Fitting a shower

[coleaine]

Hey all,I need some help,how can I get the wire to my shower in the upstairs bath room to the fuse box down stairs,is the any way to feed the wire from the loft to the fuse box.
Please help my kids are costing me a small fortune with heating the water with the heater.

 

[Chri5]

Such work must be done via a sparks, it's dangerous to attempt DIY where water and electrics mix.

The cable run would be via wall chase, inside hollow stud walls, plastic trunking or surface clipped.

A 16mm TE cable would be required and guess at a days work plus materials (fuse on board, pull switch in bathroom) will be about £400.

The there's the electric shower unit at about £150 with fitting and any adjustments to plumbing works, say £100.

So 'saving' you money will cost at least £650 and that's provided the electrical system is up to date since an RCD will be required and the earth bonding in the property must be up to date.


Did you know that heating water via boiler and gas is cheaper than via an electrical heating element (as inside a electric shower) ?

If you want to save money:-

Allow them a shower once a month
Make them share the shower
Tell them to use the school shower after sports
Send them on stay overs

 

[Risteard]

How can you possibly say it needs to be 16 sq mm cable when we weren't even told the rating of the shower or length of run or any other relevant information?

Incidentally. the poster appears to have misspelt "Coleraine".

 

[Chri5]

How can you possibly say it needs to be 16 sq mm cable when we weren't even told the rating of the shower or length of run or any other relevant information?

Incidentally. the poster appears to have misspelt "Coleraine".

Go worst case and then it's covered. As you say I don't have a crystal ball, but I am able to make informed guess- ta- mates.

The OP asked a question, I have answered that in the best way I could.

Would you rather I suggested a 6mm cable, no requirement for rcd, bonding up date, a £50 shower module and 2 minutes work to do the job.

 

[coleaine]

Its a Trinton forte 9.5 kw,I bought new .

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Its a Trinton forte 9.5 kw,I bought new .

The next question should be how far would the run be for the cable?
6mm2 T&E will do for a run of less than 20M.
I would recommend you use 10mm2 T&E though this will allow you to upgarde the shower at a later date to a higher watt rating.
But it is not really an installation that should be done by a novice and I advice you get an electrician in.
As you leave in NI, the requirements are different to that of England and Wales regarding part p and notification of work.
But it is cheaper to run a thermstatic shower from a combi/condensing boiler.

 

[chivers67]

Its a Trinton forte 9.5 kw,I bought new .

Think you'll find they're not particularly cheap to run either especially in winter

 

[ban-all-sheds]

how can I get the wire to my shower in the upstairs bath room to the fuse box down stairs,is the any way to feed the wire from the loft to the fuse box.

Yes.

 

[Steve]

Its a Trinton forte 9.5 kw,I bought new .

Think you'll find they're not particularly cheap to run either especially in winter

Cheaper than heating a cylinder of hot water every day just for a shower.

 

[electronicsuk]

Its a Trinton forte 9.5 kw,I bought new .

Think you'll find they're not particularly cheap to run either especially in winter

Cheaper than heating a cylinder of hot water every day just for a shower.

That depends how much of the water in the cylinder you use. It's less than 1/3 of the cost to heat the cylinder during the night on an economy 7 tariff. Even if you heat it during the day, if the cylinder has chance to get up to room temperature then there'll be less heat input needed to reach a given temperature than heating direct mains water coming in at a lower temperature.

 

[Steve]

Points taken. But I heat my water using gas (wouldnt let the spark connect the ancient immersion back up). Gas is cheaper to heat a tank of water, but I still believe that just for a shower, its cheaper to run an instant electric heater for 5 mins than an 11kw gas boiler for 20 mins.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If the tank is well insulated the water you heat won't be wasted.

Ye cannae change the laws of physics, if your shower consumes X l of water raised to Y °C it will cost less if heated by gas than electricity.

 

[Lectrician]

The next question should be how far would the run be for the cable?
6mm2 T&E will do for a run of less than 20M.

Where do you arrive at that conclusion?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Where do you arrive at that conclusion?

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Charts/VoltageDrop.html?cable=Twin_Earth&application

I am of cousre "assuming" no other factor in to calcs and the cable is clipped direct, it does prove you can run 6mm cable to a 9.5kw shower, over a distance of 20m, within the permitted voltage drop!

 

[coleaine]

Hey guys you seem to just be proving to each other what can and cant be done.My shower would be about 25 to 30 feet from my fuse box. Nearly straight up above.My question now is would there be something in the loft to feed new wire down to the consumer unit.
I don't seem to have a 45 amp fuse the biggest is 30amp do I need to buy another consumer unit.I have no free slots left.