showers

G

geegee

Guest
I am buying a new house and trying to decide whether to go for pumped showers (bathroom & ensuite) from the hot water cylinder or electric showers which heat the water themselves.
I am in favour of having electric showers to avoid wasting unused hot water in the cylinder.

Am I correct in thinking this is more cost effective?
Any other thoughts on electric v cylinder fed pumped showers?

gg
 
GG, I think you have hit the main reason on the head with the pumped shower using the hot water, which seems wasteful. If you do go electric make sure it gets its own circuit breaker and the wiring is put in before hand
 
an electrician told me that normally its recommended that you only get 1 electric shower per house as if 2 are used simultaneously, it can cause an overload. this cen an be prevented by fitting a relay that disables one when the other is in use. the issue then is that people still need to queue up.
if you go for one of each then there is no problem and both can be used at the same time
 
GG I dont understand what you mean by

"I am in favour of having electric showers to avoid wasting unused hot water in the cylinder."

Surely if you have consumed energy to heat the water in the tank anyway why not utilise it for taking a shower - why do you see it as waste - what are you keeping it for.

I can see in the warm months that you may not have hot water in the tank if your heating is off then of course it is great to have the electric shower.

I agree with Eamon - go for one of each type and cover your options.
 
As far as I know Electric Showers have a very high power consumption.. I think most of them are rated at around 9kW ... so using one of them for 10 minutes is the equivalent of leaving on a 100w bulb on for 15 hours

The instant hot water on demand is pretty useful .. but it is expensive .. I would imagine heating hot water using a regular heating systems and a properly insulated tank is more efficient and cheaper.

Also it's worth knowing Electric showers work better in the summer than the winter - simply because the tank in your attic will be at a much lower temperature in the winter.. thus it's harder for the shower to heat up the water .. so there will be less throughput.
 
[broken link removed]
http://www.woodiesdiy.com/woodies/default.asp?shop=woodies (Woodie's Helpful Hints on Showers) (Site times out so go to DIY section to view subject)
 
We have one electric and three power showers in our house. We only use the electric shower when there isn't any hot water in the tank which is mainly in the summer months but clearly this depends on hot water demands during the day . As the central heating is on for a few hours a day during the cold months there is almost always enough water in the tank to use the power showers which we much prefer to use because of the sheer force of the water - feels like you get a great wash and is quite envigorating !
On balance I am happy to have both the power and electric showers in the house.
 
showers et al

Thanks for all of the replies!

Out of interest how much should I be prepared to pay for all of the sanitaryware for bathroom,ensuite and wc which is:

3 toilets, 3 sinks, 1 bath, 2 showers and cubicles?

While on the subject, how much should a good quality painted kitchen for a 2200 sq ft house cost, not incl. appliances?

Thanks in advance,

gg
 
showers et al

Sink and Toilet: 220 to 500 Euro for each set.

Bath: 200 to 2000

Shower Doors: 450 - 600 each if chrome finish, depends on number of sides, size, shape. Knock off some for white finish

Shower unit. 270+ for valve without pump. 450 for electric.

Shower base : no idea. builder is buying.

Labour overall: no idea. builder is covering
 
I have asked for the radiator and cylinder heating to be on separate circuits so I can have the radiators on without heating the cylinder. This being the case, I cannot think of any reason to have cylinder fed shower – perhaps I’m missing something but the only time I would need hot water is for a bath and the kitchen appliances are all cold fill. Any thoughts on this i.e. am I missing something?
 
Sorry to duplicate but I need to amke a decision on this -any thoughts on my last emails rationale?
 
Regarding price of Sanitary for Bathrooms.

I just bought mine last week. Price was:

Tubs and Tiles - 3 Ensuites (Toilet and Sink) plus 1 Heated
Towel radiator = 1,700.

Tile Savers - 1 Tulip Ensuite (Toilet and Sink ) = 300

Telfords - 1 Cast Iron(ish) Roll top bath plus taps etc = 800.

Currently pricing Showers. My plan at the moment is to have 1 Pumped shower working from the mains in Main bathroom and 2 Electric Showers (Triton T90SI Chrome) working from Ensuites.
Have priced the Chrome Electric T90SI at approx 380 euros.

Rgds

Pdcat.
 
Thanks for your reply PDCAT. What is your rationale for having a mains shower rather than electric? I just can't can't square the circle of heating water to store it in a cylinder, use some of it and allow the rest to go cold!

GG
 
Geegee,

Will you be washing your dishes , hands etc. in the Electric shower ? ... Hot water is required for other uses too so you'll probalby find you'll often be heating water anyway.

As stated above as far as I know Electric showers are a very expensive way to heat water on per litre or whatever basis .. so yes while you only heat what you need it costs quite a lot and you have no hot water to use elsewhere ... so the benefit of only heating as required is offset by the higher cost.

Maybe someone else can help with the maths here but it would surprise me if you were going to save much if any by using an electric shower all the time (especially in the winter when you're probably running the heating anyway so it's not such a lot extra to heat the water as well)
 
Geegee,

There may be a solution that allows you to heat only what you will use and do so at rates more economical than an electric shower and still have a supply of hot water for washing your hands.

It sounds like a combi boiler is what you need to fit your requirements, but it sounds like it is too late - the new house already has a hot water cylinder.

My understanding of combi boilers is limited, but about to move into a house that has one, so learning fast. No hot water tank - the hot press is empty. BIG boiler. Rads and hot water for taps/showers are on separate circuit (I think). Combi boiler instantly heats water for the taps/showers on an as needed basis.

Is that the solution ?

There are other posts that include info on boilers generally that make reference to combis. Happy hunting.
 
"There are other posts that include info on boilers generally that make reference to combis"

The discussion on combi boilers is here
 
Don't have the option odf combi-boiler unfortunately. The standard spec is pumped mixer shower in main bathroom and electric in ensuite. As someone who does not have their heating on from April to October me thinks that the electric should be in the main bathroom. Any thoughts?

GG
 
GG
If you seperate your water cylinder from your radiators you may be limmiting your options, if for exmple your electric shower is out of action you may have difficulty using the boiler to heat the cylinder.
The cylinder is usually in a circuit with at least one other radiator to act as a heat sink.
The coil in the cylinder has not a great capacity of water compared to the heat output of the boiler and you could have your boiler cycling in and out quite a lot when trying to heat the water cylinder.
The water you heat in the morning with the boiler would not be a waste as it would still be there when you arrive home in the evening.

Roger
 
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