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Currently have an electric shower - it's shite!
Water flow is poor, only reaches 36 degrees when cold out!
If we replace with another electric shower are all inlets/piping in the same place?
Would a risr shower with fixed head be better, gas boiler? Thinking cost and flow
Inlet can vary, so chose one with the same position - you may have a slight difference in mounting position. Had to change ours 3 times in last 25 years. First one lasted ages until we re-did the bathroom. The 'posh' shower only lasted a few years, and the replacement fitted just slightly below where the other did, so had a small 'hole' to fill in the tiles.
Some showers can mount from left or right inlet.
If you end up with holes to fill in the tiles, then a coat a close colour match nail varnish, on top of the filler, makes them almost invisible (even white - it just gives the gloss).
My useless bit of information for the day...
Local plumber bloke put a power shower in for less than a ton.
No they are not standard. Also be careful with power rating, if for example you have an 8.5kW shower upgrading to 10.5kW will probably need a rewire and an updated MCB. I've replaced and upgraded many times, luckily we already had 16mm2 cable installed so just updated the MCB. Still wouldn't say it's that powerful.
Sounds like you have a low-ish power electric shower fitted. Upgrading to anything else might not be as simple as it sounds in your head.
Low flow and poor heat when cold is because it’s heating on demand. The lower the power of the shower and the colder the inlet water, the longer it takes to heat the water, hence poor flow.
The power rating of the shower is limited by the size of the cable that’s been fitted in the wall, the biggest rated ones need 10mm2 cable and higher rated fuses and switches, not an easy job to upgrade.
New showers very rarely have the water inlet and cable location in the same place as the one you’re replacing, that’s just Sod’s Law! If you want to see it the research time in, you might be able to find one that’s the same or very close. Will probably need some sort of modification to the water or electric though.
Putting a normal shower in is again fraught with problems. You’ll need a hot water feed from somewhere and unless you’ve got pressurised water (combi or unvented cyclinder) you’ll likely have poor water pressure with out pumps or potentially moving header tanks. All expensive and not easy.
You may find the manufacturer of your current one does models with similar locations for services connections. Mira do a fair few models with multiple entry/exit points, I assume others do.
However, you need to bear in mind that if your old shower was very low powered, the wiring may have been sized for that, so you would need to upgrade the run from the consumer unit.
Edit. Beaten by many
Water is direct from new combi boiler
Replace current taps with mixer unit and riser shower
Water is direct from new combi boiler
So is this an electric heater shower, (which appears to be what everyone assumes, including me from your initial post) or an electric power, (pumpped) shower? If your're pumping from a combi, you generally need a powerful boiler to keep up with the flow.
That was a reply to Blazin-saddles
Currently water is into the electric shower from the mains
The alternative that I proposed was a riser shower from the hot water supply heated by the gas combi boiler, running from the same water inlet as the bath taps now
It's a bit obscure, are you planning on only feeding the hot water supply to the shower, or running a cold feed to a mixer as well? In which case, your inlets won't match the single inlet on the existing electric one.
If the former, how do you plan on controlling the temperature?
Jeez this is not hard 🤣🤣
Replace wall mounted shit shower with over bath rise shower controlled by the mixer taps on the bath
You could run from the bath mixer, but as pointed out you’ll have no thermostatic control on it as you’ll be manually mixing the water, which isn’t great IMO, but probably a better showering experience than a poor electric shower.
That's what I'm hoping buddy
You can get thermostatic bath/shower mixers
I've had great results fitting a digital shower running from a combi boiler, the boiler is miles away and it really suffered from changes in pressure (running taps and such). the digital one controls the temp much better.
You can get thermostatic bath/shower mixers
indeed you can. Probs the cheapest route to decent shower.
sure, this is the fella...
https://www.mirashowers.co.uk/showers/digital-showers/mira-platinum-dual-valve-controller-high-pressure-combi-boiler/
I just needed to replace a crappy thermostatic valve, I didnt really have access from the front but I could go in behind (easy now....) and fit the unit in the stud wall. the wireless control unit perfectly covered the hole from the old valve unit.
its ace.
Replace wall mounted shit shower with over bath rise shower controlled by the mixer taps on the bath
Sounds like a good plan and should be much better and probably cheaper than an electric unit. As already mentioned try and find a thermostatic one. Doesn't need to be digital, the basic ones work very well. Only issue is other demands on the system, eg someone flushing the loo while you are mid shower. Not a big issue if it is just you, or you +1, in a big household it needs considering.
Mira used to do the electric showers that B&Q sell under their own label. The internals and inlets were exactly the same. Mind you information is 15+years old so might no longer be valid.
@mrchrispy I'd rather get a burnt arse thank spend £550 on a valve cheers 🤣
yeah that’s nuts, can’t remember what it was but it was nowhere near that
I've got combi fed mains pressure shower, its great.
If you have a hot water tank, I think you'll need a pump for both hot and cold, or a dual pump, to esure the mixer has equal amounts of water on each feed. Without it, the hot will be low pressure and the shower may not run or not heat up. If you only pump the hot side (like I think the rubbish plumber did at my parents) then the cold feed will be at a disadvantage and you'll end up with a cold shower, or the mixer won't let any hot through as it can't balance the temp.
My parents apparently needs coaxing into life by running the bath taps first and then closing them, or something.
If everything is mains pressure/direct from boiler with no tank, (or perhaps a sealed tank, not an expert) then happy days just fit the shower itself 🙂
Assuming your electrics are rated up to it replace with the same make ..as a minimum check your consumer unit for the rating for the shower fuse/RCD and also the cable diameter.
Many also do more flexible inlets (they often cost a bit more but worth it IMHO) e.g. left/right/up/down entry
If you can wait until AFTER XMAS get your current model number and email customer services and ask what models (or specific ones) will have the same fitting. You can probably find templates online...
I've always replaced same make with same make just to avoid hassle. It's not something you want to drag on for days...
Screwfix are doing some deals... at the moment if I remember.
You could fit the bath tap / shower mixer, but leave the electric one in place for the inevitable breakdown of the combi boiler. At least family can still have a vaguely warm shower while waiting for the boiler to be fixed. Just remove the hose and head when not in use.