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Replace electric shower with Mira power shower

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  • 16-09-2008 5:10pm
    #1
    conzul
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭


    Hi,
    Am looking into replacing current electric shower with a Mira Event power shower. Am thinking it should be an easy swap out....ie do it myself. Electricity already in place with dipole switch, + cold water (Current electric shower setup) Just need to run the hot water pipe up from floor to where the shower unit is for the new Mira replacement. Hot and cold water are gravity tank fed, not mains feed.
    Has anyone ever done this before, any pitfalls, am I overlooking something? Would a smaller fuse be required on the main board as the electric shower is an 8KW heater, whereas the Mira Event replacement is a 150W pump motor only. Thanks


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    #2
    ART6
    Registered Users Posts: 2,632 ✭✭✭ART6


    You will certainly have to replace the fuse. If the pump is 150 watts then you need something like a 5 amp fuse max while the 8 kW shower you have at the moment should have something like a 40 amp fuse. Otherwise should be OK, but I know nothing of the new shower you mention so can't offer anything else.


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    #3
    beldin
    Registered Users Posts: 171 ✭✭beldin


    The Mira Event is supposed to be connected to a fused spur. Again I am not sure of the rating but I think 3A may be right.
    So you should get a fused switch installed which may fix the problem.

    Also be careful where you buy it. I got mine from B&Q and it was setup for 15mm British pipe while any you buy from a plumber suppliers are altered to take 1/2 inch pipe.
    Having said that the B&Q shower was about 200 euro cheaper.


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    #4
    conzul
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭conzul


    Hi
    Am going to get the Mira Event Manual from Plumbing direct in the UK.
    http://www.h-i-e.co.uk/acatalog/Mira_Power_Showers.html

    Have a constant tank of hot water in the hot press. So looking at using that with the Event for a decent shower, as the electric is literally useless, and is worse again in winter. Measure flow rate is like 1-1.5 litres/min.

    I didnt know about the difference in pipe diameters, I assumed they were the same between here and UK, ie both metric. The current electric shower is an old Mira, installed maybe 8 years or more. I do not know the diameter inlet pipe. According to the manual for the Mira Event,
    Inlet –     15 mm Push-fit inlet manifold. (0.5905 inchs)


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    #5
    Foleyart
    Registered Users Posts: 263 ✭✭Foleyart


    Hi
    We used to have an electric shower in our last (rented) house.I could pee quicker! We have since built our own and put in a 300litre cold tank in the shed, which has a variable speed pump attached. This means all showers in the house are power showers. Much better system:D


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    #6
    conzul
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭conzul


    Hi
    We used to have an electric shower in our last (rented) house.I could pee quicker! We have since built our own and put in a 300litre cold tank in the shed, which has a variable speed pump attached. This means all showers in the house are power showers. Much better system

    Hear ya on the electric showers, for the most part they are useless. The heating element needs to be much bigger, but there is a limit to the max power rating of a single device connected to the board. This fact is the reason why one cannot have 2 electric showers going at the same time. I think you would need a 20KW heater and decent mains pressure for a proper electric shower. Since that aint going to happen, point of use shower and pump combo is a good solution. I had an Aqualisa power shower in a rented apt a few years back, 12L/min..great stuff! Hot water heated by gas winter and summer (turn off valves to rads at the boiler). Someone was thinking!
    With this particular project, I only have the one shower in the house, but in your case putting in a pump for multiple showers makes sense, especially building it in at the beginning.


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    #7
    Bodhan
    Registered Users Posts: 1,011 ✭✭✭Bodhan


    For the most part all electric showers take cold water and pass it through a heating tank and flow it out the head, that's gravity fed, in other words no pump. Therefor the colder the water coming in from the mains, the longer it takes to heat the water, so the slower the flow.
    There are a number of newer showers that pump the water through, still using cold water but this method still relies on the temprature of the incoming water.
    There are a good few shower now like the Aqualisa types that take the hot water from the cylinder and push it through a pump and give up to 14ltrs a min.
    The other method it to do away with all the electric bits and put a pump in. Although that can get expensive, but it will leave you with a far more efficent use of hot water, and with far more options if you want to do any other bathroom.


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