Discussion
The hot water supply in my bathroom is totally feeble - so feeble that it's impossible to get a decent shower via the bath mixer tap because there's just not enough pressure to push the hot water up the hose!
The hot water is from a normal tank, the cold water in the bathroom seems to be direct from the mains.
Can I fit a single impeller pump to the hot water outlet on the tank to solve this? If so, will a pump designed for cold water be ok???
The hot water is from a normal tank, the cold water in the bathroom seems to be direct from the mains.
Can I fit a single impeller pump to the hot water outlet on the tank to solve this? If so, will a pump designed for cold water be ok???
I'm sure someone who knows about pumps will be allong soon but in the meanwhile - I had this problem when I moved in here. I ended up moving the header tank from directly above the HW tank to right up into the eaves as far as it would go, I guestimate about 4-5M higher than where the shower head is now. Cracking showers had by all, though the header is smallish and after about 20 minutes of flat-out showering the level drops in the header sufficiently to make the shower go cold, at which point a few minutes of 'recharge' is needed. Not usually a problem. Cost about 50 squid in speedfit pipe, joints, bits and bats etc. and a nice afternoons work for me & my dad.
I don't like things that hum
Neil
I don't like things that hum
Neil
These go by the cylinder and give you up to 100ft head of water!
www.grantandstone.co.uk/bathroom/monsoon/shower-pumps.htm
www.grantandstone.co.uk/bathroom/monsoon/shower-pumps.htm
miniman said:
The hot water is from a normal tank, the cold water in the bathroom seems to be direct from the mains.
Can I fit a single impeller pump to the hot water outlet on the tank to solve this? If so, will a pump designed for cold water be ok???
I've just figured this out for my own bathroom. It's odd that you have mains pressure water for cold, but gravity fed for hot. Are you sure the cold isn't coming from a header tank in the roof? If not it seems like you have a big imbalance to start with.
Two options. One, get a pressurised HW cylinder (about £700 fitted I think). Two, get a pumped shower. I fell in love with the Aqualisa Axis Digital range and will be fiting one soon:
www.aqualisashowers-direct.co.uk/ishop/1051/shopscr111.html
The water is fed from the roof (where you put the pump) so you don't have to start destroying walls. The quality is superb.
>> Edited by simpo two on Monday 25th July 21:44
mrmaggit said:
As you're in Nottingham, speak to Stuart at G B Willbonds, tell him I sent you. If you need somebody to fit it, mail me.
Thanks for the info - it's Minimax who's in Nottingham but I appreciate the offer nonetheless!
simpo two said:
I fell in love with the Aqualisa Axis Digital range and will be fiting one soon
That looks superb. Probably a bit over budget, but I will definitely take a closer look.
simpo two said:
It's odd that you have mains pressure water for cold, but gravity fed for hot. Are you sure the cold isn't coming from a header tank in the roof? If not it seems like you have a big imbalance to start with.
Yep, it's very strange. I'm 99% sure it's mains cold in the bathroom because when I fitted new taps, I just shut off the mains and the taps stopped. Unless there's some other cleverness going on elsewhere... The imbalance at the moment is horrible. Even a tiny turn of the cold tap blocks off the hot altogether.
There is an alternative to the pump solution. It's far less expensive, doesn't involve electricity, and is very nearly as good as the "pumped power shower".
There is a water only shower unit that is about the same size as and electric shower unit. It uses the pressure of mains cold water to raise the pressure of gravity fed hot water.
It uses hydrodynamic principals, I believe it's an ejector, and assuming that your hot water is nice and hot, and you have reasonable cold water pressure, you can get a really good shower.
Ask at your plumbers merchant.
"Aquadart Hydroflow"
www.home-improvement.co.uk/showers.htm
There is a water only shower unit that is about the same size as and electric shower unit. It uses the pressure of mains cold water to raise the pressure of gravity fed hot water.
It uses hydrodynamic principals, I believe it's an ejector, and assuming that your hot water is nice and hot, and you have reasonable cold water pressure, you can get a really good shower.
Ask at your plumbers merchant.
"Aquadart Hydroflow"
www.home-improvement.co.uk/showers.htm
I have a 'Power Shower' due to poor hot water pressure, it has, I think, a 1hp motor and is very powerful 
a single impellor pump should fit after a mixer tap so that it pumps both hot & cold - you should only pump from a tank not mains, (although I know someone who fitted one to tank hot and mains cold and it works fine - but does contravene regulations etc.), just make sure that you have a big enough hot cylinder so that the pump doesn't drain your cylinder before it can refill (pressure can crush it), only downside is if you get a powercut then the shower is but a dribble. 
a single impellor pump should fit after a mixer tap so that it pumps both hot & cold - you should only pump from a tank not mains, (although I know someone who fitted one to tank hot and mains cold and it works fine - but does contravene regulations etc.), just make sure that you have a big enough hot cylinder so that the pump doesn't drain your cylinder before it can refill (pressure can crush it), only downside is if you get a powercut then the shower is but a dribble. My house has the cold taps in the bathroom directly off the mains, but the hot water from a cylinder in the airing cupboard with a header tank in the loft.
My shower though had cold water supplied directly from the header tank, even so the cold water pressure from the shower was much much greater than the hot. When I did the bathroom out I was able to use a conventional power shower that pumps both hot and cold... Could your shower be like this too?
My shower though had cold water supplied directly from the header tank, even so the cold water pressure from the shower was much much greater than the hot. When I did the bathroom out I was able to use a conventional power shower that pumps both hot and cold... Could your shower be like this too?
d-man said:
My house has the cold taps in the bathroom directly off the mains, but the hot water from a cylinder in the airing cupboard with a header tank in the loft.
My shower though had cold water supplied directly from the header tank,
That's the way it needs to be to comply with regs etc.
My Bathroom is also supplied with cold from mains, except for the shower which is fed from the header tank, as is the Hot cylinder, Just make sure the shower is the first take off point from header tank and cylinder, it is an easy job to fit the pump after a mixer, I did my own and never had any problems.
How about simply connecting a normal electric (i.e. electrically heated, not pumped) shower to the cold mains supply in your bathroom?
That's what I have, since being in a self contained ground floor flat the cold tank is only about 5 feet off the ground, hence no pressure (and of course the hot tank pressure is determined by the height of the cold tank, unless you've got a pressurised tank). So I've simply got an electric shower (10.5 kW) connected to the mains water supply. £150, job done. And you never run out of hot water, except during a power cut, and showering in the dark can be dangerous.
I'm sure someone on PH said that consumer devices aren't supposed to be connected directly to the mains supply, or something to that effect, but that was the setup when I bought the place so I saw no need to change it, other than replacing the old shower with a new one!
That's what I have, since being in a self contained ground floor flat the cold tank is only about 5 feet off the ground, hence no pressure (and of course the hot tank pressure is determined by the height of the cold tank, unless you've got a pressurised tank). So I've simply got an electric shower (10.5 kW) connected to the mains water supply. £150, job done. And you never run out of hot water, except during a power cut, and showering in the dark can be dangerous.
I'm sure someone on PH said that consumer devices aren't supposed to be connected directly to the mains supply, or something to that effect, but that was the setup when I bought the place so I saw no need to change it, other than replacing the old shower with a new one!
munky said:
How about simply connecting a normal electric (i.e. electrically heated, not pumped) shower to the cold mains supply in your bathroom?
I did consider that, but I came to the conclusion that it was going to be more expensive to get a suitable electricity feed up to the bathroom than to install a pump somewhere.
dilbert said:
"Aquadart Hydroflow"
www.home-improvement.co.uk/showers.htm
Seems too good to be true, but a Google search turns up nothing...
I fitted a dual inlet/outlet monsoon pump to pump both hot and cold, it's powerfull enough to power both the 8" shower heads in both of our upstairs showers at the same time. It's fitted in the airing cupboard where the hot tank and the cold supply from the loft tank both are. Works great, better than the weedy flow we had from the electric shower before.
speedyman
speedyman
Chaps,
A timely thread ... I am pondering something similar.
In zcacogp towers, we have a hot-water boiler which heats on demand, hence no tank. You can hear it clicking on and firing up when you turn the hot tap on.
However, the shower is a simple electric-heating cold-feed affair. I am pretty sure that it, along with all the other taps in the bathroom, is connected to mains cold water.
We would very much like to fit a power shower as our old place had one, and they are lovely.
How would I be best advised to connect it up? I am thinking of a twin-impeller job from screwfix. Can I connect it straight to a main-pressure cold pipe, and an outlet from our boiler (as described above)?
All advice welcomed!
Oli.
A timely thread ... I am pondering something similar.
In zcacogp towers, we have a hot-water boiler which heats on demand, hence no tank. You can hear it clicking on and firing up when you turn the hot tap on.
However, the shower is a simple electric-heating cold-feed affair. I am pretty sure that it, along with all the other taps in the bathroom, is connected to mains cold water.
We would very much like to fit a power shower as our old place had one, and they are lovely.
How would I be best advised to connect it up? I am thinking of a twin-impeller job from screwfix. Can I connect it straight to a main-pressure cold pipe, and an outlet from our boiler (as described above)?
All advice welcomed!
Oli.
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