Electric Shower on a pressurised system

Jonny303

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advise.

My wife has a hairdressers and the hot water went at the weekend. Now it turns out someone was at switches they shouldn't have been, but it confirmed our original thoughts when we renovated the place that we need a hot water back up.

Currently we are working off of a pressurised system.

Ideally I want to install an electric shower near the basins, only to be used as a back up. The only issue I have though is that without major work the water that is near where I want it to go is pressurised. Would this be an issue going into an electric shower? Or would anyone have any other suggestions for a back up way of heating the water? My plan would be to box off the shower unit and only open it up in times of trouble!

Thanks

sullzz

Jonny303 wrote: »

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advise.

My wife has a hairdressers and the hot water went at the weekend. Now it turns out someone was at switches they shouldn't have been, but it confirmed our original thoughts when we renovated the place that we need a hot water back up.

Currently we are working off of a pressurised system.

Ideally I want to install an electric shower near the basins, only to be used as a back up. The only issue I have though is that without major work the water that is near where I want it to go is pressurised. Would this be an issue going into an electric shower? Or would anyone have any other suggestions for a back up way of heating the water? My plan would be to box off the shower unit and only open it up in times of trouble!

Thanks

Whats heating the water at the moment?
Immersion?
Gas/oil?
Both?
If you install a shower fed from the pump, which would probably be a mains fed electric shower, you would need to ensure nobody interferes with the pump switch like they did with the hot water switch.
Also if you do go down the route of the mains electric shower, you could only install one ( of 2 with a priority switch, so only one can run at any time).

Sleeper12

Install a mains fed shower. Something like a triton t80z. This will work perfectly on a pressurised system. It will require a pressure reducing valve if the pressure is over 3 bar. You can't install a Pumped electric shower on a pressurised system but mains fed is fine.

You can only run one electric shower at a time in a house. You will need to ask your electrician if it's suitable to run more than one at a time in the hair salon. I ran two for years in a salon but it blew the ESB fuse on the one occasion that three were running. Of course this happened on Christmas eve. Busiest day of the year.

Edit: the ESB tend to give commercial premises more umph than the average house. Then they have 3 phase for really heavy users.

Jonny303

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Install a mains fed shower. Something like a triton t80z. This will work perfectly on a pressurised system. It will require a pressure reducing valve if the pressure is over 3 bar. You can't install a Pumped electric shower on a pressurised system but mains fed is fine.

You can only run one electric shower at a time in a house. You will need to ask your electrician if it's suitable to run more than one at a time in the hair salon. I ran two for years in a salon but it blew the ESB fuse on the one occasion that three were running. Of course this happened on Christmas eve. Busiest day of the year.

Edit: the ESB tend to give commercial premises more umph than the average house. Then they have 3 phase for really heavy users.

Currenty have a 300 litre immersion tank. No mains gas where we are.

Thanks for that. I have 3 phase in the salon so should be ok on the power end of things.

jhenno78

An instantaneous electric heater like this (or bigger brother) sounds like it would suit, are they used here? I've never seen one.

Dardania

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Install a mains fed shower. Something like a triton t80z. This will work perfectly on a pressurised system. It will require a pressure reducing valve if the pressure is over 3 bar. You can't install a Pumped electric shower on a pressurised system but mains fed is fine.

You can only run one electric shower at a time in a house. You will need to ask your electrician if it's suitable to run more than one at a time in the hair salon. I ran two for years in a salon but it blew the ESB fuse on the one occasion that three were running. Of course this happened on Christmas eve. Busiest day of the year.

Edit: the ESB tend to give commercial premises more umph than the average house. Then they have 3 phase for really heavy users.

Can confirm, I have a mains electric shower fed from a pump. Works fine.

Not 100% about needing a PRV - is this a static pressure limitation?

Jonny303

Just been thinking about this and if I'm putting in this as a back up, it's silly to put it on the pressurised system. If the pump goes I lose both!

Would be better to get it directly from the mains or tank I think. Would a Triton t90 be the obvious choice then instead of the t80?

Sleeper12

We never ever install mains fed showers from scratch unless they are on a pump.

A tank fed electric shower is better suited to Ireland.

It's important to remember that no electric shower is designed for a commercial premises. It actually voids the warranty. Triton are very good with their warranty even in commercial property.

To install a Pumped electric shower your installer will need to run a separate supply from the storage tank. Your installer will tell you how difficult this is or isn't. It might work out a lot cheaper for the mains fed electric shower off the pump rather than plumb for the pumped electric shower. Only your installer can advise on the best option

Jonny303

Sleeper12 wrote: »

We never ever install mains fed showers from scratch unless they are on a pump.

A tank fed electric shower is better suited to Ireland.

It's important to remember that no electric shower is designed for a commercial premises. It actually voids the warranty. Triton are very good with their warranty even in commercial property.

To install a Pumped electric shower your installer will need to run a separate supply from the storage tank. Your installer will tell you how difficult this is or isn't. It might work out a lot cheaper for the mains fed electric shower off the pump rather than plumb for the pumped electric shower. Only your installer can advise on the best option

I'm only looking to install it as a back up to the original system, to be used once in a blue moon.

I'll have a chat with my plumber after Christmas and see.

There is a water heater that can store 100 ltr at 80c that can go in line with your unvented cylinder, fit a blending valve(you only need 44c at the tap) and the 100ltrs can go a long way.

antoinolachtnai

You have a pressurised hot water cylinder?

You don't need more equipment. You need a service contract. You need to get that setup serviced regularly.

A high pressure setup needs particular care. If it is tampered with it could result in serious injury or death.

The best way to have a backup is to put a second immersion on the cylinder if that is possible. If it isn't possible, have a spare immersion and maybe even a spare pump to hand.

The more equipment you add, the more things you will have to go wrong and the more things for people to tinker with. There are a whole lot of issues here. You cannot 'box off' an electric shower. There needs to be clear airflow at all times. A regular domestic shower may work for a while, but it is not really intended for this type of continuous use. It will need new wiring, which will need to be carried out by an electrician (because it will involve work on the main board).

sullzz

Jonny303 wrote: »

Just been thinking about this and if I'm putting in this as a back up, it's silly to put it on the pressurised system. If the pump goes I lose both!

Like I said 2 days ago???