run a hot water pipe etc.

Alternatively you could just get new set of mixer taps with shower attached (possibly not very smart).

Why do you want to change? Remember if you are in the shower and someone runs the cold tap you will boil and vice versa. If you have problems with the boiler you can still have a shower, if you keep the electric shower.

All eggs in one basket?

To answer your question £100 for new mixer taps (fitted) all the way up to a new bathroom.

newbutold

Hintza wrote: »

Why do you want to change? Remember if you are in the shower and someone runs the cold tap you will boil and vice versa.

Not if they had a thermostatic mixer shower fitted.

System

we have narrowed down the excessive electricity usage to the shower so are thinking of changing it.

closed

ignoring the significant costs of changing, (which should pay for a few years of showering), it may cost you more to run it off the boiler than it does off electricity, and if you are on a water meter, that consumption may also increase.

10 minute electrically heated shower costs about 13p

martinsurrey

closed wrote: »

ignoring the significant costs of changing, (which should pay for a few years of showering), it may cost you more to run it off the boiler than it does off electricity, and if you are on a water meter, that consumption may also increase.

10 minute electrically heated shower costs about 13p

at 13p per kwh and a 9.5kw shower

0.13*9.5 = £1.24 an hour or just over 2p a min so 10 mins is just over 20p (electric showers are close to 100% efficient)

Gas at 4p per kwh assuming 90% boiler efficiency and 90% delivery efficiency (getting the water from the boiler to the shower), gives about 80% combined efficiency so a KWH of heat at the shower costs 5p

So at the same shower power (read heat) of 9.5kw costs

0.05*9.5 = 0.48 an hour or 0.8p per min, so a 10min shower costs 8p

Assuming 2 people have a 10 min shower a day, each, for 365 days thats

Electric = 365days *2people * £0.2 per shower = £146

Gas = 365days *2people * £0.08 per shower = £58

A gas shower needs more time to heat up though as the dead leg in the water pipes are longer.

Say 20 seconds longer a day, so 121 mins a year.

typical shower flow rates are 8L per min and water costs around £2.5 per1000L

so the extra water waste is about £2 a year.

The heat left in the pipes heats the house so has some benefit, and the electric shower costs more to warm up than the gas one, so I wont factor this in as its about neutral.

Gives a combined saving for gas over electric of £86 per year, based on 20mins usage a day.

Hintza

Do folk really take 10 minute showers on a busy work day? I would have thought nearer 5 minutes.

Having both gives you options, you could always add a shower head to your mixer taps and trial that?

System

Hintza wrote: »

Do folk really take 10 minute showers on a busy work day? I would have thought nearer 5 minutes.

Having both gives you options, you could always add a shower head to your mixer taps and trial that?

possibly not but my teen needs to be crow barred out some days !

We have a wet room so theres only either a gas/electric shower option.