Hi, I have recently installed an electric shower and have very poor pressure at the shower head, all plumbing, filters etc are in order. I was wondering would installing a pump to the cold water feed do any good? Is this possible and safe? Thanks kev
The electric shower temperature dial is just a flow restrictor. It can only heat cold mains water a certain amount in the time it transits the heating chamber. If it's the right temperature then that's all the flow you can have (unless it's blocked when the shower will shut down as it's overheating). Electric showers are all like this. A 10kW shower is a bit pants, anything lower is more so. The only decent showers either have stonking instantaneous heat sources (eg combi boiler) or stored hot water and a pump (power shower or possibly venturi). That's your lot really. In summer things will improve (a bit) as the incoming mains water is warmer to start with.
When you say poor pressure, do you actually mean a poor flow rate? Is the water at the right temperature? What power rating is the shower?
You can't pump water from the mains.
No.
I'd say it's a bit of a generalisation to say 10K showers are pants and lesser power ones more so .I live in a Glasgow Victorian tenement flat ( 2 up) and have a 10.5 K Triton shower and it is excellent .Having said that the mains here has loads of water travelling through it so no doubt that makes a difference .I have always had electric showers and as far as I am concerned they are fine .
Stuart
I actually said "a bit pants". Were I to have no option a 10.5kw shower would certainly do. I was saying they weren't "as good" as a pumped stored water shower (which I used to have) or a combi (which I now have).
The quality of a heated mains water shower is directly proportional to the heat input. Combi's can (generally) manage more than 10.5kw. For a stored water system with a pump the shower is even better (but the hot water may run out!).
I would have agreed with Stuart... until I installed the hot-cylinder- fed power shower: Stuart Turner 3.0 bar "monsoon" pump used. Now anything that doesn't take the top layer of skin off seems tame by comparison!
We still have a 10.4kWatt shower as well (when the tank has run out of hot water) and though it is wonderful in being instant, it lacks the oomph of the power shower.
Mungo :-)
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