Electric Shower

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bantragh

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I need to install an electric shower over the bath ( reasons of poor water pressure!) However as the bath is acrylic -and therefore at risk of being cracked by powered water - I need an electric shower that is the least powerful model but at the same time gives a reasonable level of water flow.
Would anyone know what a good solution to this might be? Is there a model that can be preset by plumber to a low level as to thundering high one? (I simply cannot replace bath at the moment!) If so I would appreciate any detailsl of such a model
 
I can't imagine there's a shower on the market which produces the force required to crack an acrylic bath! The force required here would be enough to cause injury to someone standing in its way, wouldn't be the most pleasant of showering experiences.
Leo
 
thanks leo - perhaps I am using the wrong term - the plumber calls it a plastic bath. - but its certainly the standard material used in conveyor belt- housing- estate- type- house which I have. Its certainly not like plastic as in plastic bucket. The plumber reckons the bath needs to be replaced to accom an electric shower - but as its a corner bath ( and therefor a smaller space than a normal sized one - no replacement is poss. as corner baths do not come in steel it seems. So the alt. is a bill of 4000 euro to rip out bath, re tile corner and install shower cubicle and elect. shower.
I cannot afford that. I can barely afford the 1600 to install the electric shower thing
 
€1600 to install an electric shower is very steep I had a Mira elite supplied and fitted for €750 in Sept........not an answer to your original query to a possible way to save more money.
 
However as the bath is acrylic -and therefore at risk of being cracked by powered water -
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What sort of water pressure are we talking about here ????

I have had an electric shower (triton T90i) installed and used at least
twice daily over a "plastic" bath (actually plastic coated with fiberglass,on underside) for the last 19 years and absolutly no ill effects or damage to the bath.

Change plumber, for 2 reasons......price/advice.
 
Acrylic is plastic. As SparkRite says, change plumbers, or at least get another opinion or two. Saying the bath isn't suitable is ridiculous, as is the price! See these previous threads.
Leo
 
bantragh said:
I need to install an electric shower over the bath ( reasons of poor water pressure!) However as the bath is acrylic -and therefore at risk of being cracked by powered water - I need an electric shower that is the least powerful model but at the same time gives a reasonable level of water flow.
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I thought an electric shower simply heated the water and had no effect on the flow rate, somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

As regards a power shower, we had a Triton Aspirante which cost about €350, don't know about fitting as we had a whole shower room done up. I never found it to be overly powerful, the most powerful it was was when the showerhead was on pinhead spray and the valve was fully open.

We've recently had to replace the power shower with a thermostatic shower as we got a combi boiler fitted, and to be honest the spray from the thermostatic is at least as powerful as the power shower.

So I wonder is it an electric shower or a power shower that you actually need?
 
bantragh said:
The plumber reckons the bath needs to be replaced to accom an electric shower
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Change your plumber, I have never heard of a bath which could not withstand the water pressure delivered from an electric shower!!

bantragh said:
I can barely afford the 1600 to install the electric shower thing
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This is a very high price, €650 - €750 would be a standard price for a complete supply and installation of Triton T90i / Mira Elite type of shower
 
JMR said:
This is a very high price, €650 - €750 would be a standard price for a complete supply and installation of Triton T90i / Mira Elite type of shower
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I actually find this standard price of €650-750 quit low considering a Triton/Mira already costs about €270-€300 (in shop incl VAT, so don't know how much a plumber get it for), and the wall needs to be hacked for installing new pipe, tiling to be redone, an electric cable needs to be installed and chases back to consumer unit on a new fuse..... quote a lot of things involved in installing a power showers IMO.
 
if you have space too stand under the shower head in the bath , then i would leave it there, there is no way the bath will get damaged by the water flow, electric showers are weak at the best of times. be aware that weather coniditions will dictate on the pressure. in summertime the incoming water is not as cold as in the winter and therefore is faster to heat however come winter when the water is pretty cold you will find a performance differance for the worst. I would recommend if possible, to fit a thermostatic power shower. this shower takes cold water from your stroage tank and hot water from your cylinder (2 pipes instead of 1), so it doesn't heat its own water but merely has a pump built into the unit. it is easier to wire too as you don't need to go back to the fuse box. electric showers have a heating element inside them that suck power so need to heve heavy cable and its own rcb at the fuse box. power showers are much more powerful and probably cheaper to run, although you do need hot water as opposed to instant hot water from electric shower. anyhow i would def change plumber in any case!
 
bacchus said:
I actually find this standard price of €650-750 quit low considering a Triton/Mira already costs about €270-€300 (in shop incl VAT, so don't know how much a plumber get it for), and the wall needs to be hacked for installing new pipe, tiling to be redone, an electric cable needs to be installed and chases back to consumer unit on a new fuse..... quote a lot of things involved in installing a power showers IMO.
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You will get an electric shower supplied and installed for in or around this price.
The cables will be run in surface mounted trunking rather than chasing the wall and re-tiling / re-plastering which is where most of the work is.
If a plumber / electrician does it this way it should not take more than half a day
 
Many many thanks for all the info : Wow - I really dont need an electric shower atall - As my only prob. is low water pressure - I realize (after reading answers!) what I need is a thermostatic shower (check if have combi boiler I guess!) or a power shower - mmm wonder if the plastic bath will cracks from power shower.
Many thanks again - will change plumber now as know what I am looking for.
 
bantragh said:
... what I need is a thermostatic shower (check if have combi boiler I guess!) or a power shower ...
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I suspect you don't have a combi boiler as you need fairly decent water pressure in order to have one, therefore I reckon you probably don't need a thermostatic shower.

A power shower (which takes water from the tanks in your attic and boosts the flow rate with an internal pump) is only very powerful when the water is turned on full!
 
A mixer shower is what you need. Just a simple install of a pump (inputs: cold water & hot water that are currently feeding your shower, outputs: pumped cold & hot water, sent to a mixer unit). You probably already have the mixer unit in your current shower so installing the pump (in your attic or hotpress) will not be much work at all, 30 minutes if the pipes are easy to get to.

Don't forget you will be pumping out more water so you may need to shorten your showers!

And I can't believe anyone could suggest your bath could be cracked! Maybe they're cracked themselves :c)
 
There is no way on earth any shower is capable of cracking a bath unless its dropped during installation. I,d go for a power shower either mixer or thermostatic. probably thermostaic as you can set the temperture and not get scolded, I have one and its great, I have a 35gallon cylinder and have yet to run out of hot water while taking long showers. Electric showers are naff in comparsion.
 
We had to replace our copper cylinder with a larger one when having the power shower installed as the hot water might have run out part way through a [longish] shower.
 
I think your plumber was almost certainly not talking about water pressure and you probably got the wrong end of the stick. More likely he was warning you about the additonal pressure you are putting on the bath by standing at one end to have a shower. It would be quite easy to crack a cheap or badly supported bath if you were regularly standing at one end.
 
Cost of installing a t90 is between 650 and 690 including cost of shower. Check out the likes of Citywide Magazine in Dublin or Gumtree.com to verify the information.
The problem with baths supplied by builders is that they are always of the cheapest type. By this I mean that they are around 4mm thick. When a person stands at the end of the bath for a shower the sides constrict - ever so slightly. Over a prolonged period of time the silicone / grout cracks and the water leaks behind the bath.

Remember baths are designed for baths shower trays are designed for standing in.

I have no doubt people will disagree but I would look at reinforcing the frame of the bath or look at replacing it
 
Agree with jules_gsoh. Your plumber probably said something like " You'll crack the bath if you put a shower over it ", meaning that you need to support the bath underneath where you stand.

Otherwise, he is crazy. Don't let him next, nigh, nor near your bathroom.
 
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