SHOWER POWER!

whartonwarrior

Hi Folks 
Wonder if any of you can point me in the right direction as to most cost effective way to upgrade power in shower!
I live in a new build with a combi boiler, we can only have 1 mains shower running off this i am told, so the other shower is an Triton T80Z 8.5kw electric shower but amount of water coming out is barely usable! Due to the 6mm electric cable 8.5kw i am told is most powerful i can install  
Before i invest - Can anyone advise if installing another 8.5kw shower potentially of better design/ quality  would improved water flow / power (if so please recommend models!) OR is it a case of going straight to the more costly job of installing a water pump for shower / upstairs water supply??

Thanks in advance! 

Grenage

You can have as many showers off a combi as you like - just not in use at the same time.  Is that likely?

grumbler

whartonwarrior said:

Before i invest - Can anyone advise if installing another 8.5kw shower potentially of better design/ quality  would improved water flow / power (if so please recommend models!)

It's pure physics - any 8.5kW shower will give you exactly the same flow for the given temperature of mains water.

OR is it a case of going straight to the more costly job of installing a water pump for shower / upstairs water supply??

Where are you going to pump the hot water from? Without a hot water tank the hot water flow is limited by the power of your boiler in the first place. If you have a hot water tank the flow is limited by your mains water maximum flow. If it's low, it's not as simple as adding some water pump.

Jeepers_Creepers

As Grenage says.

8.5kW electric showers are much of a muchness. Some might possibly 'feel' a little bit better due to the design of their showerheads - eg fewer/smaller nozzle holes might 'feel' more powerful as you'll have faster-moving needle jets of water, but the actual water quantity will be the same.

Your choice is (a) upgrade the electrical supply cable to allow the max size leccy shower - 10.8kW?, or else (b) (a lot better) run this shower off the combi as well.

As Gren says, you'll only be able to run one shower off the combi at a time, but each will be a FAR superior shower.

The 10.8kW leccy shower will be over 25% better than what you currently have, so not to be sniffed at, but it'll still be more like being spat at twice rather than once.

You might want to get two quotes; one from a sparky for upgrading the cable and shower to 10.8kW, and the other from a plumber for running a hot pipe to your cubicle and adding a thermostatic mixer working off the combi.

It's such a shame that the builders would penny-pinch over using a 6mm cable instead of 10mm, but hey.

Just how poor do you find the existing shower? I know it's a lot worse in Winter, but do you think a ~25% increase will help enough, or do you want it to be as good as your 'combi' shower? That's probably your answer.

twopenny

To go for a possible simple soloution what sort of shower head is it?

I moved into a place with a lovely modern electric shower with trendy shower head, multiple settings and the output was dismal. I put it down to pressure along with some trials I made.

After a talk with a plumber about the settings I changed the shower head for a cheap, one option shower head and voila, hot and great pressure.

Not so pretty, not so much to play with but a delight to wash under..

Homer_home

You can run more than a 8.5kw off a 6mm cable so who ever told you that is plain wrong 

6mm cable can take 47 amps , depending on the length and how it is run 

A 10.5kw can be fitted if you were lucky enough 

I would always have one electric shower and one combi shower so you can still shower if the combi decides to pack up 

FreeBear

I have a Triton T80 Thermostatic shower rated at 8.5Kw, and whilst it isn't blasting water out, it is more than adequate. Also quite hot, even on the low power setting.

I would suggest you check the water pressure and flow rate at the shower - If the flow rate & pressure are both low, switching to a 10.5KW shower is just wasting money. Also worth checking the filter on the feed pipe to the shower. There may be a buildup of debris blocking the filter which would restrict the flow of water.

As this is a new build, add it to your list of snagging issues - The filter should be cleaned by a "service engineer" as it is buried inside the shower casing.

grumbler

FreeBear said:

I would suggest you check the water pressure and flow rate at the shower - If the flow rate & pressure are both low, switching to a 10.5KW shower is just wasting money. Also worth checking the filter on the feed pipe to the shower. There may be a buildup of debris blocking the filter which would restrict the flow of water.

In an electric shower the power is fixed at two constant settings and the temperature is controlled only by the flow. If the flow is too low or the filter is blocked, then the temperature will be too high.  The OP's problem is too low flow for some comfort temperature, that means that the power is insufficient, not the flow.

The filter should be cleaned by a "service engineer" as it is buried inside the shower casing.

This does require some skills, but I don't understand why it has to be an engineer.

Korkyb

FreeBear said:

I have a Triton T80 Thermostatic shower rated at 8.5Kw, and whilst it isn't blasting water out, it is more than adequate. Also quite hot, even on the low power setting.

I would suggest you check the water pressure and flow rate at the shower - If the flow rate & pressure are both low, switching to a 10.5KW shower is just wasting money. Also worth checking the filter on the feed pipe to the shower. There may be a buildup of debris blocking the filter which would restrict the flow of water.

As this is a new build, add it to your list of snagging issues - The filter should be cleaned by a "service engineer" as it is buried inside the shower casing.

I also have a 8.5Kw Triton T80. (I actually have 2 of them, one in a standalone shower enclosure / cubicle and the other above a bath / shower curtain) & am quite happy with them.

In my experience (having gone through a fair few 8.5Kw showers in my house) the 2 factors that influence the "shower experience" in my house are:

- the shower head can make a huge difference - I've had ones where the flow seemed so poor I actually thought the shower was faulty but when I tried a different shower head it magically improved.

- I also feel a difference between using the shower in the shower cubicle vs the one above the bath with shower curtain. The one in the cubicle feels as if it has a better flow (both units are identical / installed at same time).
I think the difference is to do with reduced air flow in the cubicle making the environment feel warmer / steamier.

I did consider upgrading to more powerful showers but as I had 2 teenage daughters living at home at the time & the amount of time they spent under the showers I thought the extra electricity usage might just bankrupt me !!