Boosting shower pressure with an unvented system

[8-P]

Hi All,

Some years back we had an unvented system fitted(Megaflo) it replaced a noisy shower pump on one shower(en-suite the opposite end of the house to the tank)and a low pressure output on the shower right below the tank.

I’ve never been blown away by the pressure of either shower(better on the one under the tank). As soon as anyone runs a tap at the same time it’s terrible.

Anyway enough is enough- I’d like to get some sort of pump fitted to give us reliable shower pressure without a load of noise.

Any experiences of this welcome please.

[OutInTheShed]

You can get systems with a buffer tank and a pump.

But before you look into that, it's worth checking where the pressure drop is happening.

I improved the shower in one house a lot by finding a bigger bore shower hose and a low-pressure shower head.
Also you may have a pressure regulation valve on the incoming supply, these often seem to silt up over time.

Measure the flow of the shower.
Like wise your kitchen tap and outdoor tap if you have one.
Get a pressure gauge. You want to know if the pressure where the main enters the house drops a lot when the shower is running.
Basically, can the incoming supply keep up with what you want from a shower?
I have relatives in Kent, their mains pressure has been reduced because people whine about leaks.
The contractual pressure and flow the water co has to give you may be less than you expect!
IF your supply is adequate, then you want to find the restrictions in your house.

[gmaz]

OutInTheShed said:

I improved the shower in one house a lot by finding a bigger bore shower hose and a low-pressure shower head.
Also you may have a pressure regulation valve on the incoming supply, these often seem to silt up over time.

I was just about to recommend a large bore hose.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01F3UL1PY?ref_=ppx_hz...

[OutInTheShed]

gmaz said:

I was just about to recommend a large bore hose.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01F3UL1PY?ref_=ppx_hz...

but don't have a 1.75m one if you only need 4ft...
:-)


There are other ways of reducing the flow, not all mixer valves are the same, they have little gauze filters in which fill with chalk etc,
Some even have restrictors in, because the expectation is that the mains pressure will be high.

You can fit an inline pump, but you don't want to be creating a vacuum in the mains and sucking air into the system when another tap is open.

[8-P]

Thanks - this is the shower.

https://www.mirashowers.co.uk/p/showers/shop-mixer...

Needless to say the non fixed head on the hose feels more powerful because it has less holes. Ive checked the mesh washer and no issue actually I might have removed it I forget now.

[Magic919]

Have a look at fitting a break tank and a pump. Stuart Turner do some, but Powertank have a good following.

[Regbuser]

Make sure the megaflo has been correctly pressurised

[blueg33]

Have you regenerated the air bubble in the mega flow?

We have a 20 year old megaflow, pressure is great. It runs 3 showers with great pressure. Plus 2 baths and multiple basins.

[WrekinCrew]

I have a Grundfos Scala 2 on the incoming mains. Does the job really well but starts to leak every few years and needs new seals.

[OutInTheShed]

Regbuser said:

Make sure the megaflo has been correctly pressurised

This is one reason why it's useful to understand where the restriction in the system is.
If the main will only supply a certain combination of pressure and flow rate, anything downstream can only make that worse.

The starting point really should to know what flow rate you want and what pressure your shower needs.

Bear in mind perhaps, a mega jetwash power shower costs actual money to provide the water and heat.

If your garden hose gives a mega flow rate through a jet nozzle, while your shower is limp. then the problem is restriction in your house somewhere.
If your garden hose or kitchen tap won't give a decent flow rate, the problem seems to be on the supply side. Which is when you think the old fashioned tank in the loft and a shower pump was not such a bad idea.
A couple of houses ago, I made a gravity system without a pump, provide an OK shower, just raised the header tank a bit and chose a few bits carefully.
IT was much better than the other shower which was a 10kW electric off the incoming water main.

Check out your water company's minimum pressure and flow rate, it may surprise you how little it is!
In reality, most people get more, because not everyone is the highest on the local water main.

[paralla]

All our water pressure and flow problems were solved when we had a 500L Powertank with a variable speed pump installed. I m a big fan. It can flow 80L/m at 3 bar.

https://powertank.co.uk/powertank-utility/

Edited by paralla on Friday 6th November 08:24

[QuickQuack]

We had a pump but it was a noisy barsteward and could only run one shower. We then got a Gledhill Torrent heat exchanger hot water tank and it has been revolutionary. We get mains pressure at 3-4 showers simultaneously without a problem. It was so good that we replaced the second hot water tank connected to the other 2 bathrooms with a slightly smaller one. We can now run 5-6 showers all at the same time, at mains pressure and with no pump noise. It really is like magic! Even better, with an EV tariff, the immersion heaters have been cheaper to run at night than using gas. Mad, but true.