Humour me - power shower v electric shower

[Martino]

Hi,
Got an Aquilisa gravity fed shower - one of those with a thermostatic cartridge. Works OK but sometimes wish it had a bit more oomph! so am thinking of an upgrade. Now I know nothing about showers so will be getting someone in to do it, but thought I should at least try and understand the options before I do, so I don't end up trying to talk a total foreign language with the plumber.

So let's see if I've got this right...

An electric shower will have the same water input as the existing shower, except I'll have a cold feed only and the shower unit will heat it on demand? Is that right? In which case I guess that's no better for me as it will have no more "oomph" that what I have now?

A power shower is effectively the same as I have now but with a pump fitted to the water input to give it the extra oomph I need? I've heard that the pump is generally shoved in the airing cupboard or in the loft above the shower (no idea which, if either, of them is right). So dumb question time - If I turn the shower on/off, how does the pump know to do its thing? Is it triggered by water flow or is there a separate switching mechanism?

OK, and given that the upgrade requirement is oomph, am I right in thinking that power rather than electric is the right way to go? And given that my budget is restricted is there a better way to go about things - i.e. a worthwhile upgrade without excessive unnecessary whistles and bells expense?

As I said, humour me....

Thanks.
Thanks

 

[JohnD]

an electric shower will deliver very little hot water. still less in winter when the incoming mains will be colder.

run your existing shower into a bucket and see how many litres per minute it delivers at your preferred temperature.

a power shower has a switch that detects when the water is turned on at the shower mixer tap.

a power shower can deliver a vast amount of hot water, and will empty your hot cylinder if you linger under it.

important question:
does your cold water come from a tank in the loft? how big is it? how big is your hot water cylinder? what heats it? how long does it take the cylinder to heat up from cold?

 

[Martino]

Thanks JohnD

Yes my cold water comes from a tank in the loft. Not sure of the capacity but it's a bl**dy big coffin shape.

Also not sure of the capacity of my hot water cylinder but when it's hot I can usually get two quick showers and a bath out of it and that's with my missus running the bath - she likes it hot and nearly overflowing. It's normally heated via the boiler and when things are working well will go from cold to hot in half an hour if the boiler is on 'high' (180 degrees) or an hour to an hour and a half if the boiler is on 'low' (140 degrees). When I have problems with the central heating system (as I'm having now but that's another story) I'll use the immersion heater. This probably takes the same time as the boiler on low setting.

I guess what you're saying is - power showers are OK if you've got a big hot water tank and a fast reheat-ability?

 

[JohnD]

yes

 

[robertito]

Note also that pumped showers can have a separate pump, or a small pump can be in a unit together with the control knobs. This is the way my own shower works and is my preference because it's simpler to install.There are dozens of these on the market and you need to do a bit of research to find the right one at a good price.

 

[Rico99]

Martino,

Just to clear things up a bit.

Electric Shower : mains cold only
Power Shower : Runs off elec with tank fed cold & hot built. Pump is in unit
Pumped Shower : Tank fed cold & hot into separate pump in airing cupboard.

Both types of pumped showers can be v noisy.

Another option would be a Venturi Shower like the trevi boost. This uses mains fed cold to "drag" the hot thru quicker giving almost same performace as a pumped shower but WITHOUT the noise or need for leccy.

Rico

 

[Martino]

Thanks robertito - I had wondered about noise.

And thanks Rico. A great summary. I'd never heard of a venturi shower so will definitely do a bit of research.

And talking of showers. Just got home from work and I stink, so.......

 

[Martino]

Oops, sorry. Getting me thanks to posters a bit mixed up.
Thanks anyway guys.
Now I really am going for that shower....

 

[mikej2005]

My 10.8kW electric shower seems to cope OK in the winter and is definitely more powerful than any gravity-fed shower that I've ever used.

Power shower pumps can be noisy and power showers presumably use a lot more water than the other two options that you mention, so you might want to bear that in mind if you're on a water meter.

 

[Softus]

Just to clear things up a bit.

Electric Shower : mains cold only
Power Shower : Runs off elec with tank fed cold & hot built. Pump is in unit
Pumped Shower : Tank fed cold & hot into separate pump in airing cupboard.

You call that clearing things up?!

There's no fixed definition of a "power" shower - different people use the term to mean different things.

There are three types of shower:-

1. Electric (instantaneous) - cold supply only;
2. Mixer - balanced cold and hot supplies;
3. Venturi - mains cold supply and vented hot supply.

Any of these can incorporate a thermostat.

Electric and mixer showers can incorporate an internal pump, and either type can be fed from an external pump.

A pump is [generally] not permitted on a mains supply.

No shower, or pump, can "empty" (sic.) a hot water cylinder.

 

[Rico99]

Softus,

Apologies, knew what I wanted to say but have not worded it correctly.

Rico

 

[Softus]

Apologies...

Please don't apologise to me - we all make mistakes. Well, most of us.