Shower size, 6 kW really? Seems a good shower.

[ericmark]

As title the shower shows importing off grid just over 3 kW on the IHD (in home display) and the solar software shows which seems to show the same, approx 3 kW import and 3 kW from battery, so using 6 kW, looked at the manual on line

and there is it seems a 7.5 kW model, but the shower seems quite good, not complaints about power, there are two settings not a clue which wife uses and the diagram seems to show two elements so may be she is using Eco setting, and I always use Eco setting, but for years I have said how useless electric showers are, last house came from an instant gas water heater a Main 7, and mothers house originally from the DHW supply with an electric motor to boost power, and then from a Bosch combi boiler, and to be frank due to the delayed start with the gas power, the electric is actually better.

I think this is the instructions for the shower however nothing passed over when we bought the house. Have I been wrong all these years to say how an electric shower is rubbish, I got it wrong with immersion heater compared with oil/gas fired boiler, seems electric is same price or cheaper due to losses, have I made same mistake with showers?

 

[Why Not Indeed]

Every electric shower I've ever used has been s***. Pathetic tepid dribble. B&Bs/cheap hotels, friends/relatives houses, ones in my own house, they've all been much of a muchness. Going to take more than some guy on the internet to convince me otherwise!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Have I been wrong all these years to say how an electric shower is rubbish, I got it wrong with immersion heater compared with oil/gas fired boiler, seems electric is same price or cheaper due to losses, have I made same mistake with showers?

We have a 9.5Kw.. They are not great, but I find they are perfectly acceptable, and very practical, providing the room itself is reasonably warm. I would not consider swapping it, or my system, for a mixer, and a combi, because it acts as a backup in case of boiler issues.

My shower, has the ability to vary the input power, to set the flow temperature. You just dial in the temperature you want, and it does the rest - yours might do similar, which might explain your less than expected, Kw consumption?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Every electric shower I've ever used has been s***. Pathetic tepid dribble. B&Bs/cheap hotels, friends/relatives houses, ones in my own house, they've all been much of a muchness. Going to take more than some guy on the internet to convince me otherwise!

Then, perhaps you have unreasonable expectations. I take a practical view... I take a shower, for the purpose of getting clean. An electric shower does that perfectly, and quickly.

 

[ericmark]

Every electric shower I've ever used has been s***. Pathetic tepid dribble. B&Bs/cheap hotels, friends/relatives houses, ones in my own house, they've all been much of a muchness. Going to take more than some guy on the internet to convince me otherwise!

This is what I thought, but to change to DHW would mean extra plumbing, as no DHW in room, and I find it ample, so thought it would be 10.5 kW but no, at setting we use just 6 kW.

 

[Johntheo5]

Eco mode on 99% of electric showers is just 1/2 the rated output, one element in servive, it certainly requires a high degree of optimism to enjoy a shower in Eco mode in the debths of winter at say 5C mains temp. A 9.5kw shower will flow 3.9LPM at 40C on full power and 1.95LPM on ECO. A more realistic average mains of 10C gives 4.54LM at full power and 2.27LPM at 1/2 power, some find this perfectly acceptable, others don't.
LPM = KWX860/60/dT, where dT is the required showering temp minus the mains temp. Happy showering!!

 

[fixitflav]

Eco mode on 99% of electric showers is just 1/2 the rated output, one element in servive, it certainly requires a high degree of optimism to enjoy a shower in Eco mode in the debths of winter at say 5C mains temp. A 9.5kw shower will flow 3.9LPM at 40C on full power and 1.95LPM on ECO. A more realistic average mains of 10C gives 4.54LM at full power and 2.27LPM at 1/2 power, some find this perfectly acceptable, others don't.
LPM = KWX860/60/dT, where dT is the required showering temp minus the mains temp. Happy showering!!

There's the one about the masochist who liked a cold shower every morning - so he had a hot one.

 

[Madrab]

at setting we use just 6 kW.

As suggested - An electric shower will only use what ever amount of electricity it needs to obtain the set temp that the user has it at. That draw will be governed primarily by the incoming water temp against the required set temp. The higher the cold water temp (anywhere up to 15deg in summer) then the less energy the shower needs to reach that set point, in your case it just needs 6kw. I'd check that draw in the winter when the incoming cold mains has dropped to < 5deg and ECO mode is no longer good enough.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

You beat me to it! It's all down to the cold water temperature and basic physics. The ground is probably at its peak temperature now, having absorbed the sun's heat all summer. There isn't some giant conspiracy trying to sell needlessly overpowered showers to the masses!

We have two electric showers. One is an old fixed power one, 8.5kW. It's good in the summer, only just adequate in the winter. The other is 9.6kW but you set a fixed flow rate and it backs off its power as needed to maintain that flow. It's set so it's at 100% in the coldest of winter days and gives the same flow for less power now. It also provides handwash water, it's great all year round.

6.9kW will be annoying in the winter. Probably only just capable of spraying upwards from the handheld shower, as you'll need to reduce the flow so much to get it to an adequate temperature.

 

[ericmark]

Been in house not 4 years, shower has been fine, summer and winter on Eco setting. OK not as good as my mothers power shower, but it does get hot fast, no sitting on the toilet waiting for water to get hot. Yes I could wash down the wet room with the power shower, ceiling included, but I simply don't want to wash the ceiling.

With my mother in a wheel chair yes the shower had to be good enough to wash whole of body without unhooking head, well could not use a head which could be unhooked as it would send the head careering around the room, power showers live up to their name.

But for me and wife, the shower has been adequate, which surprised me when I realised how small it is. Yes I always unhook the shower head and aim at areas which would not be reached when on the bracket, but really washing between the legs from the water bounced from the floor which the power shower did, is not really required.

6 kW has proved adequate. OK yes the power shower was nice, but not really required. As to the shower from the combi boiler or main 7 boiler, neither were really good, the combi would start cold as expected, then go hot, then cold, then finally hot and stay hot, the main 7 needed a big rose, or not enough flow to keep boiler running, and both needed to stand to one side until they got hot, and a lot of water wasted waiting for shower to regulate. The electric yes starts cold, but for only a few second.

Years ago I would have said electric showers are useless, but seems they have improved, and that is no longer the case.

 

[fixitflav]

Years ago I would have said electric showers are useless, but seems they have improved, and that is no longer the case.

For a given kW rating they can't have improved. 6 kW is 6 kW, which seems pretty sparse. They were 8.5 kW years ago, nowadays there's 9.5 and 10.5 kW, and still borderline for a good shower! (though no doubt adequate)

 

[ericmark]

For a given kW rating they can't have improved. 6 kW is 6 kW, which seems pretty sparse. They were 8.5 kW years ago, nowadays there's 9.5 and 10.5 kW, and still borderline for a good shower! (though no doubt adequate)

This would have been my answer, however in practice seems I am wrong, my guess is all down to size of the shower rose.

 

[fixitflav]

This would have been my answer, however in practice seems I am wrong, my guess is all down to size of the shower rose.

For given input and output temperatures there's a fixed flow with 6 kW. I suppose if the shower rose holes were smaller, it might feel like a better shower at that flow, but it would probably scale up quicker.

 

[Johntheo5]

Yes, but lets get this straight, the only thing thats really fixed about a shower is its output, you then vary the flowrate to give you your required shiwering temperature. A number of protections are built in to all showers, a low flow cut out and a high temperature cut out, both self resetting. The low flow protection is set to ~ 5.0LPM and the high temperature cut out, the TCO, is set to 48C, so , if the mains temp is 18C like now then the power to the shower is shut off at a flowrate of 4.5LPM, on a 9.5kw shower, at 9.5x860/60/(48-18), (4.5LPM).

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yes, but lets get this straight, the only thing thats really fixed about a shower is its output, you then vary the flowrate to give you your required shiwering temperature.

Nearly! Some are able to vary the heat, or power input, to achieve a temperature you preset on the dial. My previous one did this, as does my latest one. I would not welcome one, without this feature, it is entirely set and forget.