Showers With Pumps

AndyCr15 · 27 Apr 2019 at 09:19

When we moved into the flat, there wasn't a shower. The hot water came from a tank, so we had a power shower fitted with a pump.

In a couple of weeks we're getting a new combi boiler fitted and my understanding is the flow will be much higher pressure.

This might be a silly question, but I don't know plumbing at all... Is it a problem to still have the pump on the shower?

bazzabear · 27 Apr 2019 at 09:24

I don't think you can have a pump on a combi boiler fed pipe. You need stored water for shower pumps.

Zefan · 27 Apr 2019 at 09:25

You won't need it, as the hot water will now be pressurised by the boiler. I'm not sure how this will interact with a shower with a built in pump - my hope is it would just pass through - but we removed our shower pump when we had our combi boiler fitted. It was removed along with the hot water tank that it lived in the airing cupboard with.

AndyCr15 · 27 Apr 2019 at 09:42

Zefan said:
we removed our shower pump when we had our combi boiler fitted. It was removed along with the hot water tank that it lived in the airing cupboard with.

We have a tank and an immersion boiler going too... so maybe I just ask the British Gas installers very nicely to find the pump and remove it too?

Zefan · 27 Apr 2019 at 09:49

You should be able to hear it, ours was bloody loud - despite being a decent make and not a particularly loud model - and was one of the factors in our decision to remove it! It looked like this and sat directly underneath the hot water tank.

If they're doing a conventional boiler-combi conversion this should be expected/routine I would have thought.

AndyCr15 · 27 Apr 2019 at 09:52

Okay, great. Thanks.

AndyCr15 · 9 May 2019 at 10:24

The British Gas engineer is saying all he can do is disconnect it and that it wont work on the new boiler. He did say it will mean we can get a better shower?

I guess we'll get a plumber booked in, but anyone have recommendations for a decent shower?

Psycho Sonny · 9 May 2019 at 11:41

AndyCr15 said:
The British Gas engineer is saying all he can do is disconnect it and that it wont work on the new boiler. He did say it will mean we can get a better shower?

I guess we'll get a plumber booked in, but anyone have recommendations for a decent shower?

depending on the pump i'd argue they should be the same in terms of pressure. unless it was a cheap pump.

in terms of shower there are a plethora of options and the german makes are usually whats recommended. i would buy something reasonable as valves go after time and will need replacing. or just keep what you have.

AndyCr15 · 9 May 2019 at 21:30

It turns out my bro has ordered one of those ones that runs of the taps... we do have very good water pressure, so maybe it'll be okay?

Sin_Chase · 10 May 2019 at 03:03

If you're getting a combi it won't be an issue. The hot water will be pressurised from the boiler and the cold should be mains pressure.

Thecaferacer · 10 May 2019 at 06:46

It will all depend on how good the new water pressure is. I've seen some really poor showers on combi systems. If that's the case, then something like the aqualisa digital systems for combis are amazing.