Electric shower - cold feed only - low pressure

[mastermofo]

Hi

I have an electric shower that was in my house on purchase....

I believe it is fed from the cold water tank in the attic that is directly above/near the shower...

The pressure seems very low on the shower - how can i increase this ?
I have read much on pumps/power showers but am worried about having a cold feed only. We dont have a boiler - hot water when needed comes from an immersion tank as the house is all electric - NO GAS -
advice much appreciated !

 

[rebuke]

You *should* have one of two things, a power shower which uses a pump running off the cold water tank, or an electric shower which goes straight on the mains water supply.

It's possible someone's installed an electric shower straight off the tank, which is normally a bad idea (solution is to re-plumb it to the mains supply). Alternatively, it might just be that it's a fairly low power electric shower, so has to have a lower flow rate to keep the water hot enough.

Does the shower have a manufacturer / model number written on it anywhere, as that would help us tell you what exactly you've got?

 

[mastermofo]

the shower is a mira sprint

 

[seco services]

sprint should be on mains pressure.

 

[rebuke]

As seco says, it should be on the mains.

An easy way to check what it's on is to turn it to it's cold setting (on the power selecter, not just on the temperature gauge) so that the heating element doesn't come on (otherwise it might burn out), then turn off your stop cock (verify that it's off by checking no water comes out the kitchen tap, which should by law be on the mains), then try turning the shower on. If water comes out as normal, then it's on the tank, if not, then it's on the mains. Note don't leave it on for very long if it's on the mains and it's not getting any water so as to avoid any damage being done, and obviously remember to turn your stop cock back on afterwards!

If it is on the tank, then the 'fix' for it is to re-plumb it to the mains - if you're happy enough with plumbing then this is something you can do, otherwise it should be a relatively cheap job to get a plumber in to do it...

 

[rebuke]

If it is on the mains, then possible reasons for low pressure include blockages in the pipework or the shower (most showers have a filter on the inlet you can remove and clean - worth checking your user manual (should be on the web if you don't have the paper copy) for details), an isolator not fully open somewhere along the line, or scale in the shower head etc.

The other possibility, is if it isn't *that* low, but just a little pathetic, is it may just be that it's quite a low power shower - it will have a kW rating, and if it's quite low (e.g. 7.5), then it might be worth upgrading it (although this may involve a new cable being put in which will need an electrician (or notification to the LABC if you do it yourself because of Part P) etc etc...)

 

[mastermofo]

many thanks everyone i knew nothing now i know something !
cheers