which system for power shower?

piggybankrupt

Hi

We are about to have a new bathroom fitted and this time I am determined to have a hotel standard power shower instead of the pathetic trickle we have now.
What is the best system to buy to achieve this? We currently have a combination boiler & the water flow since we installed that 11 years ago has been pathetic.
The shower will be the most important aspect of the room and would love one that you can set to different people's preferences - but on MSE budget obviously! Any guidance greatly appreciated .

Seronera

Bad news. You can't fit a power shower to a combi...but before sending you into a depression I'd ask why is the hot water from the combi so bad as it should be perfect for a shower. They are renowned for giving good showers. Something is wrong with the system/boiler.

The make and model of boiler would be nice to know and its size in KW. Aside from that, common hot water problems with combis can be caused by the following.

1)Blocked Hot Water Plate Heat exchanger...causes poor hot water flow or hot/cold/hot/ cold effect. I usually flush them out with a special cleaning fluid and refit them as they are pricey. Many will just sell you a new exchanger. Either way you need to find out why it has blocked or it will do it again.

2) Cold inlet water restricted..either by the inlet tap being turned down or by a restrictor..which can often be removed.

3) Faulty Printed Circuit Board..not sending boiler onto full power for hot water provision. Equally sometimes the control knobs break behind the front panel on some models,,,making you think you have turned up the hot water when in fact nothing is happening

4) Faulty flow switch or flow turbine on boiler.

5) Faulty Thermistor on hot water.

Its not likely to be all of those faults together, but it sounds to me like the boiler needs a good going over by somebody who knows the model well before looking at other solutions.

piggybankrupt

Thanks for reply. This boiler has been rubbish from start maybe just set wrong? Will try & find model.

jc808

whats your water pressure like?

you may need to take the shower off the combi, and fit a seperate tank in the loft and shower pump/ power shower.

Not sure if you could heat that tank via the combi, or you could get a seperate IWH (Instantaneous Water Heater) to power just the shower.

My mum has the above solution (bar the pump and tank, because shes got very decent pressure) and its lovely

Seronera

To work properly off a combi the hot water to the shower has to be the first hot water branch after the boiler, and as close to the boiler as is practicable. Yes the water pressure is also critical. Too low a pressure and nothing works properly, but if the pressure out of the cold traps is ok then the problem lies elsewhere... Somewhere in the list I gave earlier.

I had a Vokera Linea28 combi next to my bathroom in my last house and the shower was simply fantastic, so I know how good they can be, but I have been around gas appliance and combis long enough to have seen problem showers as well.

piggybankrupt

Cold water pressure is good. Hot water pressure pathetic. The boiler is above the shower in the loft.