To have 2 pump showers instead of a pump and an electric- because of aesthetics?

[Gibgertea]

Dh says we should have 1 of each for back up if boiler breaks and so hot water isn’t used up however we’re a family of 3 adults in a 4 bed house that shower at different times.Sometimes have another sibling staying. I see his point though.

For context I love the tongue and groove older style of bathroom and can’t find an electric shower that I don’t hate( ugly plastic or metallic boxes with heads I wouldn’t choose).

But will I regret 2 pump showers?Currently living with just 1 pump between the 3 of us and it’s fine.

You can always change shower head so I wouldn't worry about that bit. Triton has some "passable" electric showers which will look ok in a traditional bathroom.
Personally, when my boiler broke it took two days to replace it. And the only reason it broke is because previous owners didn't have it serviced and it was 19 years old. So it literally broke three days after I got the keys to my house. If your boiler is on its last legs, you'd usually know about it. And if I had a choice between an ugly power shower to stare at for the foreseeable and a small chance of not showering for a couple of days, I'd chose the latter.

I would have 2 pump showers, largely because I’ve never seen a decent electric shower. I know a lot of people say that electric showers are great these days and that the water flow/pressure is just as good but it’s certainly not my experience! Also, if you have an immersion heater fitted to the hot water tank, would that not avoid the problem of no hot water if the boiler breaks? Just bear in mind though that if you only have 1 hot water tank but 2 showers, it may use the water up quite quickly.

I'd get the back up electric shower. I find organising home repairs a pain in the arse and it's really difficult to get tradesmen out where I live.

Redundancy in the system is useful.

Electric showers depend on the water pressure in the house and a high enough electrical rating to heat the water fast enough. I've found that Mira Sport showers are generally pretty reliable and have been using them for over 25 years (that statement makes me feel incredibly old) from my student flat to a current family property.

I've got 2 pump showers. I've got an immersion in case boiler fails.

We went with one of each. It makes sense to have a backup if your boiler goes, particularly as it may take you days to get hold of a heating engineer and have them make repairs / replace it.

The electric one is not as powerful, and I agree they’re not as nice to look at, but it does the job.

We've got one of each. Our boiler tends to give up if we have very cold weather (the condensation pipe freezes due to an annoying position) so at least the electric shower means we've got a way of warming up until the ice melts or DH can get up on a ladder to defrost it. The electric shower does my preferred temp of boiling hot better than the pump one too.

I'm sorry but what exactly is a pump shower?
I've never heard of these.
My current home has 2 showers and neither of them are electric. They run off the boiler. They are absolutely brilliant and so much more economical than the electric showers I've had in my previous homes.

A pump shower runs off stored hot water (heated by the boiler), and pumps the water through. An electric shower only needs cold mains water, and heats the water as it runs through.

I’m all about the aesthetics and there’s no way I’d choose an ugly electric shower.

Some people don’t have a hot water tank though, so probably don’t have a choice. I agree with you though - I’d always choose a pump shower.

Thanks for replying.
I know the principal of how an electric shower works. But does that mean my showers that are heated by the boiler ARE pump showers then or is there a type of shower that runs off the boiler that isn't necessarily a pump shower?
(My showers were installed by the previous owner of my home which is why i'm quite ignorant about them)

Not sure on that one!

I think there is another option to do with pressure ( mixer) but dh isn't keen on that with more droughts on the cards. We agree on that. My gut is really going towards another pump but I can guarantee our boiler will fail at some point and they’ll both hate me whilst I have to endure the biggest I told you so ever!

The electric one has been a godsend to us when we redid the other bathroom and when we had issues with the boiler.

But if you have an electric immersion heater on the tank, the pump shower will still work even if the boiler breaks, as you can just switch the immersion on.

Yeah I’ve just said this to DH and he said great if you don’t want an airing cupboard( tank is in airing cupboard).🙄

1 x pump, 1 x electric
Works for me.
Pump definitely more reliable, I've used the electric when having the washing machine going. .. that was fun.
Having said that, the electric is in an enclosed space, the pump is 'open plan'. I prefer enclosed😁

I wouldn't have both showers relying on a gas boiler to work but if it works from an immersion heater then that should be ok. We only have one electric shower because if the boiler failed we wouldn't have one. If the electric shower fails then DH can go down Screwfix and get a new one and swap them over the same day

I’m confused! Why can’t you have an airing cupboard with an immersion heater? The immersion would be part of the existing water tank.

He’s now saying there is one in there but it would take hours to heat up as it’s not designed to heat from scratch. 🤷‍♀️

We've got 3 bathrooms and we made a point of having an electric shower fitted in one of them. We have had to use it when the boiler broke down and we had no hot water to the other showers. We also felt that the hot water tank wouldn't be able to heat enough hot water to run all 3 showers so the electric one gets over that problem. Expensive as it is to run, i wouldn't be without 1 electric shower.

We only have one shower and it is electric. I find no problems with the water flow and it has been wonderful in the hot weather not to have the boiler on. We use a dishwasher so only needed to put boiler on every few days and lagging on tank kept it acceptably warm for a few days. Also wonderful when you return from holiday, no waiting if kids etc need showers quickly for bed.

Has anybody seen a vaguely attractive electric shower?

1 x pump and 1 x electric
Dh and Ds prefer the older electric shower. We changed the shower head to a croydex designed for low pressure which works really well.
I'm pleased we have both.

I’m surprised how many people have an electric shower!
I am not keen. Ugly and poor flow. No comparison to a shower run off a good pump or a mega flow system IMO. Or even a decent gravity flow if tank above the bathroom.