Power shower upgrade

TheNewMe

Hi,

I recently upgraded my gas boiler to a combi. Now the shower in the bathroom runs directly at mains pressure and is great. But in the ensuite bathroom the shower is an electric shower and runs at a lower pressure and struggles a bit to deliver piping hot water when the weather is cold.

The two showers are only separated by an internal (non-brick) wall and both back onto the former hotpress where the hot water pipe comes into first.

Question 1:
Is there any plumbing reason not to change the electric shower to also run from the mains ?

Question 2:
What's a ballpark figure for what it might cost to do the job - assuming I went for something with a thermal regulator rather than a simple addition of hot and cold water sources. ?

thanks in advance for any replies

JohnnieK

You wont be able to attache your currant electric shower to the mains as it is a gravity (tank fed) shower. If you attache it to the mains you will damage it.

Regarding price It's very hard to say with out seeing the installation but you could be looking at a few hundred.

You could change your electric shower for a mains fed one, but to be honest if you have a combi I would be trying to utilize it so I would spend the money and fit a thermostatic mixing shower.

heinbloed

Check the manual for the liters/minute, the capacity of your boiler.

Question 1:
Is there any plumbing reason not to change the electric shower to also run from the mains

No - as long as the pipes and joints are pressure rated.

Question 2:
What's a ballpark figure for what it might cost to do the job - assuming I went for something with a thermal regulator rather than a simple addition of hot and cold water sources. ?

About €50 for the thermostatic mixer valve( thermostatic mixing tap) in your local plumbing shop. There are more expensive ones, noteably in BQ (a rip-off).

As JohnnieK said: Don't use the water from the boiler to feed your old electric heating element ("power shower"). Unless the manufacturer allows for this operation, some "power showers" are suitable for this purpose. Most aren't.

Joey the lips

Each to there own but if i were buying a thermostatic mixing valve i would buy a low pressure one unless i had a pump and unfortunatly you will not(in my experience and i am always open to correction) buy a low pressure thermostatic mixing valve for under 200 euro. However i would consider this good value as it saves on buying a pump.

i would also make it a bar valve rather than a concealed valve as sometimes the filters block up and on a bar valve they are easier to get to.

The correct shower for your situation is usually decided upon by demand and not circumstances alone. For example... a house with 4 girls can only have pumped electric showers because the tank will never keep up with there demand and the combi boiler will be working flat out.

TheNewMe

thanks for the replies guys

I do want to exploit the fact that I now have a combi that can directly drive the shower - better pressure and cheaper to run also I expect. Time to start looking for some quotes now I suppose.