Are electric showers better than they used to be?

[Klang180]

Hello,

We currently have an electric shower which is at least 10 years old (perhaps longer) a Mira Sport which I am not sure on the power of. The thing is the flow is absolutely rubbish and so was wondering if we upgraded it to something newer and more powerful (I know this will require an electrician) will it significantly increase the flow? I know that combi fed showers are much more powerful but that must be quite a lot of work to install and so expensive so looking at this as the first option.

So what do you think, worth spending a couple hundred quid to upgrade or is it just polishing a turd?

 

[muggles]

It'll cost you more than a couple of hundred if you need a new supply running from your consumer unit. A Mira Sport Max 10.8kW is £250 on its own

 

[ETAF]

we have 9.5kw replacing an old 7kwish shower and so much better
Our water pressure is not great here and goes low in the summer with all the visitors but sill over the 1bar required

We also had a new fuse and rewire for the new shower , and already had a new consumuer unit

My son had a new shower fitted the other week long with a complete refurb of the shower room and toilet
They fitted a new small CU at the meter, which is outside next to the toilet and the CU is in the middle of the house and that made things much much easier

Very happy with it - i think he also got a 9.5kw version

higher and the cable rating changes again

Hows the old one wired - does the consumer unit have an RCB ????

not an expert here - but i suspect you maybe on 6mm cable and need to upgrade to 10mm cable for the 9.5kw and then up again for the higher kws- cant remember off the top of my head

but basically water has to be heated as it flows through , so the more powerful the quicker the heating and therefor the quicker the flow

there is a full explanation here somewhere recently

 

[Klang180]

Thanks to you both, it seems it could be worth it. We're actually having an electrician visit for another issue so was tempted to get him to look at the shower as well and tell me what it could handle and how much it would cost to upgrade but didn't want to bother if it wouldn't be any better in the end. Sounds like it might be worth a few extra bob (after all just getting them to your house is the main cost) to check it out as a potential.

 

[conny]

If you have good pressure on your combi I'd go that route. They don't have to be plumbed back to the boiler, simply branched in to the hot supply in the bathroom, so minimal pipework, especially if your current shower is over a bath. Simply tee into the bath hot supply.

I hate electric showers. Never found one with a decent flow, even one we had in a previous house which had a booster pump, didn't come near our current combi-fed shower. To me, standing under an electric shower is like standing under a dripping tap.

 

[Johntheo5]

9.0kw,9.5kw,10.0kw10.5kw will give the following flowrates at 40C in winter from cold at 6C. 3.8,4.0,4.2,4.4 (LPM)
9.0kw,9.5kw,10.0kw10.5kw will give the following flowrates at 40C in summer from cold at 15C. 5.2,5.4,5.7,6.0 (LPM)

A power or combi shower will give 3 times that.
Triton make a very neat shower with a integral pump that takes the cold from the CWST in the attic and the hot from the HW (vented) cylinder and will give a flowrate of up to 14LPM, its called the Noval SR I think in the UK.

 

[cross thread]

The new range of Air added electric showers are a definite improvement .

 

[flameport]

worth spending a couple hundred quid to upgrade

No. Electric showers are useless.
In the near to medium future, they will need to go away permanently.

polishing a turd?

Exactly.

I know that combi fed showers are much more powerful but that must be quite a lot of work to install

Not really. They require a hot and cold water supply.
You already have the cold - it's what supplies the electric shower. Just needs a hot supply from the boiler adding.

 

[Johntheo5]

Hello,

We currently have an electric shower which is at least 10 years old (perhaps longer) a Mira Sport which I am not sure on the power of. The thing is the flow is absolutely rubbish and so was wondering if we upgraded it to something newer and more powerful (I know this will require an electrician) will it significantly increase the flow? I know that combi fed showers are much more powerful but that must be quite a lot of work to install and so expensive so looking at this as the first option.

So what do you think, worth spending a couple hundred quid to upgrade or is it just polishing a turd?

What is supplying your hot water just now?.

 

[robinbanks]

not an expert here - but i suspect you maybe on 6mm cable and need to upgrade to 10mm cable for the 9.5kw and then up again for the higher kws- cant remember off the top of my head

It's probably best to avoid talking about particular cable sizes as it's not necessarily transportable advice. 6mm may work in one installatation method that requires 10mm in another.

The installing electrician will be able to advise what cable changes will be needed, if necessary

 

[robinbanks]

No. Electric showers are useless.
In the near to medium future, they will need to go away permanently.

Yeah, but the upgrade to an ASHP, storage tank and mixer setup might blow the budget a little

 

[Johntheo5]

It's probably best to avoid talking about particular cable sizes as it's not necessarily transportable advice. 6mm may work in one installatation method that requires 10mm in another.

The installing electrician will be able to advise what cable changes will be needed, if necessary

Possibly the least disruptive way to go, assuming gravity cold and hot water supplies available is the shower as suggested in post #6, no cable or wiring changes required and still power shower output.

 

[blup]

A 10kw shower will give a good hot flow even in winter, and a cable run has advantages over having to pipe up from a combi or hot water tank. Plus a useful source of alternative bathing water if the boiler goes kaput, or the tank has been drained by teenagers using the bath/power shower.

Blup

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The thing is the flow is absolutely rubbish and so was wondering if we upgraded it to something newer and more powerful (I know this will require an electrician) will it significantly increase the flow?

Kw input = a similar increase in water flow out, assuming the water pressure is adequate. Increase the Kw by 10%, and you can have an extra 10% more water at the same temperature. My original shower was a 7kw, which I upgraded to 9.5Kw. The 7Kw was fine in summer, but not quite adequate in winter. The 9.5Kw is usable in winter.

 

[flameport]

A 10kw shower will give a good hot flow even in winter,

4 litres per minute isn't good.

but the upgrade to an ASHP, storage tank and mixer setup might blow the budget a little

Doesn't have to be done all at once.

Use the combi for a mixer shower today
add a hot water cylinder or some other HW storage device later (can be heated by the combi)
ASHP when the combi needs to be replaced.