Electric Shower

[dewsbury]

Hi from a non-plumber,

1. I have an non electric shower which also has a separate pump - fed via an electrical immersion. However, with 3 teenagers we never have enough hot water.

2. If I put an electric shower in then I believe I need a dedicated cable to power it. How long can this cable be? Would 20 metres be too long? Is there a limit?

3. Will I get just as powerful a shower from the electric one as I currently have?

4. The critical thing is that there is good pressure from the shower. Is there a standard way to measure what pressure I am currently getting?

5. Is an electric shower compatible with my current pump?

All views appreciated.

 

[Ch4 plumbing]

Hi and welcome

2- Not sure
3- No
4- The pump will tell you what working pressure it gives
5- No

If you have access to your shower hose then why not try fitting a flow restrictor to use less hot water per min?

 

[Ch4 plumbing]

http://www.bristan.com/WebRoot/BristanNewDB/Shops/Bristan/Products/WEB_IMAGE-1056996-D1.JPG

 

[dewsbury]

Hi and welcome

2- Not sure
3- No
4- The pump will tell you what working pressure it gives
5- No

If you have access to your shower hose then why not try fitting a flow restrictor to use less hot water per min?

OUCH!

Perhaps I should not bother replacing my current immersion fed shower??
But it does not really provide enough hot water.

If I get a powerful electric shower what pressure will it give??

 

[JCplumb]

Generally the higher the KW rating, the higher the pressure.
A 10.5kw electric shower gives a notably better shower than an 8.5kw, not as good as a mixer shower does but not bad.
To get hotter an electric shower doesn't boost the heating, it slows the water - so it has more time in the heat exchanger, so higher kw rating = hotter and more powerful shower. It also means bigger and more expensive cabling is needed to supply it. Your 20m cable run could also be an issue, a sparky or plumber with the relevant electrical qualifications would be able to tell you better than I can.
You are limited by your homes' water system, if you were to go for an unvented system with a large cylinder you would get a cracking shower with plenty of hot water, or a combi would give a constant supply of hot water and would be great until someone turns another hot water draw on in the house.
With a pumped mixer shower your current gravity hot water system won't give you 4 long hot, powerful showers, even if you upgrade the size of your header tank you will be limited by how much hot water you have.
If it was me I'd be putting a 10.5kw in there and paying a sparky to sort the wiring and I'd be telling my teens that if they all want to chip a grand in then we'll go unvented 🙂

 

[dewsbury]

Thanks JC,
(It's very late!).

A final couple of things.

1. We actually have 2 showers - both direct from immersion.
2. I might spend on the "unvent" - Obviously, I can google... but could you say a little more about what an "unvent" is and how it works?

 

[dewsbury]

Okay, I just googled "unvent" stuff ... looks a little complicated to me !

Perhaps I will stick with the 10.5kw option.
I just want to ensure that I don't get a crappy shower will very weak pressure.

 

[Radioman]

Words of caution regarding electric showers.
Most if not all electric showers require an off period between showers to,allow the system to cool. Check with manufacturers spec.
The life span of an electric shower is down to hours of use, the better the make the more efficient they are. Top brand is Aqualisa.
If you live in a relevantly hard water area such as central London as apposed to a soft water region such as Glasgow, with high useage your electric shower will be knackered in no time at all.
No electric shower will give anywhere near as good a flow or pressure as your current set up.

I would advise investigating larger cold water storage, larger hot water cyclinder, more efficient boiler.