Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

Original poster

Two showers running at the same time?

25 replies

NineteenForever · 07/03/2021 08:14

We have a standard gas boiler in our 4 bed house.
We have an ensuite with a thermostatic shower next to the main bathroom where there is currently a bath.
If you run the shower, no water comes out of the bath taps. If we have a new main bathroom fitted with a thermostatic shower, we won't be able to run both showers at the same time in the mornings when the family gets ready. Do you run two at the same time? How do you achieve this please? Any other thoughts? (We honestly can't have a 'have you finished in there? I need to run the shower in here , situation, we might as well have one shower like we do now). Thanks in advance.

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 07/03/2021 08:45

We have 2 electric showers that can run at the same time

PigletJohn · 07/03/2021 08:51

What do you mean by a standard gas boiler?

Have you got a hot water cylinder? What colour?

GappyValley · 07/03/2021 08:52

We’ve got a megaflo system instead of a combi boiler.

Bluntness100 · 07/03/2021 08:52

I don’t think it makes any difference what someone else does, they won’t have your issues. We run two showers at the same time, and it’s fine.

I think it’s your water pressure, but no clue. You’d need to get a plumber in to advise.

User1511 · 07/03/2021 08:53

You need an expansion tank. Cost about £1500 and they’re massive.

SushiGo · 07/03/2021 08:54

It's probably your water pressure that's the problem, definitely sort that before fitting an extra shower or it's just pointless!

WaxOnFeckOff · 07/03/2021 08:56

Just get a pump fitted. We can run two high pressure hot water tank fed thermostatic showers at the same time. 4 adult household so it's impractical to only have one shower running at a time sometimes.

LubaLuca · 07/03/2021 08:57

We have a megaflo tank system thing as well, to allow for multiple taps to run simultaneously. It has its own cupboard, and I have no idea how it works, but it's very effective.

BrigitsBigKnickers · 07/03/2021 08:58

We also have a shower pump that is able to cope with this as our water pressure is too low for coping with 2 showers at a time. Make sure it's fitted properly though - it has to be sited in a specific place in relation to the water tank.

NerdyBird · 07/03/2021 09:14

We run two thermostatic showers - the flow reduces when both are on but it's manageable for us as it's usually just a short crossover. It does sound like your water pressure is an issue.
A pump may help but it will depend on your boiler. Ours is combi so can't have one.

RainingBatsAndFrogs · 07/03/2021 09:36

This is a common issue with combi boilers, I think.

If I was really-doing our house I would have an electric shower in our loft bathroom, which cuts out of someone flushes a toilet.

Midlifephoenix · 07/03/2021 12:12

I have an electric shower and a regular one and both can be on same time. Its been a life saver when the boiler is on the fritz.
You should be able to have both on - either your tank isn't big enough, the pressure is too low or both.

Original poster

NineteenForever · 07/03/2021 17:29

Thanks everyone, we have a boiler which has a water cylinder, a yellow one, in the airing cupboard. Wece been told you can't fit a pump if you change to a combi boiler and the pressure is definitely not grest. Apparently you do have to have a pump 2 feet away/above the tank(?) . Plan is to have a few plumbing co's come and give advice- would like to know more about the Mega flow thing though! , and we've read that a combination blower, although can be unsuitable for a large house, can have a tank too- maybe this is an expansion tank? Thanks for the comments. Absolutely not going to do new shower before boiler questions sorted!

OP posts:

emsyj37 · 07/03/2021 17:32

Following with interest! We are about to re-do the bathroom and en suite and I want to make sure we can run 2 showers at once.

dementedpixie · 07/03/2021 17:32

Do you have expansion tanks in your loft?

dementedpixie · 07/03/2021 17:33

And you don't currently have a combi?

middleager · 07/03/2021 17:35

We can only run one of our two showers at a time on our combi. W are a busy family of four but work around it.
The solution would be to have an electric shower.

BackforGood · 07/03/2021 17:36

We have a combi boiler in a large house (over 4 floors - if you include the basement rooms)
However, our shower on the top floor is electric shower, so no issue running this one at same time as the one in the main bathroom on the 1st floor.
Would that help?

simbobs · 07/03/2021 17:41

We have a combi boiler, and 1 electric and 1 normal shower. We can't run both at the same time, and the electric one cuts out if the water pressure drops but we can usually use the other one. We just work around it. I am told that water pressure in our area is high so I don't know what the problem is.

Yubaba · 07/03/2021 17:42

We run a thermostatic shower and an electric steam shower at the same time off our combi boiler.
We used to have terrible water pressure and if you flushed the loo the shower would stop so we replaced the water main from the house to the street and it’s made a massive difference.

FurierTransform · 07/03/2021 17:50

I have 2 thermostatic showers running off a single 3bar Stuart turner pump & it's great

PigletJohn · 07/03/2021 17:57

@NineteenForever

OK, so you have a yellow cylinder which is therefore vented and quite old.

If you can't run both taps together then probably the cold water tank above is not high enough, or there is a plumbing error. A shower pump would compensate, but is noisy and not a very good solution.

I doubt this cylinder is big enough to hold enough hot water for a bath and a shower. You might get two showers out of it. Its age means that it will take a long time to heat up.

With two bathrooms, a modern cylinder would be better than a combi. Modern cylinders are usually larger. They are better insulated and reheat faster. You can use your old boiler with one. However, you will need a better incoming water supply. You may manage to improve flow obstructions inside the house, but you will probably need a new supply pipe out to the watermain under the pavement. This is not such a big job as you think, though it is tiresome if you have a concrete drive in the way. Gravel and flowerbeds can be dug up for the trench more easily.

To check incoming flow (flow is not the same as pressure) fill a bucket at the cold tap in your kitchen sink (also test the garden tap and utility tap if you have them). Time it to full. How many litres per minute do you get?

RandomMess · 07/03/2021 19:53

We followed PigletJohns advice for our 3 storey home (bathroom on each floor).

Got an unvented cylinder and laid a new water inlet pipe from meter to house. Can have all 3 showers running at once 👌

In our previous small home we had a combi with thermostatic shower valve and that was great there. I hate shower pumps tbh gallons of water being thrown at you.

33goingon64 · 07/03/2021 19:58

We face a combi boiler and a Megaflow. You can have 2 showers running without being frozen out but the pressure does drop a bit and you lose a bit of heat. Vast improvement on not having Megaflow though.

BlackAlys · 13/03/2021 15:30

Watching with interest. Planning a shower in all 3 floors plus bath. In our current house, if someone fills the kettle we hear a shriek from upstairs. Want to improve on this for the next house.

Flip