2 showers in my house. 2 electric or 1 electric and 1 pumped

[jason2010]

hi

im looking for informatin regarding having two showers in my house.

i currently have an oldish hot water cylinder next to my bathroom with the boiler in the garage.

i have an electric shower in my bathroom.

im going to be having a new shower in my main bathroom and a new ensutie which will mean i will have two showers.

is there anything wrong with having two electric showers?

i could have an 8.5kw electric shower in the main bathroom and either an 8.5kw electric shower or 10.5kw electric shower in the ensuite.

if i go for two electric showers, would they both be able to be used at the same time? im having mixed answers to this.

if i keep an electric shower in the main bathroom, but go for a thermostatic shower in the ensuite, am i correct in saying i would need a twin impella pump 2.0 bar which would be fed from the hot water tank and the cold water tank in the attic (rather than mains cold water) to keep the pressures the same.

what thing would i need to take into considderation regarding hot/cold water pressure, hot/cold tank size, hot cold flow rate if i was to go for a pumped thermostatic shower?

im thinking it would be cheaper like for like, for supply/fit 10mm electric cable (on a brand new consumer unit already installed) and 10.5kw shower, than it would be for supply/fit of a twin impeller pump and thermostatic shower.

thanks for any info.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Electric showers really are low rent affairs. Do you have a function ing immersion heater?

If not, is it not worth upgrading the cylinder. Maybe even to an unvented?

How old is the boiler?

Maybe consider upgrading that to something like the Atmos Multi, or if you are an iSheep - a Viessman or Vaillant Storage affair.

Strike me that if you are doing a big project, it is worth doing properly. Electric showers are not great. Although I suppose they are a cheap and easy way of getting emergency hot water.

 

[jason2010]

Hi
thanks for the reply.

Yes I have a functioning immersion heater. Would this mean I am fine to run a pumped shower?

For the cold water feed, is a T off taken direct from the pipe that feeds cold water from the header tank to the cylinder? Or do you have to have a seperate cold wager tank? I'm not sure if I have one I'll check.

For the hot can it be a T off from the 22mm hot that goes to the bath in the other bathroom or does it have to be a new 22mm from the cylinder?

I realise that pumped showers are better I'm just getting all the info I need to make my decision.

If upgrading the heating system is needed is works out quite a bit more expensive. If the system doest need upgrading it seems like it still works out more expensive thwn electric but that's something you have to decide on yourself.

 

[Dan Robinson]

You need a separate cold feed.

You will also need a flange of some sort (Esses, Surrey etc.,) for the hot.

Said it before... Champagne ideas, beer money.

How big is the current, old cylinder?

Will it cope with two pumped showers?

 

[jason2010]

Hi
I have two tanks in the attic. One small one and a larger one.
The system is about 10 to 15 years old but that's just a guess?

 

[Dan Robinson]

How big is the bigger tank (small lone is for heating)? How big is the cylinder?

Is it pre-lagged?

 

[oldbuffer]

Two 10.5Kw electric showers, if used at the same time, would require about 90amps at 230V. Many houses have only 100amp main (electricity board) fuses, and some have 80. I think you'd need some serious electrical advice before going for the two electric showers option.

 

[jason2010]

Hi
the plastic none lagged water tank in attic is about 600mm long x 450 wide by 500 high. The smaller one is central heating ad far as I know.
The cold water tank us about 1.8m above the copper cylinder which us about 450 wide by 900 tall. This was not pre lagged it had Bern manually lagged.

It's nit necessarily price that is a deciding factor, I'm trying to price up both ways and how exactly it's done to see the difference and weigh up my options.

I do know of a few people with 2 elec showers and spoke to an electrician who has 2 in his house and says it's fine. I do understand though that both showers in max would draw a lot of amps but in reality theydobt run at full power do they?