Bath/Shower mixer

[brianb]

Hi All
I live in a bungalow so obviously bathroom on same floor as hot water tank..cold water fed from mains.I bought bath/shower mixer but get next to no hot water flow from shower,but ok in bath.is this because of hot water tank being on same floor and the water has to rise up to the shower? Its not to bad at bath level.
Brian

 

[Goldspoon]

That sounds correct to me. you will also likely find hot water pipes to bath are nice and thick (22mm) which helps.

If you want a shower you need an electric shower (fed by cold water mains which is heated inside shower unit). Or you can fit a pump (and I'll stop there as my pump knowledge is limited at present).

 

[ChrisR]

Electric showers have their points but the flow is low, about 4 litres/minute.
A small, good quality pump would probably be your best answer. Salamander's better ones are nice and quiet. See installation instructions and follow carefully though.

 

[brianb]

Thanks for replys.
Will try pump.
Brian

 

[TicklyT]

It is the height of the cold water storage tank (usually in the loft) that controls the hot water pressure, not the height of the hot water cylinder.
The water pressure available on a gravity system in Bars is approx. equal to one tenth of the vertical distance from the storage tank to the shower head in Metres (eg tank 2 metres above shower head means 0.2 Bar water pressure)

Most shower valves are designed for balanced hot and cold water pressures, so you may be better off running a dedicated cold feed to the shower mixer from the cold tank.

Some shower valves and shower heads are designed for low-pressure gravity supplies, others are designed for mains pressure supplies. Pay careful attention to these limitations when selecting these parts.

If you have the space, raising the cold storage tank may help, if you can get it high enough to meet the minimum specified for the shower (bungalows often have vast lofts).
If not, there is the option of using a pump.