Electric shower running cold

[tj2002]

I live in a shared 3 bed house with 2 other people. In the last couple of weeks we've been having to turn up the dial on the fairly new electric shower in order to get the same temperature as we used to get further down the dial.

When I went to get a shower last night it refused to get hot. I e-mailed the landlord today and he has advised that the thermostat may have been played with and needs to be set to 20 degrees and the water set to heat on the combi bolier switch.

Surely the electric shower and gas central heating system are mutually exclusive? Sounds like a very strange system to me? Any advice from the always knowledgable PH crew?

[EmmaP]

Could be that the fuse has gone. Landlord should get qualified electrician to check though

[tj2002]

But I'm right in thinking that the central heating system should have bugger all to do with the electric shower in the bathroom?

[frosted]

No , it could just be a power shower that feeds from the boiler

[oOTomOo]

Or if it is an electric shower some have 'summer' and 'winter' modes, someone might have flicked it to the summer mode.

[tj2002]

Thanks for the replies. Pretty sure it doesn't have any fancy modes on it and it's an on the wall electric shower, not a mixer. I thought they heated the water in the shower unit itself?

[Ganglandboss]

tj2002 said:

I live in a shared 3 bed house with 2 other people. In the last couple of weeks we've been having to turn up the dial on the fairly new electric shower in order to get the same temperature as we used to get further down the dial.

When I went to get a shower last night it refused to get hot. I e-mailed the landlord today and he has advised that the thermostat may have been played with and needs to be set to 20 degrees and the water set to heat on the combi bolier switch.

Surely the electric shower and gas central heating system are mutually exclusive? Sounds like a very strange system to me? Any advice from the always knowledgable PH crew?

Is it definitely an electric shower and is it definitely a combi?

Power showers look similar but work differently. An electric shower heats cold water from a tank or the mains using an element whereas a power shower has an integral (or remote) pump that boosts the hot and cold water.

Is the hot water 'switch' on the boiler or a separate programmer? Do you have a hot water cylinder anywhere? Also, are you sure he said 20 degrees?

[Ferg]

If it's a Combination Boiler it won't have a power shower on it.
I'd guess that one of the elements in the shower has gone.

[tj2002]

Theres an immersion heater next to the bathroom which should always be off but some idiot turned on recently resulting in a massive electric bill!

The combi boiler is in the kitchen, linked to that is a timer with a switch which has an off setting, a water setting and heating & water. The landlord is saying that we need this set to heating and water and have the thermostat set to around 20 degrees. I'll find out the shower model later and I guess we'll no what water supply it uses.

[Ferg]

A Combination Boiler AND an immersion heater (cylinder)...really??
That's VERY unusual. Does the boiler burner fire up in response to the hot tap being used?

[tj2002]

I'd have thought the immersion is pretty much redundant but is still in place for some reason. The combi makes a noise when you use the hot tap or put the CH on yes.

[Ferg]

Weird.
Try turning the main stopcock off and operating the shower briefly. If it doesn't... it's an electric shower and I still think it's probably got a dead element, although they usually trip the power.

Edited by Ferg on Tuesday 12th October 17:41

[Wings]

Just had the same problem with an electric shower in a rented property, easier to change shower with like for like, being no change in plumbing, electrics etc. so bought online and received, fitted within 48 hours.

[tj2002]

Well the shower is working fine as long as we have the combi boiler on so it would appear it's a manual power shower. It's quite similar to this one
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8...

Thanks for the advice folks