Bathroom & ensuite refurb - types of shower advice pls!

[BigKev69]

Hi, my girlfriend and I own our own flat and have been meaning to upgrade our bathroom and en-suite for over a year now.
The time has finally come round for us to take a serious look and plan out what we are going to do, and how much it will cost!

After many years of working with my DIY mad father (who many years ago was a qualified joiner, also great teacher) along with a few projects of my own, I think Im ready to tackle almost all of the work involved, depending on the advice this post generates!

The place we have is 4 1/2 years old and we have been here almost 2.
So the combi boiler isnt too old/ used, pipes relatively good etc etc.

We have an electric shower in the en-suite, which is a Mira Sport. We would love a mixer shower, as that was what we had in our last place, and because the pressure was far superior.

Im looking for advice on moving the electric shower into the bathroom (adjacent), then adding a mixer shower to the en-suite.

As the project is a refurb, all tiles (floors and walls) will be removed and replaced, so cutting holes and installing pipes wont be an issue, as will be covered up after.

Our combi boiler is a Ferroli Mondena 102.
What I am unsure about is if I can actually add a mixer shower to this boiler. Ive tried looking the boiler up online for advice, but its like trying to find a needle in a haystack! The manual does show a shower in one of the diagrams as part of the hot water setup.
One thing that troubles me is when we run the hot tap on the bath the pressure out of the sink hot tap is pretty poor. The boiler pressure gauge shows 1bar, which is the same as sitting idle. (heating the radiators rises to 1.5bar)
Does this mean we do not have enough power/pressure to supply a mixer shower?

Also, at present, when the electric shower is on and you run the bath, the electric shower loses pressure and REALLY heats up!
Does this mean we dont have enough cold water pressure?

Apologies for the long-winded post, but I thought more detail would save on the questions and number of replies, that is hoping I get some.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[Newboy]

Before you decide which shower you want to install you need to check what your pressure & flow rates are.

The pressue guage on the boiler refers to the pressure within the central heating circuit not the pressure of the hot water.

The reason that your electric shower gets hotter as you open a cold tap is the the flow rate from your mains (CW) supply is dropping and the shower needs time to compensate

Worth getting a good themostatic mixer - check with the manufacturer that it is compatible with your combi.

 

[BigKev69]

Thanks for your reply.

Ive searched through some of the other posts here and found this one...

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=103794

...which tells me how to measure the flow rate, and also work out the pressure. The post however doesnt finish which is a shame as covers a few of my questions also. Im planning on checking the rates tomorrow, Ill post the results here.

From the forums on this site Ive read good things about the Mira Excel mixer shower, which is what I am thinking of installing (the model with the flush face, biv). Do you have any experience or advice on this/a mixer shower?

http://www.mirashowers.com/onlineca...17416&prod_num=Excel&cat=Thermostatic+Showers

Most of the combi showers sound the same other than thermostatic control and pressure control/ safety etc. If anyone knows from experience of a great shower, I would like to know.

 

[Newboy]

No prblem with Mira / Aqualisa / Trevi. I'd avoid Hudson (too expensive).

I'd always recommend thermostatic mixer

 

[BigKev69]

Right, I FINALLY found some time to try and measure the water pressure, so here are the results;

en-suite
sink - cold = 1ltr @ 2sec
sink - hot = 1ltr @ 6.1sec
shower = 1ltr @ 9.7sec

bathroom
sink - cold = 1ltr @ 1.8sec
sink - hot = 1ltr @ 6sec
bath - cold = 1ltr @ 5.6sec
bath - cold = 1 ltr @ 5.8sec

My fist thoughts were that 1ltr wasnt big enough to use for a measure, but I think (correct me if I am wrong) that it will do for a rough guide?

I have also been told that the local water pressure here is 3bar, but I dont know if thats good or bad?

I also noticed a sticker on the shower that states its a Mira Sport 9.0, which I assume means its the 9kw model. The reading was measured at high pressure setting.

 

[Newboy]

You could do with reading your pressure on the incoming main but the flow rates look not to bad (apart from the bath cold @5.6 sec which looks a bit wierd - I assume that the 5.8 sec is bath hot)

Bear in mind that the flow rates you have measured are constrained by the taps

Have a look at which shower you fancy then check against the readings you have taken

 

[rssteve]

sorry but if your filling 1ltr in 2 seconds then your flow rate would appear to be 30l a min. Thats alot of water, i think you should time it for 5 or 10 litres. The pressure may be slighty higher when you first turn the tap on.