Just being told that the shower in en-suite is electric

[Viviot]

AIBU actually?

Doing redecoration in the recently built house, and had no idea such thing exists so didn't pay attention before.

And now being told that the shower in the ensuite bathroom is electric

Just like why would you install that in 2010 built house with exceptional water pressure, and powerful boiler that provides boiling-hot water.the other bathroom has normal shower with hot water from boiler. Just like why??

ZispinAndTurmericLatte you must have limited life experience.

Electricity in the bathroom?
What wizardry is this?

I have travelled the world. Many hotels have hairdriers and shaving points in bathrooms.
Many homes throughout Europe have washing machines in the bathroom.

sashh yes we have rising mains. All taps are mains water, upstairs too.
No cold water storage tank.

after growing up in a place where you weren't allowed anything electric in the bathroom for the (real or imagined, I don't know) risk of electrocution

the UK is ridiculously bad for that, with the complete lack of plug and switches in the bathroom, we have the most unpractical bathrooms. You go on the continent and can charge your toothbrush or use your hairdryer in the bathroom, and unless you throw said plugged hairdryer in the bath with you, people are absolutely fine. There's no report of anyone ever electrocuting themselves, people even put their washing machine and dryer in the bathrooms.

I am amazed health and safety allow us to have lightbulbs and don't insist on us using battery operated torches.

ZispinAndTurmericLatte you must have limited life experience

Yes, funnily enough I did as a 19-year-old first moving into the UK from country where it wasn't the norm.

I have a combi in my (90 year old) house within the M25 - and the water pressure is fantastic (we have to have a reducer thingy because the boiler was freaking out)

We can run the hot water and have a shower for instance, a bath runs super-quickly, it's honestly wonderful.

BUT, if it's a decent electric shower, unless it turns out to be costing a bomb to run, I'd keep it - for the same reasons as everyone else here, now that we don't have immersion tanks, you've got no other (sensible) way to get hot water if the boiler breaks down.

Zispin

You're obviously not from mainland Europe then as they also have plug sockets in their bathrooms, which is alien to the Uk, as banned by building regulations I believe.

Mind boggling that someone is mind boggled by the concept of an electric shower though.

You're obviously not from mainland Europe then as they also have plug sockets in their bathrooms, which is alien to the Uk, as banned by building regulations I believe.

I'm from Northern Europe. One the houses I lived in had a socket in the bathroom. It had a big sign attached that it was under no circumstances to be used at the same time as a shower. I believe that was the case in most hotels and other houses I visited. Hence my confusion of using electricity while showering. Most of the houses I lived in did not have sockets in the same room as the shower, as the shower was in a room separate from where you'd shave and dry your hair etc.

Combi boiler here so no gas = no hot water end of. No tank so no power = no hot water its pretty easy to understand surely?

I am amazed that people are ignorant of the fact electric showers exist.

Mine have all been fab and no problem rinsing my waist length hair!

Why on earth would there not be hot water in an ensuite? There is a sink for goodness sake!

And my hot water is just fine out the tap i dont need to fill a sink with hot and cold water to get the right temp we have an amazing dial on my boiler that you set the hot water temp to😉 aint 'modern technology' amazing?

Ikeepaforkinmypurse

I don’t understand either why the UK have these stringent bathroom plug and socket rules while the Continent manages just fine. It would be great to have the option of laundry facilities in the bathroom.

As others have said there are lots of advantages to having one electric shower - you cna still shower if the boiler packs in being the main one. It's also easier to fit pumps in an electric shower to increase the flow.

We have one in an en-suite and it's just as powerful as the mains-fed showers.

In the OP's position I certainly wouldn't be rushing to have it replaced - made that decision if and when it eventually packs up.

You are right for the south of England, where you sometimes get a third tap in a kitchen and this is for drinking water.

I have lived in a load of houses all across the country and have never seen a house with a third tap in the kitchen for drinking water.

Yes it is a combi boiler. Potterton Promax Combi

if that makes any sense.
It takes around 20 seconds to get hot water.

Yes, we do have a hot water tap in the ensuite, however it is quite away from the shower and I have no idea how much it would cost to replace electric shower if we want to, the amount of work involved, ideally I don't want to ruin tiles etc.

The proximity of the electricity bothers me too a bit)). Having washing machine in the bathroom is not the same as having yourself wet using electric device, but I assume it's ok if it is allowed to be used so commonly. But still..

love it! I don't need to remember to put the water on. If I want a shower I can just have one.

Same here! I remember having to wait for the water to heat up to use the bath/shower at my mum's.

We have one of each, and I love my electric shower, it's a recent model and has excellent power. Instant endless hot water.

I’m not quite sure why you’re so horrified at an electric shower. They’re perfectly safe, they wouldn’t sell them otherwise.

Keep it till it breaks, then decide what to do.

The proximity of the electricity bothers me too a bit)). Having washing machine in the bathroom is not the same as having yourself wet using electric device, but I assume it's ok if it is allowed to be used so commonly. But still..

I don't quite understand your point here. It's no less safe than an electric shower in the bathroom or a thermostatic shower in the bedroom. So long as you don't take your plugged in devices into the shower, and dry yourself off as normal; there is no water/electrical risk

Redcrayons yes, quite sensible option really. Will have to check the running costs thought..

nottinghillgrey I meant that to my very humble opinion washing machine or just sockets feel safer than the electric shower, ( I get they are safe to use, I will get used to it I think).

Thank you everyone for your time and replies!

I’m not quite sure why you’re so horrified at an electric shower. They’re perfectly safe, they wouldn’t sell them otherwise.

Well on paper I agree. However, for me, the idea of mixing electricity and water makes me go .
Even more so when we have the cord for the switch in the bathroom ‘because of the risk associated with turning the light on/off with wet hands’.
I mean, everyone does that in continental Europe does that so surely that must be safe too??
Butbwe seem to think this is very dangerous whilst thinking a electric shower is safe
For me it doesn’t make sense at all.

why would an electric shower bother u?
For me I would never go for a non electric shower and I've never come across the "dribbly" kind people r always on about unless it's clogged with limescale. End of Feb my boiler packed up and we were without heating for 10 days, during the -10 weather. I had 2 electric heaters for the whole flat. If I hadn't of had my electric shower, I don't know what we would have done as it was the only way we could warm up in the mornings, wash dishes and wash clothes.
I've lived in a house with a weird shower and it was a pain in the ass. With 5 showering people in the house there was never enough hot water readily available, my gas bill was huge and wen u wake up at 3am needing to wash a child whose had an accident, waiting for hot water is enough 2 make u wanna say fuck it, use wet wipes and the give them a shower the next morning.

OP safety wise - it is definitely fine. As other posters have alluded to, the UK is a bit crazy fussy about electricity in bathrooms, so you can be confident that the fact that electric showers are common here means it is definitely safe.

You will get a mixed bag of answers here because people have different personal preferences, but also different systems. We just have an old boiler and tank jobby, to get hot water the immersion or the heating need to be on. Our heating is been turned right off since April and the immersion is very expensive, so we prefer to use an electric shower. We changed our entire bathroom recently but stuck with an electric shower. I get up at 0500 for work and like to shower right away.

You could always consult a plumber but it might be best to leave as is for a bit, I reckon it won't be as bad as you think.

We have a stupid power shower that churns so much water out even on low. I miss my sensible electric shower as we have a water meter now and I dread the twice yearly bill.

We have an immersion heater for emergencies should the gas fail like it did last year, complete boiler failure but watching that working on the smart meter just made me feel ill.

I did get used to the idea of electric showers myself, after my initial confusion, too! I haven't spent the last nearly 20 years in the UK constantly confused. :) People gave me a look and told me it's fine, and I trusted this! But thinking back, even though I had travelled as a child and a teenager, I just don't think I ever came across them until university. I'd even spent a month in the UK previously, and stayed at a normal family home, but they didn't happen to have a shower at all (this was quite a while ago and I assume not that common even then). I also probably didn't pay a lot of attention to bathroom electrics on holidays as a child. Some holiday places just clearly wouldn't have been representative of plumbing and electric of the country in general (I'm thinking of the holiday in continental Europe where the water was heated by a woodburner). So I had just gone through my formative years with the stern message of no electrics while showering. I assume everyone who immigrates will face something they initially find new and confusing in their new country.

I don't understand the idea that the electricity will get mixed up with the water! It's the same in a dishwasher or a washing machine or an immersion heater, it's just an electric element heating the water.

SofiaAmes - I don't live in a housing estate we had the house built ourselves. I live in a rural village in Scotland and our pressure is very good.

third tap for drinking water? not in the uk where any house with mains water has drinkable water.

classic mn cluelessness.