Which electric shower?

[weakestlink]

We are having bathroom overhaul as shower is nackered and tiles are coming away from the wall.

Any recommendations for an electric shower? The current (Mira) one is 15 years old so has done very well but the water pressure is awful! (Its OK from the taps) so would like something with a better flow.

The boiler is old with a cold water tank in loft and back boiler downstairs. We are hoping to replace with a combi boiler in the Autumn but the bathroom needs doing now.

Any thoughts...?

We changed our electric shower relatively recently. Far as I could understand, the higher the wattage the better the pressure would be out of the shower (assuming the water pressure to the house is fine).

However, the higher the wattage of the shower, the thicker the electric cable feeding it needed to be! So you'll need to check what your current cabling can handle, or have the expense of changing the cabling.

We had an ancient Mira and changed to a more modern Mira. Relatively simple to do. :)

It is worth speaking to a good plumber about your options.
I think a mains fed shower is usually much better than an electric shower in terms of flow, but it does depend on your water pressure.
Can you do both jobs at the same time, ie change boiler and bathroom?
That said a mixer shower shoudl work now and with a combi boier too.

There are selector things on site like Mira and Aqualisa which show which showers are suitable for different hot water systems.

I'd never live in a house where the sole source of hot water was a combi boiler

I know lots of people love them but we had one in a previous house and it was a bugger for breaking down....and in fact generally needing attention! needy little bastard boiler And it is just soul destroying to not be able to wash in hot water!

So I'd def install an electric shower somewhere!

when you say the flow is poor from your electric shower, this is probably because it's an electric shower. They have nowhere near as much power as a gas boiler, so can only heat a small amount of water.

Assuming that is fed from the water main (not the tank) then it will be flow you mean, not pressure.

Run yours into a bucket please, time it, and let us know how many litres per minute it delivers. There is a possibility that the jets in your shower head are clogged with limescale, this will reduce the flow but increase the temperature.

Evening all...

We are not at the house for the next few weeks so cannot do the bucket test.

Sounds as though it may not be as straight forward as I thought pigletJohn maybe I need to get the plumber and/or electrician to have a look before I order anything? I imagine that they would need to get the tiles off to see the electrics though? So this can't be done until they start the project in July really....

Panacotta unfortunately I can't do the boiler just yet due to lack of funds and the tiles are literally falling off the walls in the bathroom so am having to prioritise this.

the electrician can easily measure the size of the existing cable by looking in the consumer unit (and preferably also inside the shower enclosure in case a thin bit has been joined on). A new shower will (is supposed to) have RCD protection, if your consumer unit is reasonably modern, it will either already be fitted or can be added on at reasonable cost. Make sure the electrician is a member of a Competent Person scheme, ask him which one (so you can check it); how long he has been a member, and is he a Domestic Installer (this is the lowest level of qualification, so preferably not just that).

If you are refitting the bathroom this may be a good time to run new pipes (if you are going to a combi the pressure will be higher than from a tank)

Yes the consumer unit was new when the shower was installed - it has trip switches etc and there is also an extractor fan in the shower.

We are not replacing the bath or sink and the toilet was new last year so basically it's just the shower, tiling, new bath panel, new flooring, painting woodwork. The bulk of the work will be chipping off all the old tiles (floor to ceiling) but it is loose in some areas so hopefully not too bad.

Will check accreditation of the electrician as the plumber is subcontracting (I am using a building company to do the work).