Revamping En Suite

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dodo

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I'm planning to revamp my UnSuite and will take out the old shower myself. The current shower setup is non-electric, utilizing hot water that's available when the gas heating is on. In the winter, I use this shower to make the most of the hot water. During the summer, I switch to the electric shower in the main bathroom due to the limited availability of hot water. For the new shower I'm considering, is it feasible to have a system that allows me to use the hot water from the gas heating in the winter and then switch to an electric pumped shower in the summer? What cost would I expect to pay for middle of road Gear plus labor

I will tile the walls and floor of the Un Suite, measures 1.7 meters by 1.4 meters.
Install a new glass shower enclosure and tray, sized 1000mm by 700mm.
Additionally, I will add a new electric pumped shower, a new sink with a storage cabinet, and a new toilet
 
I'm confused about the gas v hot water. Can you only have showers when the heating is on? Our gas heats the water even when the heating is not on. Why have you not got a plumber out to give you a quotation? Sounds like a disaster you doing some bits and the professional doing other bits.
 
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We have both an electric and a (non electric) gravity fed shower in our ensuite. Almost never use the electric as we have solar water heating, but it's there as a back up. No reason you can't have both installed.
 
I’d be nervous about mixing professional and DIY. In my experience the professionals have a way of doing stuff and unless you ar very confident you won’t mess with their system I’d get them to do it all. Although maybe get the plumbing and wiring done by them and afterwards do the finishing off yourself?

We have an immersion heater for hot water, heating is separate. I’ve been thinking of getting an electric shower in one of the bathrooms as an alternative to having the immersion on.
I have seen 2 showers in one cubicle but the plumber I spoke to wasn’t keen. But wasn’t clear why..

Seems like a good idea to me, the immersion runs on night time tariff and to be fair we’ve never run out of hot water when there’s only 2 of us here. But I was raised in a ‘70’s house so having the immersion on every night, even if it’s not needed worries me

Probably daft, it’s a big tank, well insulated and it’s on a timer.
 
Get a good plumber recommended by others you know.

Decent plumber won't want to waste time on your doing bits and he does bits....when something goes wrong whose fault is it?

Get a reconditioned power shower put in as well.

If possible have a fixed shower head and one that can be hand held.

Buy quality items but only if there's a sale or are discounted.

Get a good tiler as well, a poor DIY job will always look bad and you can't fool the eye.
 
mct1 said:
We have both an electric and a (non electric) gravity fed shower in our ensuite. Almost never use the electric as we have solar water heating, but it's there as a back up. No reason you can't have both installed.
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@mct1 That is what I am thinking back when no hot water available, do you have one shower head?

@Bronte I disconnected the immersion years ago, so I only have hot water when I use the Gas central heating on the non electric shower in mu un suite, disconnecting the current un suite is very straight forward, but have a guy coming today and see what he says
 
Should be straight forward by the sounds of it.
Best bet is too have a look and see what’s involved and go from there.
There shouldn’t be any issues with you taking stuff out or doing bits yourself once you’re comfortable doing so.
Taking the old stuff out reduces the work load of the plumber doing the installation.
(Im a plumber )
 
dodo said:
@mct1 That is what I am thinking back when no hot water available, do you have one shower head?
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We have two shower heads - they were installed at different times. It's not a problem, though if you're installing from scratch then obviously one would be neater if it's feasible.
 
If you are going to have 2 electric showers, you need to get the advise of an electrician to ensure you don't blow anything.
 
thedaddyman said:
If you are going to have 2 electric showers, you need to get the advise of an electrician to ensure you don't blow anything.
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Yep, and they'll likely need a priority switch installed to the CU to determine which one continues to run if both are switched on at the same time. Most house supplies won't be able to run two at the same time.
 
Decided to not get electric as the one in main shower will do for back up. Quote I got from person recommended who will remove old gear and install everything as I want including new pump in hotpress to give better pressure. Total with all material is 8,300. How does that sound?
 
Hi all,

I live in a house with low pressure and the main bathroom currently has an Aqualisa power shower unit in it to get the pressure up to something acceptable. This unit is fed from the immersion cylinder and the cold water tank in the attic. It pumps the water through but doesn't heat it.

We often find ourselves running out of hot water, so my question is: can I replace the existing piumped shower unit with a pumped electric shower unit? (i.e. a unit that pumps the water and heats it).
  • Can this new unit still be fed from the immersion cylinder like the current plumbed arrangement?
  • Do I need to run additional wiring for the heating element part of the shower? Or could it all be made to work through the existing wiring?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
The electric shower should be fed from the cold water tank in the attic - the shower heats the water itself.
It will need new wiring with its own circuit to the consumer unit (not from existing wiring).
The shower flow will be a lot less powerful than from your existing shower - but you should have hot water on demand.
An alternative would be to replace your existing immersion with a bigger one to provide more hot water.
 
Thanks Ruffian. I think we will stick with just a power shower and keep the immersion running for longer periods!
 
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