Can we shower if gas supply cut off?

[mutterphore]

We've got a gas boiler and gas central heating/ gas hob. Tomorrow, the gas supply to the street is being shut off for local gas pipe works.

Does anyone know if our shower (gas heated and NOT electric) will work and is OK to use, obviously with only cold water running through? I don't know if something about the boiler system will mean there's no power to send the water through the pipes or we'll end up with an airlock in the pipes or something like that, if the gas supply is cut?

Should I independently switch off the gas boiler too, once the gas supply is cut off or even before or doesn't it matter?

Wish the gas workers had explained things. All we know is that they're cutting off the gas for the whole day and then need to access the house to switch appliance back on safely.

You should be able to have a cold shower and there is no need for you to turn anything off separately

Without any heat from the boiler the hot water feed will also be cold. I've had to us a shower with the boiler not working and it worked but obviously was cold. The shower was pressure balanced not thermostatic though.

It is probably worth turning off the boiler. If it tries to fire without gas it will trigger a fault code.

Thanks. That's very helpful. I'll turn off the boiler before they cut off the gas in case we get a fault code. None of us mind cold showers - we just wanted to know if we could shower at all and I guess it's possible that there'll be warm water in the tank for a bit until it all cools down, after the gas goes off.

Have you got a hot water cylinder? What colour?

Or a combi boiler?

@PigletJohn it's a greeny-blue hot water cylinder. No we don't have a combi-boiler. It's just gas powered.

If you heat the cylinder before the gas is cut off, you will have hot water until it runs out. A typical blue cylinder holds around 100 litres but it varies with size. It will stay hot for a couple of days or until used up.

Cylinders usually also have an electric immersion heater, the cap is visible in the top with a flexible electrical lead running to a nearby switch. It is intended to be used if the boiler is out of action. So turn yours on.

It heats water at the rate of about one litre per minute (much slower than the boiler) and its thermostat will turn it off once the water is hot. Check that the tapwater is about the right temperature is case there is a fault or it needs adjusting.

Larger Cylinders often have another immersion heater at the bottom. It heats a greater volume of water, which takes longer.

Electricity costs more than gas, so turn it off once the boiler is working again.