"Hugo Nebula" abuse@localhost wrote in message
...
I've just moved into a new house, and I have a problem with the
shower. It's a mixer shower in a cubicle gravity fed from the hot
water cylinder on the same floor, and the cold tank in the loft just
above. It produces not so much a shower as a dribble.
My options as I see it a
1. Replace the mixer valve with a pumped shower. This would appear to
be the easiest option, as I would have thought it just requires an
electrical supply, the water inlets being already in place.
I assume you mean a pump inside the casing. You may need to fit a Surrey
flange.
2. Install a pump. This appears as though it will have to go in the
airing cupboard, and I'm assuming will therefore need a new hot and
cold feed to the shower valve, as well as the wiring.
-Two questions he
a) can a pump be fitted in the loft above the height of the shower
head and the hot water tank? Most typical installations show them
being fitted on a level with the hot water cylinder, but if it were
fitted in the loft, I could presumably place it in the line of the hot
& cold feeds, thereby reducing the amount of plumbing needed; and
b) could I take a spur or loop from the immersion heater?
You may need a Surrey flange, and some pipework alterations here and there.
Pumps usually only give 1 bar pressure, which is not that much; OK though as
it is better than running around a shower to get wet.. Pumps which deliver
3 bar are around £500. Then you may need to change the cartridge in the
shower to a high pressure cartridge. What make and type of shower mixer is
it?
3. Replace the existing vented cylinder with a Megaflo. A bit of a
nuclear option, I would have thought, but there was one in the rented
flat I've just moved from, and the shower there was almost too
powerful. There appears to be good mains pressure here. Is it
feasible to simply swap one cylinder for another and bypass the cold
water tank, or is there more to it than that?
Avoid a unvented cylinder (Megaflow). You need an annual service by a BBA
plumber. If no service an insurance company will not pay out if any damage.
They can explode.
You have a number of options to get a decent shower.
1. Install a condensing combi and have only the shower off the water
section. The CH side operates as a normal system boiler heating the
cylinder. You will then have a 3 barish shower (£500 plus using pump) and
a new high efficient boiler too. A combi can be had for the price of the
high pressure 3 bar pump. Well worth considering as it will save you money
in gas bills.
2. Install a shower coil cylinder. This will replace the existing cylinder
and retains the tank. A straight swap. It has a coil inside for running
the shower from the mains. It instantly heats the incoming mains water for
the shower. The heat inside the cylinder transfers its heat to the shower
coil.
http://www.rcmgroup.co.uk/mains_pres...ower/index.htm
3. Install a DHW only heat bank or thermal store. These gives high pressure
mains water at "all" taps and can eliminate the cold water tank. It can
also go in the loft liberating needed space in the house. At low pressure
and no annual service charge.
4. Install a venturi shower mixer that runs from low pressure hot and high
pressure cold. It must be with in the makers pressure guide for hot and
cold supplies.