How to run two showers at the same time?

[SarahJane796]

We are a family of six and need to run two showers at the same time so everyone can get ready in the morning.
the pipe size coming into the house is the max but it’s still weak when both running.
I have tried to understand megaflows and shower pumps but I don’t really get it.
Can anyone recommend a solution?
thanks

what kind of showers do you have?

What shower type? Electric or boiler feed?

What boiler?

Do you have a convential boiler with a hot water tank or a combi boiler?

We have two showers and when our boiler needed to be replaced I asked about a combi boiler and the plumber said it would not run two showers at the same time, so we have a conventional gas boiler and a shower pump.
(but the hot water tank is downstairs and one of the showers is upstairs, but both work off the one pump.)

Megaflow is a pressurised hot water tank. So the boiler heats the water,sends into the tank and then the tank keeps it hot with an internal heating element. If you get a big enough one, you will have enough fast flowing hot water for as many showers as the size of tank will accommodate. They are quite big though and take up the same sort of space as those old pressurised tanks that everyone got rid of when combi boilers came in. You can heat when water with a combi or system boiler.

We have a megaflo and we can't run two showers (despite there being plenty of hot water...it's the pressure); what about some people showering before bed? Then just quick face and hands in the morning for some. I think it's very much a recent thing that people expect to shower first thing every single day...

Yep we have a Megaflow in a pressurised system and can't run two showers
. Onecis downstairs as well, right next to the tank

We have had a water pump on the inflow water pipe. It sounds like a jet engine when in use but brilliant for giving decent pressure. We have a large 4 bed and moved our combi boiler to the loft so there is a lot of pipes for our water to travel to before we can get a powerful shower. The pump has made a massive difference to having decent showers.

We also have a Megaflo and whilst it's technically possible to run 2 showers at once there is a noticeable drop in pressure and temperature (by about half).

We have a ecotec 830 valliant combi boiler . The builder assured us we could run two showers… technically we can, but i wouldnt be able to wash my hair in the loft if someone ran the shower on the 1st floor.
Saying that we still have small lead pipe and hopefully that will increase the pressure…

We don't run 2 showers at the same time though so my post may be moot.

We can run 2 showers at the same time - one operates independently via an unvented cylinder (I think that is what it is) with an immersion heater on it.

We have an unvented cylinder system and can run 2 hot decent showers at once.

One should be normal gas / boiler operated and another electrical.

You need a boiler with a bigger capacity.

We had some sore of Worcester Bosch in a previous house that DH insisted on as several people could shower - it was £10k nearly ten years ago so I imagine they’re even more expensive now.

We have an ecotec boiler 2 and can run 2 (power) showers thanks to the pump installed in the airing cupboard. Without it we'd need to move the hot water tank into the loft and then raise the cold water tank to above it! A good plumber will advise what you need for your setup.

We have an unvented cylinder system thing and we can run four showers simultaneously with no noticeable drop in pressure or temperature.

Thanks for input. We do not currently have a tank. Only a combi boiler.
was considering an electric shower for downstairs and then the one in the loft will be fed by the boiler. Would that work? Would I need a shower pump as well?

The pressure will be rubbish in the electric shower as it can only run water through it as fast as it can heat the water. A pump won't make any difference

You won't be able to run 2 showers with a combi boiler, it's the major downside of them.
You need a pressurised system with a tank.

Your problem is your combi boiler will unlikely be able to feed two showers at once. Adding an electric shower as you suggest will likely lead to low flow pressure. The usual set up for larger households would be to replace the combi boiler with a proper cylinder tank system designed to feed multiple showers and maintain pressure.

We've got a combi boiler and can run two showers at once. Three is a struggle but it doesn't stop the kids trying. It's a Worcester Greenstar 8000 life GR8300iW 45 C and it's not the first one we've had with 3 showers, so there's more than 1 about.

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One shower on Megaflo, the other an electric shower on mains?

I used to have a 40kw combi boiler that would do two showers. It eventually died and I changed it for a 30kw as the plumber said 40kw was unnecessary and now we can’t have two showers on at once.