Frequently asked questions about suitable electric showers!

Joey the lips

ReadySteadyGo wrote: »

Thinking of energy efficiency and convenience.

I want a shower which will use my hot water if it is available, if not hot enough it will heat it further, if too hot, will restrict hot flow and/or mix with cold.

Am I asking for too much?

Yes you are...sorry... Although if it helps you at all...A triton t90 works more efficently in the summer than winter because it does not have to heat as hard....

If there is some way you could store moderate temp water in your attic(and avoid legonaires) then you would be on to a winner...

althernativly put a power shower in one bathroom and a pumped electric in another,

Bruthal

Joey the lips wrote: »

althernativly put a power shower in one bathroom and a pumped electric in another,

The ideal setup

Joey the lips

robbie7730 wrote: »

The ideal setup

My set up!

Bruthal

Joey the lips wrote: »

My set up!

Yes having both is best for definite, i just have the gravity fed mixer one and pumped electric myself, does the job.

ReadySteadyGo

Joey the lips wrote: »

If there is some way you could store moderate temp water in your attic(and avoid legonaires) then you would be on to a winner...

althernativly put a power shower in one bathroom and a pumped electric in another,

Only one bathroom in the house 8-(

I am thinking about normally using the water in the tank which would be heated to 60 degrees using gas (or whatever the normal stat is). So legionnaire's not really an issue.

On occasion where the tank is not preheated, or has been prematurely emptied, looking for something that can then heat the water instantly. So, ideally, a thermostatic mixer, with an electrical heater, which only fires if required.

It seems crazy to me that such a hybrid product doesn't exist.

Reading online, there were some suggestions of putting an inline electric water heater on the pipe from the hot tank, and feeding it into the thermostatic mixer. If the heater is firing, the flow would be reduced, but at least you would have a hot shower without waiting for tank to re-heat.

Stealthirl

I thought i posted about this earler

We had 2 MIRA 8.4 supream shows in the house when it was built back in 1990.One went about 2 years ago and was replaced with a newer MIRA elite ST

now the 2nd one has packed up :rolleyes:

Im thinking of geting the Triton T90XR 8.5KW i can get 1 for about €200
would this be suitabell ? I dont know 100% if the shower is mains or tank fed

Is instalation easy ? Or would i be best to get someone to do it ?

if its just a case of turn off power/water
remove old unit
conect 3 wires and feed then i would do it my self

Bruthal

Stealthirl wrote: »

I thought i posted about this earler

We had 2 MIRA 8.4 supream shows in the house when it was built back in 1990.One went about 2 years ago and was replaced with a newer MIRA elite ST

now the 2nd one has packed up :rolleyes:

Im thinking of geting the Triton T90XR 8.5KW i can get 1 for about €200
would this be suitabell ? I dont know 100% if the shower is mains or tank fed

Is instalation easy ? Or would i be best to get someone to do it ?

if its just a case of turn off power/water
remove old unit
conect 3 wires and feed then i would do it my self

You would be far better to get someone to do it. Its easy enough for the right person to replace them. The triton t90 needs to be fed from a tank, im not sure if the original mira`s you had in had pumps in them, the elite st does i think, but either way, a qualified person will sort all that.

The showers should also have RCBO breakers fitted in the MCB board, as well as a shower priority unit if you will again be having 2 instant electric showers fitted. So its not a simple connection of 3 wires really. Its both plumbing and electrical work. Some electricians will do the plumbing end for a shower as well.

The Shower Doctors

Hi there
Your original Mira Supreme were Mains fed Showers.
If you just swap this to a Triton T 90 XR without changing the Pipework, it will Blow the Seals in the pump and will not be covered by their warranty.
I hope this helps.
cheers
Steve

Bruthal

Yes its simple enough to swap the mains water feed to the tank for any electrician with experience of fitting electric showers and plumbing them. Probably not every sparks does the plumbing on them though.

.G.

This thread should be a sticky IMO.

Bruthal

Joey the lips wrote: »

A triton t90 works more efficently in the summer than winter because it does not have to heat as hard....

What actually happens is the elements heat just as much, but because the water is already a fair bit warmer, a lot higher flow rate is needed to have the same output temp as in winter, with the result the shower is better.

Sometimes on very hot sunny days, only one element needs to be on as the attic tank water warms up quite a bit, and even on highest flow rate, the electric shower is too hot, for some of us anyway:). So its one element and flow rate turned down a bit.

Stealthirl

The Shower Doctors wrote: »

Hi there
Your original Mira Supreme were Mains fed Showers.
If you just swap this to a Triton T 90 XR without changing the Pipework, it will Blow the Seals in the pump and will not be covered by their warranty.
I hope this helps.
cheers
Steve

So i should go with a mains shower like the triton topaz t100si ?
Any sugestions where id find 1,

Joey the lips

Stealthirl wrote: »

So i should go with a mains shower like the triton topaz t100si ?
Any sugestions where id find 1,

You can use a triton t80 mains fed shower which is very reasnable priced around most places now.

Bruthal

I would still go with the pumped one though, unless you found the mains one ok. Cold tap turned on down in kitchen, or anything which makes the attic tank start to top up again, will cause a drop in the mains shower pressure, it can be irritating as it goes hotter, then cold etc. A pumped one will maintain a constant flow.

Its not that big a job to change the water feed over from the mains to the tank.

The Shower Doctors

robbie7730 wrote: »

I would still go with the pumped one though, unless you found the mains one ok. Cold tap turned on down in kitchen, or anything which makes the attic tank start to top up again, will cause a drop in the mains shower pressure, it can be irritating as it goes hotter, then cold etc. A pumped one will maintain a constant flow.

Its not that big a job to change the water feed over from the mains to the tank.

I would have to agree with Robbie on this one if it was not to difficult to do.Particularly with the way the councils are turning down pressures to cope with burst pipes.

Regards
Steve

Stealthirl

Fate has spoken
was talking to a friend today and id forgoten he is a plumber so he said hed have a look and price it for me.
im happy with the price he gave me to plumb in a tank feed and fit the shower of €50 and a dinner
ill be picking up a T90XR fri off my cousen for €180

iv another friend whos a sparks comeing tomorro to see about the RCBO breakers fitted in the MCB board, as well as a shower priority unit.i would have thought there would have been both since the house was built with 2 electric showers but it doseant look like it.
are they only fited when theres 2 pumped showers ?
looking at the fuse board thers only 1 RCBO marked as shower

he guessed a price of €2-250 to fit the shower priority unit,is this about right ?

Bruthal

You`l have to find a friend who`s a sparks and will do the plumbing as well:). But anyway, the priority units are expensive too, and are used when there are 2 electric showers to prevent both being used at the same time because the load is too high for the domestic supply to a standard house.

Stealthirl

Meh i think the fact im geting the shower and plumbing done at a good price balances up with the expense of the spark work. He said they were about €150 and up for the shower priority units €50ish for labor if the existing wireing was ok but if its not that would cost more

new pumped shower,tank feed and shower priority unit for about 450 is good if what iv been reading is right ? the other pumped shower cost nearly 500 to get in without the priority unit

Bruthal

Yes the priority unit wont be far off that, last time i got one i think it was 2 years ago and it was €130 or so. Cant remember exactly but somewhere around that. Non priority ones are dearer, but a priority one should do. It just means which ever shower is connected as the priority, it can cut the other one off if it is turned on while the othet one is in use. Non priority units means once one shower is going, it cant be interrupted by the other no matter which one is used first. Cant go to far wrong with them prices your getting anyway.

Bruthal

Stealthirl wrote: »

new pumped shower,tank feed and shower priority unit for about 450 is good if what iv been reading is right ? the other pumped shower cost nearly 500 to get in without the priority unit

Yes sounds good, although getting the other one in for €500 would of had more work if it was a full install. This new one will have most of the plumbing already done, and wired already, assuming a new cable is not needed. The shower and priority unit alone could of cost close to the €450 so your getting a good price by the look of it alright.

Stealthirl

Thanks id knowen the 2 lads wouldant shaft me as iv done car related things for both in the past.
The 2nd shower had everything there as well as both were put in when the house was built.

in the last 21 years neather show has been on at the same time so what ever priority unit is cheepist will do.

Clonganny

I am looking to install a mains fed electric shower into our holiday home. There is a 1/2" mains fed pipe going to the bathroom.I got a pressure gauge from a plumber an put it on it and got a reading of 3bar. I then filled a bucket for and got a flow of 6.6litres in a minute. Are these figures good enough for an electric shower( can you recommend one) or do I have to look to install a tank in the attic and a pumped electric?

Joey the lips

Stealthirl wrote: »

Thanks id knowen the 2 lads wouldant shaft me as iv done car related things for both in the past.
The 2nd shower had everything there as well as both were put in when the house was built.

in the last 21 years neather show has been on at the same time so what ever priority unit is cheepist will do.

Famous last words... You obv have not seen the pull chord switches i have...

Clonganny wrote: »

I am looking to install a mains fed electric shower into our holiday home. There is a 1/2" mains fed pipe going to the bathroom.I got a pressure gauge from a plumber an put it on it and got a reading of 3bar. I then filled a bucket for and got a flow of 6.6litres in a minute. Are these figures good enough for an electric shower( can you recommend one) or do I have to look to install a tank in the attic and a pumped electric?

1 bar is all that is needed to operate a mains fed shower, I dont know what the upper limit is. Eg T80 is a mains shower.

Bruthal

Joey the lips wrote: »

Famous last words... You obv have not seen the pull chord switches i have...

Well the priority compared to non priority is cheaper because there are less componets in it rather than lower quality. The cheap pull chords can be bad alright. Wall switches are generally better i believe anyway.

1 bar is all that is needed to operate a mains fed shower, I dont know what the upper limit is. Eg T80 is a mains shower.

Probably, but you could have 3 or 4 bar when measuring the pressure on a closed pipe, but very little volume when the water is let flow out.

M cebee

ya you can expect to be called back pretty soon after fitting a cheap pull-cord

i'd stock up on the good ones if i wasn't broke most of the time

quality wall-mounted switches if possible for new work

The Shower Doctors

Yes + 1 to what Robbie said.
There is a difference in measureing the water pressure against a Closed outlet (static pressure) compared to a measurement when the outlet is running (Dynamic Pressure).
In the instruction you will find what is required to operate the Shower.
It will tell you the minimum Pressure for a given flow rate.For example it will say "0.7 Bar at a flow rate of 6 litres a minute".
The mistake most people make in my opinion is they purchase a Shower on Price, without finding out if they have the right site requirement to run the Shower.Its only when the Shower is on the wall and it doesn't work these questions are raised.
If you are unsure Buy a Pumped Electric Shower and the question of pressure. when fitted properly,doesn't arise.

Steve


Probably, but you could have 3 or 4 bar when measuring the pressure on a closed pipe, but very little volume when the water is let flow out.[/QUOTE]

GrumPy

Hi, threads a little old - so mods feel free to edit/move.

I have a very old Triton electric shower - T90 model in an old house. The temperature settings are OK, but the pressure is truly awful. I've been living in this place 4 months now, and I can't stick it anymore and plan on an upgrade.

The Triton T90Z model comes in 8.5kw and 9.5kw.

From what I've read the more expensive 9.5kw has a more powerful pump, thereby providing improved water pressure. What I haven't been able to find online what the pressure is on my current shower, and if an upgrade to a T90Z (either model) will provide a worthwhile difference. There is a possibility my T90 is just crap, but I don't know anything about showers, so it could be particularly weak because it's on it's way out.

Is anyone able to compare the differences I would expect in water pressure between my current T90 (water tank in attic) and what improvements I might expect if I replaced it with either of the T90z models?

I go a quote for a new T90Z, fitted and removal of old unit for €295, or a the more powerful 9.5kw model for €370. I'm no plumber or electrician and despite these being apparently easy enough to install, it's not my place and I'm not willing to take a risk, so happy to get it done professionally.

Any advice welcome! Sick to death of crappy showers, it's like getting dribbled on.

Thanks!