Should I balk at the shower arrangement?

[DIYalot]

Hi. As a layperson, with limited experience, it's not always clear whether one should balk at something and complain - or not.

Council are putting in a new boiler, replacing the old one that could heat up a cylinder and/or provide central heating. The new boiler won't have a cylinder/tank. So, it will (it must) operate like an instantaneous heater as regarding the supply of hot water to sink and bath. It will also provide central heating to the fitted radiators. Thing is, I thought a new electric shower was going to be fitted. But, looking at what the plumber did today, it looks to me like the shower is going to be fed by the new boiler. And I'm curious about that. If I have it right, the water will have travel about 12 meters to get from the boiler to the shower head. Is everything OK? Or should I have any concerns? Thank you. Richard

 

[picasso]

You will get a much better shower off a combi boiler than an electric shower, rather than complain be thankful they are upgrading your plumbing.

 

[DIYalot]

Council are fitting a combi boiler, OK, I was uncertain about what it is they are fitting, but now I know. If you look closely at my initial post, you should grasp that when I posted I'm not aware that combi boilers are suited for supplying a shower. So, I'm not complaining about anything at all, I'm just trying to find out if everything is OK, after all, when I posted I'm unsure about the arrangement. Funny how people twist things isn't it?

 

[muggles]

Council are fitting a combi boiler, OK, I was uncertain about what it is they are fitting, but now I know. If you look closely at my initial post, you should grasp that when I posted I'm not aware that combi boilers are suited for supplying a shower. So, I'm not complaining about anything at all, I'm just trying to find out if everything is OK, after all, when I posted I'm unsure about the arrangement. Funny how people twist things isn't it?

Yes, a combi boiler can supply a shower.

You'd be surprised at the number of people who do come on here complaining about the free stuff they're getting, so Picasso's assumption in your case is based on past experiences.

 

[bernardgreen]

Yes, a combi boiler can supply a shower.

Yes it can but the shower's performance and comfort is likely to be very different from the performance and comfort of the shower when is was fed from a cylinder of hot water.

 

[Madrab]

The main difference you will see, apart from a much more powerful shower, is that if someone is in the shower, you don't want anyone else using the hot water as a combi will struggle to feed more than one hot water outlet at a time.

 

[muggles]

Yes it can but the shower's performance and comfort is likely to be very different from the performance and comfort of the shower when is was fed from a cylinder of hot water.

Correct, it'll usually be much better

 

[oilhead]

You will also need to get used to running a bath slower (and therefore longer) than you do with a cylinder, but then, you won't have to wait for a cylinder to warm up and you can fill up another storage cupboard where the cylinder was!

 

[bernardgreen]

You will have to accept that there will be no hot water if ( when ) the gas boiler goes faulty. With the cylinder you have the option to have an electric immersion heater to provide hot water when the boiler cannot.

 

[bazdaman]

What does it matter, you will have no choice in the set up they fit

 

[bernardgreen]

What does it matter, you will have no choice in the set up they fit

The set up has to consider the risks of a shower suddenly going cold when a hot tap is turned on and the effect this cold shock can have on a vulnerable person in the shower.

It is often claimed that a thermostatic shower mixer would not allow the shower to suddenly go cold. If there is no pressure on the hot water supply to the shower mixer then the shower mixer has no hot water and the shower can only be cold.