Ferdinand Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 (edited) I need a shower for the Little Brown Bungalow - which is a well-fitted out rental property. I have wired for up to a 10kW model. The nominal budget is up to £125, but I can stretch it if I need as I saved £250 elsewhere in the bathroom. The shower is mains fed; there is no tank. I am inclined to go Mira / Triton, and I think I want 9-10kW with variable shower patterns. Q1: What is "Airboost"? Is that aerating to use less water? Q2: Is there a major benefit to a thermostatic electric shower? Q3: I think I cannot have a Power Shower in the above setup. Correct (I am not hot on plumbing :-) )? Q4: Can anyone recommend a solid model that will take any abuse and last a decade or two? Cheers Ferdinand Edited October 14, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 what is your mains pressure/ flow like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Electric showers are the anti-Christ, do you have a decent ( 28kw or above ) combi ? A thermostatic electric shower attenuates flow to power ratio so it maintains a stable temp, e.g. with a regular electric shower if someone runs an outlet elsewhere the water flow rate reduces and it goes to nigh on scalding hot with the user having to adjust the dial or step aside, not AS bad with a thermostatic. Downside is ~£4-500 for a decent one. Why ekecric? For redundancy if the boiler fails ? A lot of landlords do this but just how often does a combi fail, and for how long before you get it fixed ? ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 17 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: Q3: I think I cannot have a Power Shower in the above setup. Correct (I am not hot on plumbing :-) )? Adding a pump to try and produce a power shower wouldn't work with an electric shower. It takes quite a lot of power to heat water to the required temperature and flow rate, generally there is none "spare" with an electric shower. So if the user turns up the temperature the shower has to turn down the flow rate to compensate because it can't increase the power beyond it's rated 10kW. Trying to force more water through with a pump would either have no effect, break the shower, or result in a lower water temperature than set by the user. I'm a bit surprised that not all electric showers are thermostatic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 Loving the clear opinions. More ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 I guess it's one of those ask 10 economists and get 11 answers sort of a question. How is the other DHW provided? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 59 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: - which is a well-fitted out rental property. Are you out of the little brown bungalow... gone anywhere nice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Just following this because we'll be fitting an electric shower to our own house (and giving the tennants a lovely thermostatic mixer fed by a UVC!). In our case it makes sense as our tarrif gives us 24/7 access to cheap electricity but only if used for heating or DHW. Heating on demand therefore makes the most sense for us, and as our gravity fed current shower is an utter POS it will actually be a slight improvement in performance, as well as saving us a fortune. If we had oil or gas I would be looking at upgrading the whole DHW system instead, probably via a UVC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 For my money, Triton all the way, cheap, reliable but not fancy, If your water pressure will support it fit the largest power you can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 4 hours ago, dpmiller said: what is your mains pressure/ flow like? I wonder how I check that given that the water is currently off for the install of the new bathroom ? I think it is OK, even though it is a high property. 4 hours ago, Nickfromwales said: Why ekecric? Mainly because I had the wiring in as part of the rewire, and I have had little trouble with electric showers in the past. Thinking... F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 I've used Triton in the past with no problems. The last one was still going strong when we sold up and that was after 15 years. We did have a water softener though, which in a hard water area is necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 13 hours ago, PeterStarck said: I've used Triton in the past with no problems. The last one was still going strong when we sold up and that was after 15 years. We did have a water softener though, which in a hard water area is necessary. Yep. I have done better with Miras than Trtons, but both seem OK - I have one that has been going since 1994. I think I just need a check on the water pressure then it will be a normal electric shower or a mixer. Cheers all. F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 17 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said: Are you out of the little brown bungalow... gone anywhere nice? It was always a rental project, so we have not moved. Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 4 hours ago, Ferdinand said: It was always a rental project, so we have not moved. Ah ah - too many assumptions on my part sorry, will try harder to banish them from my thinking and expand my thought experiments to ensure all possibilities are covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 19 hours ago, Ferdinand said: Yep. I have done better with Miras than Trtons, but both seem OK - I have one that has been going since 1994. I think I just need a check on the water pressure then it will be a normal electric shower or a mixer. Cheers all. F If it's a combi, fit a mixer. It's just night and day better than a regular electric shower, both in flow and how it responds to fluctuations in the water feed. A mixer shower will speed up or slow down but always maintain the set temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 If you really must have an electric, we've had a Mira Advance for some years now which replaced a basic Redring non-thermostatic. I'd heartily recommend the thermostatic option any day of the week, the Mira is rock steady on temp regardless of what happens elsewhere in the house and automatically steps down in power consumption based on your flow and temp requirements vs. CW temp, when it can. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 Just checked. Water pressure is good - so I will go for a mixer shower. Thanks all. Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Ferdinand said: Just checked. Water pressure is good - so I will go for a mixer shower. Thanks all. Ferdinand Fit a bar mixer with 150mm centres and 10 years down the line when you need to change it you can fit any like bar mixer rather than hope you can get spares for a concealed one. Bar mixers can be changed in about 10-15 minutes, ideal for a rental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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