Replacement shower advice

lucky245 · Apr 2, 2014

I have an Aqualisa Quarts shower which I love especially as it had the remote outside of shower area for turning on and off. However my combi boiler doesnt seem up to the job and already I have needed to turn down water pressure to get a decent temp shower. I have decided to take the plunge and move to an electric shower. My water presssure is at least 6bar (plumber shocked at pressure we receive) so flow not a problem.

I need to get an electrician in to wire up the power cable and trip etc to feed the supply and as I'm getting new cable fitted anyway I assume little difference in cost of job (bar parts) between cabling for 8.5 and 10.5. Its only a 5m length of cable at most (me being generous) from electric fuse box to top of bathroom (bungalow).

Question: should I buy an 8.5, 9.5 or just go for the 10.5KW Style.

Thanks

NickD · Apr 2, 2014

Difference in cable cost over that kind of length of run should be negligible but cost for the job is not so much about distance as how difficult it is to put the run in and how concealed you want the cable. The installation method of the cable run (how much it prevents the cable from keeping itself cool, basically) will dictate the size of cable and the possible choices on shower power rating. The capacity of your supply at the meter and what else you have installed may be a factor because you don't (in simplistic terms) want to overload your supply.

So basically there are a number of considerations, so get a good sparky in and get them to look at it and quote you. Not sure about NI but in England this job would be notifiable to council building control and the easiest way for you to do that in England is use a Part P scheme registered sparky. The shower will need to be protected by an RCD either within your fuseboard (possibly an existing one) or separately. You don't necessarily need to understand that but make sure it's addressed by the sparky cos it's safety critical. Good luck.

Just noticed you said it's a bungalow which should help considerably if loft access is straightforward.

Knobhead · Apr 2, 2014

Should be in the DIY section.

lucky245 · Apr 2, 2014

Sorry but the schools I went to had DIY as "Do it Yourself" this was a question for qualified electricians as the experts. I had clearly stated I was not intending to do the job myself but hire an electrician and was asking for opinions on the Kw power of the shower I should purchase which would then give me the information needed by the electrician to complete the job safely.

Octopus · Apr 2, 2014

Get the spark to install 10mm cable, the RCD (if you don't have one) and a proper Crabtree 50A isolator then the shower rating is up to you.

lucky245 · Apr 2, 2014

Murdoch said:
Get the spark to install 10mm cable, the RCD (if you don't have one) and a proper Crabtree 50A isolator then the shower rating is up to you.

Thanks that is good advice as it allows me to pick my own shower power. Is it worthwhile getting the 10.5kw over the 8.5kw or is the difference negligible?

Spoon · Apr 2, 2014

Everyone is different. Its hard to advise on something like this. It depends on who is going to use the shower and how you like your shower. Im happy with my 8.5kw and dont want to go bigger, but that's just me.

lucky245 · Apr 2, 2014

Spoon said:
Everyone is different. Its hard to advise on something like this. It depends on who is going to use the shower and how you like your shower. Im happy with my 8.5kw and dont want to go bigger, but that's just me.

Ok thank you