Electric Shower - Want to change to a pumped

pimento

Just completed on our new house (six years old) and the ensuite has an electric shower and the bath doesn't have one at all.
There's a combi boiler.
Will it be a major job to change the electric to a proper one where you just tun the tap on and hot water comes out?  I thought electric showers went out with the ark..

vw100

Good to have a electric shower incase the combi boiler breaks down. If you wish to proceed, have to run hot water feed to the existing shower place and install a shower mixer tap. Also you need to check if your combi boiler can support a shower whilst there is demand for hot water in other places in the house and that the water pressure is adequate. 

EssexExile

The title says "pumped", for that you need tanks in the loft.

FreeBear

pimento said:  I thought electric showers went out with the ark..

Not at all. Electric showers can be much more efficient that a boiler fed shower. If you have a HW tank, a conventional shower has to be run for a minute or two to get hot water out (similar problem with a combi). Instant water, no worries about other users sucking up the hot water, and doesn't matter if the boiler is out of action. Get an electric shower with a thermostatic control, and never have to worry about the water being too hot or too cold again.

Yes, I like my electric shower.

vw100

The title does not correspond with the description or wrong terminology being used.

pimento

vw100 said:

The title does not correspond with the description or wrong terminology being used.

Yes, I'm not a plumber.
In my old house we had a condensing boiler with a hot water tank and a shower pump. It was noisy but effective. I'm scared of electricity mixing with water.  If an electric shower is as good or better than the one I had with a mixer tap, I will be happy to keep it.

In the brand new house we're currently renting, we have no hot water tank we have District Heating and both showers have a mixer tap and the water just comes out at a fairly good rate,  No pump, no electricity and no noise.  It's perfect except for the large heating bills.

Ectophile

If you have a combi boiler, then the hot water is already at mains pressure.  Unless the mains flow is really poor in your house, there's no need for a pump.  You only need the right plumbing and a mixer valve.

pimento

Thanks Ectophile.

fezster

An electric shower is always good to have as a backup - esp with a combi boiler, because without a hot water tank, you dont have an immersion backup.

In answer to your question, an electric shower runs only off of a cold supply. To fit a mixer shower, you will need a hot supply plumbed into the shower as well. Could be significant work if the shower area is tiled. Also - depending on how powerful your combi boiler is, it may not be much better than your electric. And the temperature will fluctuate depending on HW use elsewhere in the house. I'd definitely recommend a thermostatic mixer shower if you do go down this route.

As has already been said, you cant use a pump on a combi boiler. Given it is mains pressure anyway, the flow rate will be dependent on how powerful the combi is (the KW rating) and the incoming cold water flow rate to the house.

pimento

OK, I will ask my plumber when he comes.
I think what put me off is the large red warning sticker on the shower controls warning me to do things in a specific order or face instant electrocution..
I might use this as an excuse to change the tiling. 
Every cloud and all that

Belenus

FreeBear said:

pimento said:  I thought electric showers went out with the ark..

Not at all. Electric showers can be much more efficient that a boiler fed shower. If you have a HW tank, a conventional shower has to be run for a minute or two to get hot water out (similar problem with a combi). Instant water, no worries about other users sucking up the hot water, and doesn't matter if the boiler is out of action. Get an electric shower with a thermostatic control, and never have to worry about the water being too hot or too cold again.

Yes, I like my electric shower.

Only if the tank is a very long distance from the shower.
Our Hot Water tank is on the other side of the partition wall to the shower so it only takes about five seconds to get hot water.