Hi, I'm looking to add a mixer shower in our bathroom to supplement the electric shower in the en-suite. Household of 4 with two children 9 & 12. A flow of anywhere from 6-10 litres/minute blended seems like it would provide a nice shower - with the opportunity to have a higher temperature than the current electric shower can produce at ~6l/M.
Current situation
Open vented system
Baxi Solo 50 RS running Y plan HW + CH (4 bed house with 14 rads)
Albion CF45 super duty High recovery hot water cylinder
Cold water storage tank is round - diameter at top 75cm, height about 60cm. So I estimate this holds maybe 160 litres?
I don't want to change the boiler until it dies (even then only for a condenser - not a combi), and I don't want the expense of fitting an un-vented cylinder - or the ongoing maintenance costs. I don't want to fit an electric shower as I wanted to fit something a bit better - and it seems a good idea to increase the cylinder capacity because the children will use more water when they get older anyway.
I'm thinking of taking the following steps:
Step 1
Replace the small cylinder with a much larger high recovery one.
There looks to be room to get a 1200/375 or 400 cylinder into the airing cupboard (445/470 with insulation). This suggests a cylinder capacity of 120-136L would be possible and gives the opportunity to get one I can easily fit a flange to or specify a shower take-off flange be built in (current cyl. has built in mail 22mm compression outlet for the hot water/vent). Thinking Gledhill Envirofoam or Newark.
Step 2
Fit a thermostatic mixer capable of working with either high or low pressure and see if I can get a reasonable shower from it (seems doubtful).
Step 3
If required add a pump to the system - e.g. 1.5/2 bar Stuart Turner Monsoon (hopefully standard but more likely universal - but I can measure the HOT / COLD flow rates from the mixer once in place).
I imagine limiting the shower by fitting reducers between the pump and shower would be a good idea, we could set it up for a reasonable flow rate, but not so much as to drain the cylinder quickly. My son has a habit of staying in the shower far too long which risks draining the tank.
I need to run the shower pipes up and over through the loft the down through surface mount chrome into the mixer. This suggests I may need a pump (poss neg. head) next to the hot water cylinder.
I've had a good look on the forum already so have seen the requirements for a separate cold water feed from the loft tank - and where to site this. Also it MIGHT be necessary to switch from Y Plan to W plan - although I would probably just run the HW independently with CH off to ensure enough heat to keep the cylinder topped up.
Questions
Does this seem a reasonable course of action? Is there anything else I need to check or other courses of action I could consider?
For example does the hot water cylinder need to be larger or is it sized ok - also high recovery seems a good idea? (Adults shower in the morning and children in the evening at present - few baths. Washing machine & dishwasher cold feed only).
All advice/views welcome
Thanks in advance
Colin
Current situation
Open vented system
Baxi Solo 50 RS running Y plan HW + CH (4 bed house with 14 rads)
Albion CF45 super duty High recovery hot water cylinder
Cold water storage tank is round - diameter at top 75cm, height about 60cm. So I estimate this holds maybe 160 litres?
I don't want to change the boiler until it dies (even then only for a condenser - not a combi), and I don't want the expense of fitting an un-vented cylinder - or the ongoing maintenance costs. I don't want to fit an electric shower as I wanted to fit something a bit better - and it seems a good idea to increase the cylinder capacity because the children will use more water when they get older anyway.
I'm thinking of taking the following steps:
Step 1
Replace the small cylinder with a much larger high recovery one.
There looks to be room to get a 1200/375 or 400 cylinder into the airing cupboard (445/470 with insulation). This suggests a cylinder capacity of 120-136L would be possible and gives the opportunity to get one I can easily fit a flange to or specify a shower take-off flange be built in (current cyl. has built in mail 22mm compression outlet for the hot water/vent). Thinking Gledhill Envirofoam or Newark.
Step 2
Fit a thermostatic mixer capable of working with either high or low pressure and see if I can get a reasonable shower from it (seems doubtful).
Step 3
If required add a pump to the system - e.g. 1.5/2 bar Stuart Turner Monsoon (hopefully standard but more likely universal - but I can measure the HOT / COLD flow rates from the mixer once in place).
I imagine limiting the shower by fitting reducers between the pump and shower would be a good idea, we could set it up for a reasonable flow rate, but not so much as to drain the cylinder quickly. My son has a habit of staying in the shower far too long which risks draining the tank.
I need to run the shower pipes up and over through the loft the down through surface mount chrome into the mixer. This suggests I may need a pump (poss neg. head) next to the hot water cylinder.
I've had a good look on the forum already so have seen the requirements for a separate cold water feed from the loft tank - and where to site this. Also it MIGHT be necessary to switch from Y Plan to W plan - although I would probably just run the HW independently with CH off to ensure enough heat to keep the cylinder topped up.
Questions
Does this seem a reasonable course of action? Is there anything else I need to check or other courses of action I could consider?
For example does the hot water cylinder need to be larger or is it sized ok - also high recovery seems a good idea? (Adults shower in the morning and children in the evening at present - few baths. Washing machine & dishwasher cold feed only).
All advice/views welcome
Thanks in advance
Colin