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We have an existing shower that is a mixer valve type which is gravity fed .
The pressure is too weak really, and I would like to change to a power shower, as hot water is not too much of an issue as we have solar panels generating hot water during the day.
Can anyone recommend a good power shower that they have or are in the trade.
The shower cubicle backs onto the airing cupboard, so I am assuming that the electrical supply can be taken from in there, as the central heating pump lives in there.
Is there anything I should know etc.
Budget for the actual power shower unit is around £300.
Regards
Denis
you'd probably be able to stick a pump on to the existing setup I'd have thought?
A pump on the existing setup would be a good plan, they generally trigger from the flow of water when you turn it on. Put one in when I was in my flat ages ago, think the unit was £100.
Pump was what we did (though we have some stupid fancypants computer-controlled thing now). About £60 plus fitting for the basic model, IIRC. Kicked ass. Only issue is you might want to be careful where/how you mount it as they can be noisy if they're on boards.
We had a separate shower pump and it was effective but noisy. I'm not sure but you may not be able to use the same electrical supply as the immersion - happy to be corrected.
As an alternative, have you considered changing the tank to an unvented one? That would give you mains pressure hot water at every tap in the house.
We did this (used megaflo off ebay for £200 + about £100 for fitting properly). Overall it's a much better solution, especially if you have more than one shower.
After moving in to new house we updated the bathroom and replaced the electric power shower with a mixer and ended up with no water flow at all. Even though we went with an expensive Mira mixer especially for low water pressure situations.
Then added a Showermate eco 2.0 bar shower pump and now have far far to much power. Drains the tank in no time and noisy but not to bad or as bad as I thought it would be.
At the same time in our downstairs bathroom we replaced an electric shower with a Mira Sport Max electric shower and it is very good with a really good flow rate. After spending a fortune on 2 bathrooms, If I was doing it again I would probably just put an Mira sport shower in the upstairs bathroom as well or I like the idea of Sharkbait and going with a unvented tank. Didn't realise it was that cheap to do.
Currently looking at replacing the shower pump with a less powerful one so that the tank isn't drained as quickly. Really don't need the water flow that we currently have.
Good to know about the immersion heater power supply. We haven't used the immersion heater in years, so taking the power supply from this would be an easy remedy.
I'll goggle an unvented tank to give mains pressure hot water, sounds a good idea.
Also have a look at the Mira Sport Max option.
A friend has recommended me someone who can instal etc, just needed some info from STW to have a better idea etc.
Didn't think of the options offered here, has helped a lot, cheers.
Currently looking at replacing the shower pump with a less powerful one so that the tank isn't drained as quickly. Really don't need the water flow that we currently have.
Can you not turn down the output of your existing pump? I'm pretty sure mine is rated to something stupid like 5bar (it was a bargain second hand one off ebay) but is turned right down so the shower can run for aaaages without the water running out.
Didn't realise it was that cheap to do.
Only if you buy a used cylinder - new they're around £1000 before fitting.
Just realised you're using solar. Is that Solar Thermal or PV? We have PV (and use the spare power generation to heat our water) but I have no idea of the compatability of solar thermal and unvented tanks - they def can be used but you'd need the right one.
Solar pv panels scoop up any unused energy and heat the water, not that we are getting much benefit in the last few days though, more like April .......
Ok, so I would presume you're using an Immersun or similar controller, in which case ...
is not true as the controller is sending spare power to the immersion to heat your water (and you can't use it to power a pump as it's supplying a variable amount of power unless you hit the override button on the controller).We haven't used the immersion heater in years, so taking the power supply from this would be an easy remedy.
Great system though.... done exactly the same here.
We're about to do our bathroom up and have decided on a digital shower with pump like this: http://bit.ly/1MbcZc4
It's expensive but looks like it will be worth it.
Edit - you get a cool remote control that you can operate up to 10 metres from the shower. It'll turn itself on, heat up to the selected temperature and then switch off so it's at the right temp when you get under it.
Interestingly the Mira shower (MiniDuo with separate controls for heat and flow) we had fitted last year does something similar. Turn it on and it runs until it's met the set temperature and then the flow slows to a dribble at which point you get in and turn the flow up a bit and off it goes.
It's interesting purely because it's absolutely not supposed to do this and seems to have a fault - but it works well so I'm leaving it!!
the mira looks like a copy of the aqualisa unit I have. nice bit of kit but spendy. noisy if mounted without care. keep meaning to fit a slab or something under mine, or move it to the wall to quieten it down, but as it's just me it's not disturbing anyone and i can't hear it - i'm in the shower! 😀
Can you not turn down the output of your existing pump? I'm pretty sure mine is rated to something stupid like 5bar (it was a bargain second hand one off ebay) but is turned right down so the shower can run for aaaages without the water running out.
I think this is "basic model" vs "more of spends" territory. Our basic one was just a pump with four holes and some terminals, but I'm pretty sure the other one in the shop had a knob on it. Unsure if it went to 11.