I am getting close to the first fix of renovating my house and wanted
to test out an idea I have been thinking about on the plumbing side of
things.

These are the two main unchangeable factors I have already decided upon

1) I am going to have a new decent combi condensing boiler
2) I will be having 2 showers. One in the main bathroom and the other
in an en suite.

So the obvious problem is that when both showers are in use at the same
time one will suffer for sure.

First Solution - Replace one thermostatic shower with an electric
shower. But more costly at say 3/4 times more per electric shower use.

Second Solution - Have thermostatic shower and an electric shower side
by side and use whichever is dictated by if the other is in use. Kind
of weird looking I imagine.

OR Supply warmed water via a mixer valve to the electric shower.

The advantage I see here is if there are no other demands on the hot
water the electric shower will be supplied by warm water (set at max
safe temp) so the electric show would only have to rise the temperature
by a small amount. But if hot water is being used elsewhere then the
electric shower will then pretty much take over heating the water..

This idea seems to worki n theory in my mind, but my knowledge of
practical plumbing is limited (this will have change as I'm going have
a go doing all the plumbing myself). One problem maybe is that I have
assumed a method/device exists that allows you to prioritise supply of
hot water to different places.

Another factor that might help me out is that I have very high mains
cold water pressure (my cheap hose pipes expand to twice there width!)
and something close to 50 liters a minute flow rate.

"MrsCabbage" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am getting close to the first fix of renovating my house and wanted
to test out an idea I have been thinking about on the plumbing side of
things.

These are the two main unchangeable factors I have already decided upon

1) I am going to have a new decent combi condensing boiler
2) I will be having 2 showers. One in the main bathroom and the other
in an en suite.

So the obvious problem is that when both showers are in use at the same
time one will suffer for sure.

First Solution - Replace one thermostatic shower with an electric
shower. But more costly at say 3/4 times more per electric shower use.

Second Solution - Have thermostatic shower and an electric shower side
by side and use whichever is dictated by if the other is in use. Kind
of weird looking I imagine.

OR Supply warmed water via a mixer valve to the electric shower.

The advantage I see here is if there are no other demands on the hot
water the electric shower will be supplied by warm water (set at max
safe temp) so the electric show would only have to rise the temperature
by a small amount. But if hot water is being used elsewhere then the
electric shower will then pretty much take over heating the water..

This idea seems to worki n theory in my mind, but my knowledge of
practical plumbing is limited (this will have change as I'm going have
a go doing all the plumbing myself). One problem maybe is that I have
assumed a method/device exists that allows you to prioritise supply of
hot water to different places.

Another factor that might help me out is that I have very high mains
cold water pressure (my cheap hose pipes expand to twice there width!)
and something close to 50 liters a minute flow rate.

Space is valuable to you (why clutter valuable real estate with tanks and
cylinders?). A two simultaneous high pressure showers. A high flow combi.
Alpha CD50, or look at a Rinnai high flow multi-point water heater - it will
give two high pressure showers, get rid of the cylinder and tanks too. The
business.

Snip from a recent post of mine:

I know he detested the tank in the loft as it got in the way. He also didn't
like the cylinder taking up space too. His house is a three floor town house
with garage on the ground floor, heated by forced air which they love. One
bathroom two showers. I suggested they spend some extra and go for a high
water flow Rinnai multi-point in the loft on the gable end. Rinnai and
Andrews have models which can be fitted "outside" too, saving lots of space
in the house. They said yes, seeing the benefits of space saved and long
showers. They get annoyed when the cylinder runs out of hot water when
showering which happened far too often for them, and in the mornings too as
the immersion does not recover fast enough when consecutive showers are
taken.

I fitted the Rinnai last week with a flow switch in the cold supply, and the
room stat of the forced air heater run through the switch, so when DHW is
called by the Rinnai the air unit is switched out as the gas meter is not
big enough. The air unit is a conventional flue job, with a simple gas
multifunction control. The whole job took less than a day to do.

What happy bunnies. They rave over the mains pressure showers and the space
they have gained. Two showers can be had whereas before they could not have
two together only one with big gaps between. Now they have showers for as
long as they want and when they want. The bath fills up as fast as before
too.

They like the idea that the DHW temperature can be controlled by a
waterproof remote temperature controller. They never went for it, but is can
be easily fitted after. So you can lay in the bath and control the
temperature of running hot tap. The Rinnai can have up to four of these.

Rinnai and Andrews high flow multi-points are very cost effective. And now
are cheaper than fitting unvented cylinders.

In article ews.net,
Doctor Drivel wrote:
A high flow combi. Alpha CD50, or look at a Rinnai high flow
multi-point water heater - it will give two high pressure showers, get
rid of the cylinder and tanks too. The business.

So you get rid of the cylinder and tank by fitting a combi *then* fit an
additional boiler? Efficient use of space and money isn't one of your
strong points, is it?

Snip from a recent post of mine:

[Definitely snipped now]

No matter how often you post this story it remains that.

--
*Women like silent men; they think they're listening.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ews.net,
Doctor Drivel wrote:
A high flow combi. Alpha CD50, or look at a Rinnai high flow
multi-point water heater - it will give two high pressure showers, get
rid of the cylinder and tanks too. The business.

So

Will you please eff off as you are a total plantpot.

"MrsCabbage" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am getting close to the first fix of renovating my house and wanted
to test out an idea I have been thinking about on the plumbing side of
things.

These are the two main unchangeable factors I have already decided upon

1) I am going to have a new decent combi condensing boiler
2) I will be having 2 showers. One in the main bathroom and the other
in an en suite.

So the obvious problem is that when both showers are in use at the same
time one will suffer for sure.

First Solution - Replace one thermostatic shower with an electric
shower. But more costly at say 3/4 times more per electric shower use.

Second Solution - Have thermostatic shower and an electric shower side
by side and use whichever is dictated by if the other is in use. Kind
of weird looking I imagine.

OR Supply warmed water via a mixer valve to the electric shower.

The advantage I see here is if there are no other demands on the hot
water the electric shower will be supplied by warm water (set at max
safe temp) so the electric show would only have to rise the temperature
by a small amount. But if hot water is being used elsewhere then the
electric shower will then pretty much take over heating the water..

This idea seems to worki n theory in my mind, but my knowledge of
practical plumbing is limited (this will have change as I'm going have
a go doing all the plumbing myself). One problem maybe is that I have
assumed a method/device exists that allows you to prioritise supply of
hot water to different places.

Another factor that might help me out is that I have very high mains
cold water pressure (my cheap hose pipes expand to twice there width!)
and something close to 50 liters a minute flow rate.


Sounds like you could do with a pressure regulator on your cold mains
supply. 50l a min is a little excessive.....

Also a thermal store could fit where the old hot water cylinder was, and no
tanks required in the loft....