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DIY Forum >> Electrical Questions >> Electric Shower https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1097618257 Message started by spongebob on Oct 12th, 2004, 10:57pm |
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Title: Electric Shower Post by spongebob on Oct 12th, 2004, 10:57pm Our existing 7kW shower is looking a bit sick now. Have looked at a replacement 9.5kW shower. The notes on the box recommend a 40amp MCB, however I seem to remember reading somewhere that a 45amp was the correct rating. As I've seen some manufacturers claimimg that 6mm cable is o.k. for their high powered showers I was just wondering if this recommendation is correct. In a similar vein, I've heard of some showers that operate from a seperate cold water tank. Has anyone come across these? Do they also heat the incoming water? It's another option worth exploring and would overcome potential problems when another cold water draw off is used. In my mind the ideal solution would be a nice mixer shower to run off the combi, but wifey is concerned that if the combi ever packed up we would be without washing facilities. Mind, if we ever had a power cut we'd be stuffed anyway. 8) |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by L.Spark on Oct 12th, 2004, 11:40pm Power showers are good, but some people insist on electric ::) For a 9.5kW shower that eqautes to 41.3A, there for 10mm cable would be required, a 45A breaker would cover the protection, altho 40A should be ok. The top model showers usualy pump the water aswel as heat it, not sure about the water tank idea..usualy it's just a cold water feed from mains and the shower heats the water, effectivly the electric shower is just a water heater, but with more controlls. |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by plugwash on Oct 13th, 2004, 8:24am wrote on Oct 12th, 2004, 11:40pm:
i consider it a bad idea to have shower and bath relying on the same thing especially when its a tank that has a tendency to run out an electric shower is totally independent of the houses hot water/central heating system and i think that is a very good thing |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by Lectrician on Oct 13th, 2004, 5:45pm There are pumped electric showers available for use with a tank. They empty it pretty quickly though. They are very noisy, not a relaxing shower ;D |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by spongebob on Oct 13th, 2004, 10:49pm Looks like we'll be sticking with the instantaneous assuming I can get a MCB. Our CU is a Crabtree SB6000. Rang some whloesalers today. One said no chance and another wanted 30 quid. CEF said that their Proteus range is compatible. Having a little knowledge of trade counter staff and from reading various posts I'm a little apprehensive about accepting their advice straight off. If I can't get the correct MCB I may as well go for a mixer shower and hope we have an indestructible combi. Thanks for the info so far chaps. |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by L.Spark on Oct 14th, 2004, 12:05am don't pay £30 for it, £10 max :( |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by ban-all-sheds on Oct 14th, 2004, 3:36pm Spongebob - if you're putting in 10mm, and a new breaker, go for a 10.5 - 11.5 kW shower on a 50A breaker. Re the loss of boiler in a power cut - check what load it is - mine's under 200W, which is well within the range of a low cost inverter, so you could rig something up to drive it, or if you have a flaky supply, but don't want to go down the route of having a generator, buy a cheap UPS off eBay, and power the boiler from that. |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by L.Spark on Oct 14th, 2004, 3:41pm With a 50A pull cord |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by spongebob on Oct 14th, 2004, 11:07pm Ban...it's looking like a 9.5kw due to the fact that wifey has been out today and purchased it. She is now wanting it fit like yesterday. Can't get it through to her about the MCB. Thanks for the advice on the boiler. Just as soon as I figure out what an inverter and a ups are I'll look into it. Actually the boiler is scheduled to be moved into an outhouse (another job on the seemingly never-ending list) so an alternative mode of powering it in an emergency wouldn't look out of place in there. |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by L.Spark on Oct 15th, 2004, 12:36am Hey Sponge Nothing wrong with a 9.5kW Shower :) a UPS means 'Uninterruptible Power Supply' These can be in all shapes and sizes, from large generator systems in hospitals to kick in if there’s a main power loss, or smaller systems for keeping computers online etc. An inverter will convert DC power to AC power, often used in cars from the 12V DC battery in the car, to transform to 230V DC, however there are all different types of Inverters, and for different purposes. |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by spongebob on Oct 18th, 2004, 10:51pm I had a look at the UPS on offer on the net, ( not done e-bay yet), They're not cheap and seem to be aimed mainly at p.c's. After seeing the front page of the Daily Express today, I think that I'll shortly be joining the list of panic buyers in search of emergency back up power supplies. I reckon an inverter is out of the question cos I'll need to store and charge batteries, so it looks as if I'll have to get a generator. Never struck me before but we also have an electric oven and hob. Don't suppose there's anything out there that will run those. I know that there probably is but I don't want some great big massive thing cluttering up my outhouse and keeping me awake through the night. |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by L.Spark on Oct 18th, 2004, 11:04pm lol, Plugwash is your man for UPS, he has links to UPS systems large enough to power a small town ;D only kidding, yes they are pricey, im certainly not rushing to get any UPS, altho we do have a medium sized generator here if we ever got stuck and needed power :) |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by supersparky on Oct 18th, 2004, 11:04pm keep you awake...ittal keep the whole town awake ;D theres some big gennys on e-bay i also keep meaning to get something sorted on the backup front, but cant be arsed to spend out... in mean time ive got plenty of batterys and brought a cheep small ups a while back one of my jobs on the list was to instal emergency sockets arround the house had a feeling we would ahve need for em soon..slightly un nerving, that they publish something today...i dident even see it ss |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by L.Spark on Oct 18th, 2004, 11:08pm Same, and I don't think I want too really ::) |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by supersparky on Oct 18th, 2004, 11:30pm http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=46412&item=4329694760&rd=1 |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by plugwash on Oct 18th, 2004, 11:38pm you wan't a big ups ;) http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SL480KH i dread to think what it costs though 480KW!!!! |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by L.Spark on Oct 18th, 2004, 11:48pm hahhaha, what have I done lol ;D |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by sparkyjonny on Oct 19th, 2004, 8:30am Given the rarety of power cuts (unless you're in the country) buy a suitable inverter (£50ish) and just hook it up to your car battery with the engine running so the alternator charges it - if this is feasible where you live without it being nicked!! Maybe fit a gate or bollard behind the car? On the cooking side, buy a small camping gas stove for around £20 - far more useful! Or forget all this & just have a gas fire in the lounge & use hot water bottles!! |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by ban-all-sheds on Oct 19th, 2004, 10:31am wrote on Oct 18th, 2004, 11:38pm:
Well a 5kVA one is about £5K, so if the pricing is linear.... |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by Lectrician on Oct 19th, 2004, 8:43pm Our bigest job last year was an automatic changeover switch and genset - 315KvA - YUM :) |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by supersparky on Oct 19th, 2004, 8:45pm parts cost ??? ;D lol i have a nice big brick built shed and....ill stop there! ss |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by Lectrician on Oct 20th, 2004, 11:03am Could of bought several cars for the money!! And deisel it drinks when running!!! Great bit of kit, the gens fan blowing over the radiator blows out through a wall vent, and kills the grass!!! The heat is incredible!!! Fire it up once a month no load, and run in for 24hr onload every 6months. |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by spongebob on Oct 21st, 2004, 12:34am Daily Mail today ran a similar story to the one in the EXpress on Monday. Until I sat and thought about it I didn't realise how dependent we were on electricity. Boiler, fire, oven and hob, phone and all the appliances. When we first moved here almost seven years ago we had regular power cuts and we're not out in the country. We survived, but if they ever return I plan to make life a little bit more bearable. Panic buying here we come. P.S. Got new shower in yesterday. Far superior to previous 7kw, but how do you guys cope with that 10mm all the time? 10mm had previously been run in from CU to shower switch, that was bad enough. Needed a short length from swithch to shower that I got from a local shed. It must have been an odd-ball as it was slightly bigger than the existing. Was tempted to snip a couple of the cores to make it more manageable but I got there in the end. |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by plugwash on Oct 21st, 2004, 12:48am phones at least the normal pstn variety are powered from the exchange which has its own backup power systems probablly of datacentre grade if my only phone relied on local power i would wan't a backup source for it |
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Title: Re: Electric Shower Post by L.Spark on Oct 21st, 2004, 2:22pm wrote on Oct 21st, 2004, 12:34am:
Difficult to work with but has to be done sometimes, no tight bends etc Quote:
Never snip any strands of copper out as this will limit its current carrying capacity |
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