Advice on showers - Power V's Electric

mikeHayden

Hi

I have a power shower in my en suite and an electric shower (T-90) in the main bathroom.. I have two tennants using the main bathroom and Im considering removing the electric shower from the main bathroom and installing another power shower.. I usually have hot water in the system going to waste as the t-90 uses electricity and I feel like its driving up my bill. Whats your thoughts on switching to two power showers and If I was to switch does anyone have advice on where to buy one at a good price.

Thanks

air

When you say "Power Shower" I assume you're referring to a shower that is supplied from your hot water cylinder but with the pressure increased by means of an electric pump?
If so you'd do well to replace the electric shower with one. Hot water from an electric shower will cost two to three times more on average than water heated by your boiler.
Think about it, the ESB burns fuel to make heat to make electricity to make heat in your shower. It is much more efficient (and thus cheaper) to burn the fuel yourself and use the heat locally.

imitation

Power showers are expensive beasts (running around 9-11kw) . I would still question the wisdom of pulling it out though, to do a proper job on it you would need a plumber to pull out the electric and replace it with a thermostatic valve, he might have to run a hot water pipe to the shower too.

You'd then need a tiler to clean up the mess, as a electric shower is going to be a different shape. Finally you'd would probably want an electrician to disconnect the electric shower and setup a pump if required.

There are also a few benefits to the electric shower, it will function if the hot water system packs in or if somebody has used all the hot water. My feeling is your tenants would have many years of happy showering by the time you would have a pay back.

mikeHayden

Thanks for the reply's

The T-90 is in the bath in the main bathroom so both hot and cold pipes are present. Im not too concerned with the tiling because the T-90 unit is around the same size as the power showers I have looked at. Ill need an electrician to make the swap as its not worth taking risks when dealing with water and mains electricity but I do think a lot of the expenses you listed will be nicely side stepped in this situation.

Having said all that Im still concerned that two power showers will use an incredible amount of water and the natural water pressure is in no way sufficient. If I do go ahead with the swap then does anyone know where I could source a power shower at a good price.

LoTwan

What are the chances of both showers being used at the same time? What size is your hot water tank? We had 2 power showers in our last house but the tank wasn't big enough to cope with both showers being on at the same time.

sky6

I'm inclined to agree with Imitation in that if the Electric shower is already there
I'd wait at least until it needs to be replaced.
It's also my experience that Shower Pumps are not the most reliable pieces of equipment. Never mind the fact that they are not cheap.
I have replaced quite a few of them usually after about 3 years of use.
The security of knowing you have a Showering option in the event of a problem is also a source of comfort.

muffler

This is probably better off in the Plumbing & Heating forum.