Following on from another thread.
Best describe what we currently have. A conventional system--hot water cylinder and gravity tank in the loft. In the bathroom is a bath, taps at the outside wall end under a window, electric shower on the inside wall at the other end. The electric shower has had a minor internal fault on and off for a couple of years, and its clear that the cable may of an inadequate gauge (4mm) to enable a straight swap with a new 8.5kw shower unit, although the current unit has worked fine with that cable. So rather than pay to have the cable replaced before fitting what could be yet another inadequate shower, I'm considering a shower pump to a thermostatic shower, with the pipework to the new shower valve surface mounted so I don't have to destroy the tiled wall.
I know there are suggestions about the minimum size of the hot water cylinder and cold water tank that would have to be taken into account, but I'm going to explain what as a layman I think I have to do to put this thing together, and I'll be asking you experts to pick it apart.
My first thought is to take the hot and cold feeds from the bathroom tap pipework, run them under the bath and position the shower pump under the end of the bath where the shower will be. The electric supply to the pump would have to be taken from the loft because we have solid walls and floors, and without looking I think I'd be OK bringing it down the wall in conduit alongside the bath (not above it)to the floor, and then channel it behind the skirting board to the pump.
One thing I'm not sure about is draining the hot water pipework in order to manage the fittings because there are no valves that I can find in the HW supply beyond the cylinder, but I thought I might manage that by fitting one of those screw-in washing machine valves.
The thermostatic shower could then be fitted on the bathroom wall where the electric shower currently sits, using chrome pipework to make it look nice. Hopefully, and as long as we limit our showers to a few minutes of decent flow, we won't have problems with the tank supply.
Whatever's wrong with the above, please tell me so I can make it right. This is almost certainly something I'm going to do.
Best describe what we currently have. A conventional system--hot water cylinder and gravity tank in the loft. In the bathroom is a bath, taps at the outside wall end under a window, electric shower on the inside wall at the other end. The electric shower has had a minor internal fault on and off for a couple of years, and its clear that the cable may of an inadequate gauge (4mm) to enable a straight swap with a new 8.5kw shower unit, although the current unit has worked fine with that cable. So rather than pay to have the cable replaced before fitting what could be yet another inadequate shower, I'm considering a shower pump to a thermostatic shower, with the pipework to the new shower valve surface mounted so I don't have to destroy the tiled wall.
I know there are suggestions about the minimum size of the hot water cylinder and cold water tank that would have to be taken into account, but I'm going to explain what as a layman I think I have to do to put this thing together, and I'll be asking you experts to pick it apart.
My first thought is to take the hot and cold feeds from the bathroom tap pipework, run them under the bath and position the shower pump under the end of the bath where the shower will be. The electric supply to the pump would have to be taken from the loft because we have solid walls and floors, and without looking I think I'd be OK bringing it down the wall in conduit alongside the bath (not above it)to the floor, and then channel it behind the skirting board to the pump.
One thing I'm not sure about is draining the hot water pipework in order to manage the fittings because there are no valves that I can find in the HW supply beyond the cylinder, but I thought I might manage that by fitting one of those screw-in washing machine valves.
The thermostatic shower could then be fitted on the bathroom wall where the electric shower currently sits, using chrome pipework to make it look nice. Hopefully, and as long as we limit our showers to a few minutes of decent flow, we won't have problems with the tank supply.
Whatever's wrong with the above, please tell me so I can make it right. This is almost certainly something I'm going to do.
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