Which shower should I buy?

[Chris333]

There isn't a shower in the bathroom so I am starting from scratch. I want one with lots of power like a hotel.

My hot water pressure in the bungalow is terrible, but I am told the cold water to the bathroom is coming off the mains.

An electrian has told me that it would be very easy for him to put in a 10mm cable to the fuse box (so I could go for quite a high Kw rating).

A plumber has told me that he could put in a new 160 litres hot water cylinder (the one I have at the moment is 117 litres) and a 50 gallon tank in the loft (I don't know how big the current one is).

I am very confused by what type of shower would be best and whether or not I would need a new cylinder and tank installing.

Can anyone help?

 

[Burnerman]

A 10.5 kW shower would be reasonable...at least as far as an electric shower can go - even that may struggle in the depths of winter when the incoming water is very cold. This would be a simple installation.
A thermostatic mixer shower will work well so long as there is a good height (2m minimum) between the shower head and the bottom of the header tank. Gravity hot and cold supplies are required.
An electric power shower takes hot and cold gravity supplies and boosts them (no heating is done, but the unit does look like an electric shower).
Its always possible to use a shower pump, which relies on gravity hot and cold supplies.
Go for a good quality shower and you won't regret it....Mira, Aqualisa, Grohe etc.
John

 

[Chris333]

A 10.5 kW shower would be reasonable...at least as far as an electric shower can go - even that may struggle in the depths of winter when the incoming water is very cold. This would be a simple installation.
A thermostatic mixer shower will work well so long as there is a good height (2m minimum) between the shower head and the bottom of the header tank. Gravity hot and cold supplies are required.
An electric power shower takes hot and cold gravity supplies and boosts them (no heating is done, but the unit does look like an electric shower).
Its always possible to use a shower pump, which relies on gravity hot and cold supplies.
Go for a good quality shower and you won't regret it....Mira, Aqualisa, Grohe etc.
John

Thanks for the advice John.

As my hot water pressure is terrible, would it be possible to get a powerfull electric shower that works off the mains cold only?

 

[Burnerman]

The vast majority of electric showers run off mains pressure Chris - athough there are a couple that can use a gravity supply.
As you live in a bungalow with presumably good access to loft tanks etc, a shower pump, running from the hot water cylinder could work perfectly well for the hot supply, and a gravity feed from the loft tank could sort the cold.
John

 

[flameport]

I want one with lots of power like a hotel.

If you get an electric shower, even a 10kW model, you will be severely disappointed.

 

[Charnwood]

There's always a venturi shower mixer. The Trevi Boost, for one. It might have been discontinued because it's not on their website, but there are people still selling them.

 

[Chris333]

There's always a venturi shower mixer. The Trevi Boost, for one. It might have been discontinued because it's not on their website, but there are people still selling them.

I have been doing some more research and comes across a shower called an Ideal Standard Trevi Boost shower.

There is a version that fits in the wall, and another that is external.

The external version looks like it has pipes at the bottom (shown on the right of the image) - where do those pipes go, could it be fitted over a bath?

 

[Burnerman]

Those pipes you see are the hot and cold supply....usually they may enter the mixer bar from the top, bottom or behind - it just depends on the installation.
You wouldn't have bottom entry pipes on an over the bath installation.
John