To Pump or not to Pump, that is the question! All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[rubyrubinski]

Hi All,

Currently renovating the bathroom, fitting a deluge thermostatic shower into a separate walk in shower cubicle.

The bathroom is on the first floor, the combi boiler is on the ground floor. The old shower over the bath was fine regarding pressure, but to plumb the new shower i was going to take the pipes up to the loft and drop them down.

By doing this i thought if the pressure wasn't good enough i could fit a pump in the loft. By the very fact that i'm extending the pipes into the loft am i creating a problem? Would i just be better piping straight up to the shower, and not taking the water the extra 2 meters up to the loft?

Long time reader, first time blogger.

Many thanks,
Rob

[the2ems]

Don't take my word for it, but I don't think you can run a shower pump from a combi boiler. At least that is what I was told by a British Gas salesman when quoting for e replacement boiler. You can run a shower ok, but not pumped.

[Barry Bunsen]

Yes that is just about right unless you want to fit a new tank in the loft and use it just for the shower via the pump.
Generally speaking a thermostatic shower will work fine in your case as the pressure is more or less mains pressure. If it was me I would pipe up straight to the shower.
A useful tip is to find a friendly neighbour with a similar type of shower and ask if you can look at it working. Their pressure should be similar to yours.

[Barry Bunsen]

[quote="Barry Bunsen"]unless you want to fit a new tank in the loft and use it just for the shower via the pump[/quote]

Sorry. Should have clarified. With a combi the tank would have to feed a pumped electric shower such as one that Triton produce, where the pump is part of the electric shower unit