Electric shower replacement / upgrade?

[raine]

Hi,

I have an electric shower which seems to have failed, as it makes noises as though it is heating the water, but the water comes out completely cold. Failed suddenly - worked yesterday, not today.

It's a Mira Go. I've been through the troubleshooting on the Mira page here, but still not working. Is replacement the easiest / cheapest solution?

I have been thinking that I would like the shower to have better pressure / flow. What are my options to upgrade? I think the shower is either 8.5kW or 9.5kW.

I have a cold water storage tank + vented hot water cylinder, which I think is about 120l capacity. Would a shower direct off the cylinder give me better flow, either with or without a pump? Or am I better off getting a higher-powered electric shower? Or can I even run en electric shower AND a pump?

 

[oldbuffer]

1. You can change your shower for one of the same rating (in Kw). Provided the wiring is rated correctly for the existing one, it will be correct for the new.
2. You could have the wiring upgraded and have a more powerful electric shower.
3. You could install a pump for a better shower. You'd need separate feeds from the hot water cylinder and the cold water storage cistern. The hot connection requires a special flange to the cylinder.
4. Almost certainly you would not get a good shower of the hot cylinder / cold cistern without a pump.
5. You can't run an electric shower and a pump. Electric showers require cold water from the mains.
6. You could install a power shower, which is basically a pump inside the shower unit with connections from hot cylinder and cold cistern. In my opinion not as good as a separate pump.

Note. If you replace your current electric shower with a new one, there is no guarantee that the pipework will be in the same place as the old, nor the electric cable. If you are going that route, I'd replace with another Mira Go of the same rating. Even then, you need to check the connections.

 

[fixitflav]

Hi,

I have an electric shower which seems to have failed, as it makes noises as though it is heating the water, but the water comes out completely cold. Failed suddenly - worked yesterday, not today.

It's a Mira Go. I've been through the troubleshooting on the Mira page here, but still not working. Is replacement the easiest / cheapest solution?

I have been thinking that I would like the shower to have better pressure / flow. What are my options to upgrade? I think the shower is either 8.5kW or 9.5kW.

I have a cold water storage tank + vented hot water cylinder, which I think is about 120l capacity. Would a shower direct off the cylinder give me better flow, either with or without a pump? Or am I better off getting a higher-powered electric shower? Or can I even run en electric shower AND a pump?

I hope it didn't fail when you were part way through a shower!
I have a stored water gravity shower. It's not really vigorous but quite adequate. It's on the 1st floor and the cold water tank in the loft is elevated about 1m which helps. From my experience of (other people's) electric showers I've always been a bit dismissive of them, but I used one in a friend's house the other day and I was quite impressed. I believe it's 11.2 kW, which I think is about the max you can get. Weather and mains water being warmer than in winter no doubt helped.
So replace electric is one option. Stored water another, and if your shower is on the ground floor but tank in the loft, better still. At least that won't go cold on you.

 

[raine]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I've been back and investigated further.

The current shower is 10.8kw, which seems to be close to the max available.

At the time of the shower failure, I'd turned on the shower when the washing machine was running. Both of them run off the mains. I suspected that the failure may have been linked to running both at once, so I turned on the (failed) shower again just now with the washing machine running, and the flow was pretty pathetic, so I assume that's what made it fail. Expensive mistake!

I'm planning to rent this place out at some point, and I can't rely on tenants not to make the same mistake, so I think that rules out electric showers.

1. The storage tank and HW cylinder are on the same floor as the shower (storage tank is directly above the HW cyl, about 1.5m above the floor, which is about the height of the shower feed. So I think pump is the only option, yes?

2. As the current shower is 10.8kw, would the existing wiring suffice for a pump?

3. What pump rating would I need to ensure a decent shower?

I guess the hot & cold feeds to the new pump will be relatively straightforward too, as the cyl HW & storage tank are in the airing cupboard that is immediately adjacent to the bathroom wall where the shower is.

 

[fixitflav]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I've been back and investigated further.

The current shower is 10.8kw, which seems to be close to the max available.

At the time of the shower failure, I'd turned on the shower when the washing machine was running. Both of them run off the mains. I suspected that the failure may have been linked to running both at once, so I turned on the (failed) shower again just now with the washing machine running, and the flow was pretty pathetic, so I assume that's what made it fail. Expensive mistake!

I'm planning to rent this place out at some point, and I can't rely on tenants not to make the same mistake, so I think that rules out electric showers.

1. The storage tank and HW cylinder are on the same floor as the shower (storage tank is directly above the HW cyl, about 1.5m above the floor, which is about the height of the shower feed. So I think pump is the only option, yes?

2. As the current shower is 10.8kw, would the existing wiring suffice for a pump?

3. What pump rating would I need to ensure a decent shower?

I guess the hot & cold feeds to the new pump will be relatively straightforward too, as the cyl HW & storage tank are in the airing cupboard that is immediately adjacent to the bathroom wall where the shower is.

I'm surprised the old one didn't have some protection against low water flow. Silly question, but are you sure it's burnt out, not just tripped something? If it has failed, you could replace it, but check carefully the new one does have protection, preferably auto-resetting on resumption of flow. If so, it should be OK for your tenant.