which electric shower?

[John Rumm]

Who cares?

Isn't it nice being able to have rational conversations again without all the "noise"? ;-)

[John Rumm]

Sounds like it may have been just that - a power shower. You can get some that you install in the shower itself, and they look just like an "electric" shower. The difference is they pump and don't heat. So you still need a supply of hot water from another source.

If it was like described above then it would be.

Power shower yes. Power shower with heating, in theory yes (although I have not seen one). In either case you can only pump from a stored water system - you are not allowed to pump directly from the mains (or hence from a combis DHW supply either).

[Christian McArdle]

A power shower is different from an electric shower.

An electric shower actually heats the water, but doesn't pump it.

A power shower pumps the water, but doesn't heat it.

To have the latter, you normally need a storage based hot water system, not a standard combi installation.

The combi relies on your mains water pressure. If this is good, then it can be as good as a power shower. If it is poor, then it won't work as well.

However, there is a hybrid solution if you have poor mains water pressure and don't want a hot water cylinder. You can put a cold water tank in the loft and still pass it through the combi boiler using a shower pump.

Christian.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

This is strange, given the smallest combi is much more than 10kW.

[graham]

It certainly wasn't just a power shower. The unit contained its own heating element.

Turning the unit down to the lowest flow rate would cause the internal thermostat to trip the power off to the heater - you would hear a distinctive click.

The water would continue to run. Turning the flow rate to maximum you would continue to get cold water from the unit until you heard a further click within the unit and then it would start to produce hot water again.

Listening to the shower unit you can actually hear the boiling noise from the heater element.

The lights in the bathroom would also dim when the heater unit switched on within the unit.

Graham

[graham]

I've found the shower in question. Triton T90si.

It both pumps the water (albeit from a cold water header tank) and heats the water. I suppose you would call it an electric power shower.

Graham

[manatbandq]

Read the instructions very carefully - it MUST be gravity fed from a cold storage tank. It is not suitable for the OP who has no tanks.

MBQ

[Christian McArdle]

Yes, unless the combi installation is knackered, the OP probably has poor mains supply. Changing the shower type will not improve performance, unless a cold water tank and pump is installed in some manner or form.

Christian.