JustMe wrote:
Hi,

I'm about to check out tiles for the bathroom, so want to sort the shower &
plumbing first.

Currently I have an electric shower which takes a cold feed and heats as the
water passes through. It's a bit on the slow and drizzly side, so I want to
know what my options are for POWER.

I have a combi boiler which drives most of my hot water needs and there's no
header tank currently installed anywhere.

AIUI I can run a mixer tap+shower direct from hot and cold water supplies
which, given the pressure from the tap at the moment, should be an
improvement on the electric. But if I want real power, then a pump is
required. This is where I get confused:


Is that correxct? as long as you have

(a) adequate mains pressure
(b) large enough pipework

You will get a decenbt shower flow,.

If you have

(c) a large enough combi, it will even be warmish..;-)

From what I've read, a pump cannot have hot water fed directly from a combi
boiler. It seems I have two options:

1) Header tank above the bathroom, fed in to pump and on to shower - seems
to be the superior solution, but I don't quite understand how this works. Is
there an immersion in the header tank or does the tank fill up with hot
water from the combi which then provides a reservoir for the pump and
shower? In which case, where does a mix of cold water come in for
temperature control? Or does the header tank store cold water which is
heated somewhere further down the line?

2) Combined electric shower/pump - cold water feed, wall mount unit combines
heater and pump - simpler but not as powerful/hard/fast?

Do I have any other options?

Yes. Scrap the combi and put in a mains pressure DHW system. If mains
pressure is good enough, that will do what you want.

OR shove a cold water pump in the incoming mains to any system that
DOESN't use a header, to improve flow rates


Many thanks!