Retro fitting an electric shower

ritesh

My parents live in a flat where they only have a bath and want to fit an electric shower.

I wanted to gain as much information as possible so would like to ask you all for your thoughts on the matter.

What considerations should be taken into account?
Is this an easy retrofit?
What would be a good make/model of electric shower to consider?

Many thanks in advance.

Grenage

The most complicated part is getting the feed from the CU to the shower isolator; the services of an electrician are required.

Mira/Triton/etc are popular, but I think they're all very much the same. Get the highest power rating possible, which is probably 10.5kw.

Browntoa

Wickes own brand shower's used to be Tritons , when you took the cover off it had Triton plastered all over the innards

phill99

I run a property maintenance company and regularly get involved in this. This is my take on it.


If they have a combi boiler, an electric shower isn't necessary. The pressure from the combi is sufficient to shower under so changing the bath taps to a bath shower mixer would be the simplest and most cost effective option.


If they want an electric shower, we fit a lot of Triton T80s. Decent quality, easy to fit and easy to replace down the line. This will require a dedicated circuit and RCD protection. If they have an out of date fuseboard, then either changing the whole fuse board will be required, or, the fitting of a single way dedicated Consumer unit with RCD protection to feed the shower. (The latter is the most cost effective in this situation). I think the above post is wrong. You don't need 10.5 KW at all. You will get a decent flow rate and heat from 8.5kw. Importantly this will only require a 6mm cable, not a 10mm cable as the 10.5kw will. The running of the cable can be quite disruptive and may need to go a number of rooms if the Fuse board is some distance from then bathroom.


The alternative is to go for a pumped shower. This is where the shower unit is supplied by a hot and cold water feed and has a small pump internally which boosts the pressure of the water, but doesn't heat it (as the water is already heated in the tank). As the pumps are under 13amps you don't need a dedicated feed from the fuse board. You can simply take a spur off of the ring main into a Fused spur outlet which means the electrical coats are massively reduced. A decent pumped shower from say Mira will be around £300 - £350.

ritesh

Many thanks all

PHILL99 - Parents are in a block of flats. What i have found is that the hot water runs out fairly quickly and so they need to switch on the immersion. I am therefore guessing that the block of flats heats the water over night. The flat was built in early 2000 so not sure if this is the norm.

Browntoa

If it's a modern flat the the walls are likely to be wooden studs and plasterboard , makes running new cables easier as it goes. Is the location of the consumer unit close by ?

phill99

ritesh wrote: »

Many thanks all

PHILL99 - Parents are in a block of flats. What i have found is that the hot water runs out fairly quickly and so they need to switch on the immersion. I am therefore guessing that the block of flats heats the water over night. The flat was built in early 2000 so not sure if this is the norm.

So it may well be Economy 7. Check that the Main immersion hasn't gone and that only the top up immersion is working.


Bear in mind that showering requires a lot less water than bathing, so capacity may not be an issue.

EssexExile

phill99 wrote: »

Bear in mind that showering requires a lot less water than bathing, so capacity may not be an issue.

A pumped shower will use at least as much water as a bath.

brightontraveller

If rented /leashold or hot water is supplied then be looking at getting freeholders/landlords consent before you do anything even if freehold (unlikerly as modern flats )you’ll most likely need some sort of consent?
Need flats existing incoming supply e.g 60, 80, 100 amp ditto its current load before you choose electric shower as a very basic If it’s a 60 amp supply, 50 amp currently used, little point buying 60 amp shower ? to a lesser extent water pressure, flow rate...

Showers all pretty much same toss up between those that offe, long parts and labour gtee (which you pay for) or cheap, with cheap spares but less reliable
£350 to thousands supply and fit....

Cheapest option Shower mixer tap?
If existing taps are easy to access sufficient flow pressure existing storage size etc / half a day labour + price of tap
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H-amp-C-Turn-Dual-Commercial-Lever-Bath-Shower-Mixer-Bathroom-Tap-/222068939974

ritesh

Browntoa wrote: »

If it's a modern flat the the walls are likely to be wooden studs and plasterboard , makes running new cables easier as it goes. Is the location of the consumer unit close by ?

The consumer unit is only 2 rooms away, approx 4.5 meters from consumer unit to where we would like to place the electric shower

ritesh

brightontraveller wrote: »

If rented /leashold or hot water is supplied then be looking at getting freeholders/landlords consent before you do anything even if freehold (unlikerly as modern flats )you’ll most likely need some sort of consent?
Need flats existing incoming supply e.g 60, 80, 100 amp ditto its current load before you choose electric shower as a very basic If it’s a 60 amp supply, 50 amp currently used, little point buying 60 amp shower ? to a lesser extent water pressure and flow rate...

Showers all pretty much same toss up between those that offe, long parts and labour gtee (which you pay for) or cheap, with cheap spares but less reliable
£350 to thousands supply and fit....

Cheapest option Shower mixer tap?
If existing taps are easy to access sufficient flow pressure etc / half a day labour + price of tap
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H-amp-C-Turn-Dual-Commercial-Lever-Bath-Shower-Mixer-Bathroom-Tap-/222068939974

Hi BRIGHTONTRAVELLER,

I was initially considering this type of fix, but thought if the hot water is running out then to consider installing an electric shower as an option.

Good point about looking into consent.