Power showers / electric showers - help

Question

help - i kow this sounds strange and REALLY not safe- but i thought my shower was electric but i think the engine may have burnt out (as it stopped working a few months back and there was a burning smell but it started working again) - however now the only time the water is warm is when i put my oil heating on to heat my water (i dont think my emersion works either - but thats a whole other story)

i went to B&Q last night to buy a new shower and the sales guy said i may have just had a power shower all along which works off the main water supply and doesnt heat the water (this is all new to me i dont have a CLUE about plumbing)

basically i want to have an electric shower that will heat up at touch of a button - but the sales guy said if i just have a power shower at the moment that ill have to pay extra to get my bathroom wired up for an electric shower

soooo after all that ...

1) how do i find out if my existing shower is electric or power?

2) how much do you reckon it would cost to wire up my bathroom for an elecric shower?

3)ps if youve any clues on how to fix my emersion heater too that would be great

not asking much am I ??

=)

thanks in advance

kind regards

cathy

Answer 1

Power showers can also be electric showers. Some power showers have the pump built inside the unit and will still have an isolator switch on the wall out side the room or a pull cord on the ceiling.An instant electric shower will only have 1 supply pipe and a big thick cable,the power shower has 2 pipes.

Employ a plumber to check out the faults and to carry out any necessary repairs.The element in the tank might just be needing a thermostat and the shower might be repairable.The shower does sound like some kind of thermostatic mixer shower as it does work when you heat the water in the tank via the oil boiler.

Swapping the shower like for like will be your cheapest option.

Answer 2

It could be a power shower,which may have a pump under the bath with a burnt out motor(smell).They run off the hot and cold supply.An electric shower only runs off the cold supply,As for the emersion it could be a fuse or an element in the water cylinder has gone.As for cost of replacing £200>£300plus materials.As for finding if its elec or power the main fuse box will have a 45amp fuse for the Electric shower

Answer 3

If it is electric you will have either a pull switch in the bathroom or a wall switch outside the bathroom with a red light which tells you if it's on. If you don't have that, it's not electric.

The cost would depend on how far the shower is from your main consumer unit (the box with all the fuses in), and weather you have a spare fuse they could use.

Your immersion heater is easy. Find your hot water tank in the airing cupboard. Turn the water off. Turn the immersion heater off. Unscrew the big fitting at the top which is slightly off centre. Pull out the heater element. Fit a new one of the same size, making sure you put the wires on the same way as before. Or maybe better for you, call a plumber.

Answer 4

remove cover from shower and see if there are any wires, don't know how much electrician would charge but it is not difficult job to wire in a shower