help wanted - im a newbie in need! All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[kevlar.cola]

Have just purchased a new thermostatic mixer shower and about to embark on plumbing it in.
We have a vented low pressure system with an indirect cylinder, fortunately the site for the shower is almost under the loft area where the cylinder sits so im hoping should be easier to fit??
My question is - I was going to connect cold to shower from the incoming cold feed (header tank to cylinder), and the hot to shower from the hot feed to the taps (out of the top of the cylinder). Is this OK to do?? Also I am concerned about pressure, will there be enough to get wet in the shower?
Cost is a major issue as just been made redundant so was hoping not to need to buy a pump - or should I just get an electric shower???????

Many thanks
confused and concerned!!

[htg engineer]

I'd go for an electric shower, fed from the mains. You'll get a better flow rate. If the shower was on the ground floor and the tanks in the loft - you would have the head/height to give a decent shower.


htg

[rosebery]

You have two choices:

First is take it back and fit an electric as Htg suggests. The "but" is that you'll need a qualified sparks to do the electrics for you and it will need a new dedicated RCD circuit from the consumer unit in 6 or 10mm CSA cable. THis will be an additional cost to balance against option 2 and it won't cost £ 20.00!

Second choice is stick with the mixer shower but you can't pipe it the way you suggested. BOTH hot and cold must be separate from other draw offs. So you'll need a new connection in the CWST for the cold and fit an appropriate flange in the HW cylinder to give you a separate hot draw off. You can pipe it from the vent but you can't just tee into it as is - you'll have to adjust that pipework too to give you a 45 degree element into which to tee. Its almost inevitable that if you keep the thermo mixer you will have to pump it given the static head that you will have between the CWST and the shower head - which will be miserable TBH!

Sorry but either solution isn't tuppence to achieve.

Cheers

[Perry525]

First of all check that you have bought a low pressure mixer – a high pressure mixer won't work.
Then check that you have enough height in the loft to raise the cold water tank by three to four feet, more if possible.
Raise the tank as high as possible on a platform.
Fit a separate dedicated 22mm pipe to the tank as a cold feed to the shower, taking the 22mm feed as close as you can get it to the shower.
Then if you do not have an immersion heater fit a 22mm pipe into the centre of the cap and continue the pipe to the shower.
If you do have an immersion heater then proceed as Rosebery.
This will enable you to have a decent shower and cost very little to do, and after all what better way to pass the time than doing something useful, that will make you happy.

[rosebery]

Agree with Perry that raising the tank is an option but IMO it seldom achieves very much in terms of static head improvement even if theres the headroom to do it. But its still an option.

Cheers