The only info I can find on the web seems to be sales oriented. I am looking for info on power showers vs. water pumps, pros and cons & which is ideal. I curerntly have a gravity fed system. Also, why cant pumps work off of MAINS WATER (other than regulations- any real reason?). I am basically looking for something that I can program to heat my shower to a specific temperature. I have 6 shower jets. An LCD display would be ideal. I dont want to feel sudden changes in temperature either. I dont understand why the power shower doesnt fill a water tank for that shower and how it can heat water that may pass through it in less than 1 second. Thanks for your insight.
2007-01-16 00:55:25 · 3 answers · asked by Variant 2 in Environment
More details needed: For a tanked system vs electric, shouldnt there ideally be one tank per bathroom then to ensure that hot water doesnt run out when multiple people are taking showers (think 5-6bed house). Also, seems to me that a nice lcd panel to program the auto heating up of hot water (or adjust temp) for each tank each day would be nice arent these available? Can pumps / electric showers work with solar water heater collectors? Is there any cons to using a 3bar pump and should each bathroom have its own pump? Finally, do horizontal hot water tanks exists, these would be essential for people with 3-4 ft roof spaces (where vertical tanks & cold water tanks above wont fit).
2007-01-16 05:30:43 · update #1
power showers are usally pump based, meaning that the pump raises the pressure in the pipework to the mixer and shower head, meaning more water is deliverd.. giving that invigorating deluge. unless you mean electric showers
the draw back is that they do deliver masses more water, so the conservationists are agin 'em because of that. The precise reasons are you are using more energy (both to heat the water and deliver it, and you are using more water, so some (possibly all) of the perceived benefits of using a shower literally go down the plughole
the altertnative is to use a pressurised hot water system. untill the mid 80's these were illegal in the UK, and the take up since then has been slow). presurised systems are workable in new build and refits.. they are not neccesarily a good idea as a retrofit to an exisitng hot water system... virtually everything needs changing, and their may be doubts over joints int he pipe work or other fittings. Because the hot water system runs at mains pressure (well slightly under) you dont need pumps, you dont need mixer tanks, however if you are talking of supplying multiple rooms then you may well need a much bigger tank(s).
An LCD display doens't give you anythign extra... what I think you are looking for is a high volume stable hot water supply.. you could possibly consider using a separate hot water supply & heating coil, that might work if you could get a good eniugh head on the tank. what you actually want is a stable and predicatble temperature
theromostatic mixer valves are the normal way of smoothing out variation in temperature. effectively it works by choking the theroretical maximum outpuit on the hot water side to cater for variations n the hot water supply or presure (they allow pen the valve further when pressure is low, and close it when pressure is high). if you can isolate your shoiwer system form those probelme you should be OK.
it takes a fair bit of energy to raise cold water to a suitable temperature instantly for showering. Im not a physicist so I dont know the calculations... I do know that an electric shower is horrendously expensive to heat a small amout of water.. think about it.. how long does it take to boild a kettle...... say 3..5 minutes for what around 3..4 litres. so say you wanted water at around half that temperature... its say 5 minutes for 8 litres at 50c, or lets be generous 5 minutes for say 20 litres at 25c (or 50 litres if mixed),
some shower pumps run in excess of 100 gallons per minute (450 litres per minute). so you would need to boil the equivalent of 8..9 kettles (30Kw) to keep your shower going per minute
you can get unconventional shapes and sizes for hot water cylinders.... these have been used for years in boats, although whether there is one readily avaibale in the size you want is debatable (boats tend to have limitations on space, heating capacity and water capacity). you may well be able to get these guys to produce a specialist tank(s).
2007-01-16 01:22:06 · answer #1 · answered by Mark J 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have a shower with pump and it sucks it allways has a problem and no plumber can be botherd to fix it but i don't know about power showers
2007-01-16 01:03:56 · answer #2 · answered by james b 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I just wonder how much water you're using for the shower... GPM?
2007-01-16 02:29:34 · answer #3 · answered by MarauderX 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋