Fitting an electric shower in a detached garage

[Sappy73]

hi all,

We have a detached garage which I want to install an electric shower to wash the dogs in using a huge (old school art room) Belfast sink which we are putting in. Grey water is sorted as going into nearby drain.
We have installed 25mm mdpe pipe 800mm underground insulated in 110mm pipe and brought it up in the cavity to connect to our cold supply just after our water meter with a stop cock included to isolate from the house.
I have connected through to the garage in 15mm plastic pipe but have realised the pipe can be insulated to the shower unit (will this be sufficient?) but once standing water is in the shower it may well freeze in the Colder weather.
What can I do to ensure this doesn’t happen next winter?
Should I also place an isolator as the pipe enters the garage?
All help gratefully received
Thanks Lisa

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Fit an isolator as soon as possible where the pipework enters the garage, with a drain off immediately above. This should drain upward leg to shower, then lower shower hose to drain the unit. Unless the room temperature can be kept above freezing I think you'll have to drain it every time there is a frost, insulating the shower unit is not recommended, and will block access to controls. May also be a safety issue and will likely invalidate the warranty. Also, to comply with Water regulations you'll also need a double check valve in the supply.

Concerned though about the pipe 'in the cavity', it should be either inside or outside the building, taking the shortest route horizontally through the wall! Secondly is the power supply in the garage capable of supplying a shower?

 

[Sappy73]

Hi
Thanks for ur reply, I will fit both the isolator and drain off as u describe. I thought that may be what we have to do in the winter.

I perhaps didn’t describe myself very well, our house is on a slope so we have dug down to enter the house well below the property dpc and then gone up the cavity to exit the cavity just above floor level in the kitchen and then ted in to the supply above the water meter. This Is what we were advised to do by a tradesman?

Yes we had the garage built and wired to do this so have a 10mm armoured cable to the garage from consumer unit and then a mini consumer unit in the garage with rcds etc and a 6mm cable specifically for the shower. I know I can only run a 7.5kw one on that but it will be sufficient for the occasional use it will have
Thanks Lisa

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

The 'cavity' in Building terms is the section between the inner and outer skins of the external walls, you shouldn't really run anything through this. Either bring the pipe up externally using an 'Insuduct', or internally under/through the floor, within a duct, which then needs to be insulated and sealed as appropriate.

Dont forget you will also need a double check valve (non return valve) in the water supply to prevent any backflow and comply with regulations.

 

[Ridb01]

Hi Sappy73
I am presently working on a similar project with an outside shower. I live in Lancashire and quite high up so we do at times get strong frost.
Did you install as you say and did it work. Have you had any trouble with frost damage to pipe work and or electric shower unit.
I was going to fit a simple cold shower but my wife wants it to have the warm option.
Does the electric shower drain okay.

Thanks Brian

 

[Madrab]

Hi Sappy73
I am presently working on a similar project with an outside shower. I live in Lancashire and quite high up so we do at times get strong frost.
Did you install as you say and did it work. Have you had any trouble with frost damage to pipe work and or electric shower unit.
I was going to fit a simple cold shower but my wife wants it to have the warm option.
Does the electric shower drain okay.

Thanks Brian

Hi Brian, appreciate you are new to the forum and welcome. One of the forum guidelines though is not to resurrect old posts as it can be confusing as to who is actually asking what. It is always best to start your own post and link to a similar one to give context.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Hi Sappy73
I am presently working on a similar project with an outside shower. I live in Lancashire and quite high up so we do at times get strong frost.
Did you install as you say and did it work. Have you had any trouble with frost damage to pipe work and or electric shower unit.
I was going to fit a simple cold shower but my wife wants it to have the warm option.
Does the electric shower drain okay.

My own dog wash is simpler, as well as much cheaper....

On the downstairs toilet washbasin, I replaced the hot and cold taps, with a single tap fed from a temperature controlled mixer (TMV). It just simply mixes both hot and cold, to supply water at whet ever temperature you set it at.

Come time to wash the dog, I attach a hose to the tap, with a spray at the far end, but I do this out on the drive. I also have a portable dog bath - a tubular metal frame, supporting waterproof material, with a sort of draw bridge at one end, making it walk in for the dog. It works rather well, and drain the hose, there are no concerns about anything freezing.

You could do similar, maybe a TMV fed outdoor tap, then a spray end hose, and possibly a proper sink with a drain indoors.