I've got an electric shower currently straight from my mains water supply, the problem is during summer the water pressure is terrible, Can I get a separate pump and connect it into the shower's supply & run it from a header tank? Or, do I need to get a shower with a built in pump?

I aint no plumber, I only earn £90000 per hour :eek:

But I did have a plumber in last week to quote for moving my boiler into the loft. The water pressure is determined by the height difference between the tank and the boiler. I am moving the boiler into the loft next to the tank so have been told I will need a water pump to push the water through to the boiler. Cost of the the pump is around £100-150.

So i think the answer to your question is yes, you can get a pump from the header tank to the boiler which will increase water pressure throughout the house and therefore to your showewr also.

hope this helps :D

Being an electric shower, I think that the supply is JUST from the mains water, and it is heated up in the actual shower?

I think you would have to spend a lot on a pump, as it will need to take mains pressure, and Im sure that would blow most apart

Depends upon the shower's maximum working pressure etc.

What shower is it?

Get yourself a power shower

Scooby96 - IIRC, in general, most power showers don't work off mains, they require headers in the loft so you have hot and cold pressures nearer balance (typically they can cope with max 4:1 pressure difference, IIRC)

To answer the original question - I have no idea about pumps that can handle mains, the problem is that many pumps are high flow, and the mains will only let you flow a certain amoun. It may be an option to put a header tank in the loft, and then a pump, but that isn't the easiest thing to do. If you've got one there already and can alter your plumbing to suit - then you can buy a power shower!

Why don't you buy a venturi shower which use's mains water and tank fed hot water without a pump but gives a power shower effect. The shower works in the same principle as a venturi carburettor (pre fuel injection) for all you youngsters.

Mog

Ive currently get a venturi shower and have not problems. From what I've seen on most of the older electrical showers the flow is limited by how quickly the water can be heated and not the mains pressure.

What kind of boiler do you have as this could restrict what showers you can fit.

If the problem is much worse during the summer, it must be down to mains pressure, not the rate that the electric shower heats the water. If it's bad all year round, and slightly worse in the winter, the shower is probably the limiting factor, and a bigger electric shower may cure the issue.

Hopefully an obvious question, but I assume that you have got the main stop cock on the rising main wide open? A lot of people have it barely open, and opening that right up will give you much better pressure at a given flow rate.

Hades, yes I do have the stopcock open wide:)

I have a combi boiler, which you can't run a power shower off, the problem is with the mains supply, as it is common to my area (I have asked neighbours). If I fit a pump it will not have to cope with mains pressure, as I will run it from a header tank. according to the label the shower will stand water pressure up to 6 bar (which is way over mains I think).

You cant boost an electrically heated shower, there would be too much water passing through it for it to be able to heat it quick enough.

Sorry, Kev, but that's b*ll*cks. You can boost it up to a point, even if you have to regulate the pressure you boost it to. (IIRC, I have seen electric showers which can handle 10bar)

A 10.5kW shower can heat quite a lot of water, and if you have low mains pressure, it is the mains that will be the limiting factor. You can therefore boost the pressure up to a certain point, after which the rate the shower can heat the water becomes the limiting factor, and boosting it any more is not an option. It seems to be clear in this case that it is the mains pressure, not the rate the shower can heat the water is the limiting factor, so boosting it would have benefits.

The benefits of trying to boost flow from the mains as opposed to a header tank are slightly more debatable.

Backing up what hades says, unlike most electric showers I have come across, the flow doesn't alter when you crank up the temperature, therefore the elements must be able to heat more water than the mains is supplying?

So going back to the original question....
Can u fit a water pump to boost flow?? !!
;)

NOT ON THE COLD WATER MAIN...................

Mog, Why you no listen? I'm not wanting to boost the mains, I want to pump feed from a tank!

So currently you have:

o- No stored hot water
o- No stored cold water
o- Combi boiler
o- Low water pressure.

Normally if you installing a pump its placed either between the mixer and shower head or before the mixer (pumping both hot and cold water). Even if you install a cold water tank you still can not pump your hot water as it comes from the mains. You could try just pumping the cold water from a tank with a venturi shower.

[Edited by orbv - 12/22/2003 1:27:26 PM]

QUOTE:...........
I aint no plumber, I only earn £90000 per hour

But I did have a plumber in last week to quote for moving my boiler into the loft. The water pressure is determined by the height difference between the tank and the boiler. I am moving the boiler into the loft next to the tank so have been told I will need a water pump to push the water through to the boiler. Cost of the the pump is around £100-150.

So i think the answer to your question is yes, you can get a pump from the header tank to the boiler which will increase water pressure throughout the house and therefore to your showewr also.

hope this helps .....

Your right,you aint no plumber !!!!:D:D;) He's got a electric shower!!

Most/if not all electric showers need to be fed from the cold main.
If you put a normal type of shower in you can fit a pump(hot from cylinder,cold from storage tank).

How do you get your hot water?Cylinder or combi boiler?


Dunc.Plumber +corgi reg installer:)

You all forget that water is many degrees colder in winter - particularly if it has turned into to ice ;)

Also, have you had your pressure monitored recently? This would seem key to a solution...

Hate electric showers!

D

Update:

I have experimented with a self starting pump with the following results.

1. The shower is more than able to cope with the increased pressure, resulting in an excellent 'pressure washer' effect. Thus proving that in principle it works.

2. The shut-off valve within the shower requires a certain water pressure to close off, the head pressure created by the tank is not enough, resulting in a trickle through when the shower is switched off. This trickle is enough to start the pump, which in turn creates enough pressure to operate the shut-off valve fully, which stops the pump, which stops the pressure, which opens the valve, etc. The result is a 'hunting' effect when the shower is switched off.


The obvious solution is to buy a Mira pumped electric shower, but first I am going to try a N/C solenoid valve in the line, because I can:D