In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Plumbers here that we trust, say Power shower no can do....the solution, as suggested by Chrisnotton, is also a solution to not loosing the hot water supply when someone is taking a shower and someone else is washing plates at the kitchen sink!
QUOTE> However perhaps you mean a shower pump like these:
[url]http://snipurl.com/cf4mh[/url] [www_wickes_co_uk]
For which you need stored hot water and a thermostatic valve in the bathroom to control the temperature. You could manage one of these on your supply.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=chrisnotton;111695]........................However perhaps you mean a shower pump like these:
[url]http://snipurl.com/cf4mh[/url] [www_wickes_co_uk]
For which you need stored hot water and a thermostatic valve in the bathroom to control the temperature. You could manage one of these on your supply....................[/quote]
Don't forget that many [most/all??] pumped systems require both a hot water tank and a cold water tank - so that the 'mixing' in the thermostatic valve takes place at equal pressures. I don't know what happens if you feed the cold direct to the thermostatic valve from the mains - I assume that variations in water pressure [as other taps are turned off/on] would play havoc with the temperature/flow rate from the shower spray.
When I had my power shower fitted in the UK I had to have my old cold tank in the roof replaced with a larger one that could cope with the amounts of cold water required.
There is one major problem with a power shower - once you've used one, you don't want to go back to a normal shower
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
As Alan says, these types are showers are for low pressure systems. Have just copied these details attached below and also had one of these units in the UK.
Quote:
Power showers are mixer showers with integral pumps which increase the rate of flow from the shower head. They can only be installed on low pressure, tank fed systems. The cold water tank should be no less than 50 gallons if supplies many outlets, a 25 gallon cold tank is acceptable for the shower alone. A dedicated hot and cold supply is necessary. The water supply must always be above the unit to ensure that the pump is always primed and does not have to suck any air.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thank you everyone for all the various bits of information/advice, which hubby is busy digesting as I write. Everyone seems to have one in the UK but I rather get the impression they're not too common here in Italy, are they?
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
We have one in the UK and asked for a shower pump when we were designing our house on the Umbrai / Marche border only to be met with blank stares from our geometra and architect. In the end we brought one over from the UK and after much head scratching at the schematic diagram, the euro dropped. However it never got installed and I have to confess that the shower works just fine without. Just to confirm earlier points, we have hot and cold tanks and so it was technically feasible to install, the difficult part was " that is not ow we do things in the commune". But then, they said the same thing about solar panels etc
Good luck
Charlie
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
No not common at all mainly because of a shortage of water in most areas particularly in the summer. In our experience the water suppply is often likely to go off with no warning at all so keep a kettle full just in case!
[quote=Violetta;111662]Help and advice required please as I've drawn a blank trying to explain to the people in our local bathroom outfitting supply shop what I want. Looking for a power shower, one of those box things that boosts the water pressure/and regulates the temperature(?). What are they called in Italian and could anyone recommend a brand? Incidentally, we have 6KW electricity supply. Thanks. V[/quote]
If you mean an electric shower like this then you probably don't have enough electricity for one. Even the smaller ones are about 4kw so you would have to be careful what was switched on when you were showering:
[url]http://snipurl.com/cf4jr[/url] [www_argos_co_uk]
However perhaps you mean a shower pump like these:
[url]http://snipurl.com/cf4mh[/url] [www_wickes_co_uk]
For which you need stored hot water and a thermostatic valve in the bathroom to control the temperature. You could manage one of these on your supply.
I find it is a really handy tip to get a "Screwfix" catalogue & take it with you to any suppliers you frequent as they are pretty comprehansive & you can point to anything you want!
Salve