Need some plumbing advice.

[jojo]

Afternoon all, I need some advice again!

Approx. 4 months ago (I think?), my boiler broke, so in it's place is a brand spanking new combi boiler, I'm very happy with it, it does what it says on the tin!

Anyways, the old system is a gravity fed system, and my house has a shower in the bathroom and a shower cubicle in the ensuite, where the pipes come down from the ceiling. This meant the the installation guy(a gas engineer) had to go into the loft to do the pipe work for my shower to work, and I had this loft insulation stuff put in a few years back, it was an extra large hosepipe sprayed on type insulation, so he had to fight through that to get to the pipes.

Now this engineer didn't give me a fixed fee for installation, instead, he told me it would be 200 quid a day(his daily rate), and he told me up front it was a 3 day job. He's a nice guy, an old guy, he's serviced my original boiler for the last 13 years with very little issue and costs, and the combi boiler he recommended me was at cost price, he ordered it through his trades account, I went to pay and pick it up myself(did a bit of research too just incase), so it's a guy I can trust really. It ended up taking 4.5 days to complete, and with it, the labour to go with it! It was still a cheap install in all honesty, but it was incomplete, and I didn't really wan to pay him another day for the remaining part of the install.

Basically, the shower to my bathroom is not connected, but my ensuite is. Now he's recommended that I go for an electric shower in the bathroom, as a backup, in the case of the combi failing, he even created a spare water feed that I can connect to, but he doesn't do electric showers, so he's not ripping me off here, he's thinking in advance.

Now my question is, apart from access to the bathroom shower pipes being restricted in the loft, is there ANY reason why he would not have connected them up in the loft, whilst he was doing the ensuite pipes, which from what I can see, they are about 1m apart distance between the pipes. I'm pretty sure he went for plastic quick fixing in the loft also, as I can't see it anyways, surely it would have taken him an hour extra max to stick a T piece and split the feed and join them up? Or is there a limit of how many showers you can hook up to a combi boiler?

So my main question, for those in the know, is: Is it OK to pay someone to connect these pipes up in the loft? (I'd attempt it myself, but I hate plumbing), or shall I go down the separate electric shower route he recommended?

 

[newbster]

hi jojo


there is a limit as too how much hot water the combi will supply, the first combi's were pathetic in this respect, they would do about 1/2 a shower
modern ones are much better, there should be a rating of how much hot water it can continuously supply at a specified temperature

can you ask him if there is any reason why you should not connect up?

a point to bear in mind is if your shower is suitable for mains pressure, it was gravity fed before, some showers do not like the full mains pressure, you would need to find the specs for the old shower

 

[jojo]

hi jojo


there is a limit as too how much hot water the combi will supply, the first combi's were pathetic in this respect, they would do about 1/2 a shower
modern ones are much better, there should be a rating of how much hot water it can continuously supply at a specified temperature

can you ask him if there is any reason why you should not connect up?

a point to bear in mind is if your shower is suitable for mains pressure, it was gravity fed before, some showers do not like the full mains pressure, you would need to find the specs for the old shower

Hi, this is most definitely a modern new combi. I don't really want to call him up for advice, as I'm not 100% happy with him. It's been a while since it's all been installed, and I've just been flat out with work to deal with it until now. My ensuite shower had a shower pump, and thinking about it, he may have just tapped into the pipes in the airing cupboard, so got nowhere near the pipes in the loft, he just went up there to seal off the water tanks?

 

[newbster]

is the shower pump still connected?

as you say , he may just have blocked off the header tank, but if the en suite is still working then he must have done something up there

maybe he hates working in lofts, I know I do

 

[jojo]

is the shower pump still connected?

as you say , he may just have blocked off the header tank, but if the en suite is still working then he must have done something up there

maybe he hates working in lofts, I know I do

Nope, the shower pump was removed, as the new combi has a built in pump.

 

[newbster]

very odd, if he went to all the trouble of sorting out the en suite, why not finish it off and do the bathroom.
maybe he ran out of fitting and couldn't be ***** to finish it, who knows

the electric shower is an option, if the combi goes tits up at least you will have some hot water, but no central heating so its probably too cold for a shower anyways

what make/model is the combi?

 

[jojo]

what make/model is the combi?

Off the top of my head, Ideal Logic Plus? He chose this one, because they come with 7yr warranty.

 

[SteveMcB]

Nope, the shower pump was removed, as the new combi has a built in pump.

Combi's only have pumps for the central heating circuit, the hot water at the tap is governed by your mains pressure.

If you have decent mains pressure and your combi has a good flow rate I would have it running both showers. I put a combi in afew years back (which I've just changed for a condenser), it gave a really good shower upstairs but I decided to put an electric shower in downstairs. Electric one (9kw) is crap in comparison and consequently never gets used!

 

[newbster]

spec sheet for models 24 30 35

DHW Flow Rate l/min 9.9 12.4 14.5
at 35°C temp. rise.

you need about 9 l/min at 40 ish for a good shower, so I don't think it will supply both at the same time

,

 

[jojo]

spec sheet for models 24 30 35

DHW Flow Rate l/min 9.9 12.4 14.5
at 35°C temp. rise.

you need about 9 l/min at 40 ish for a good shower, so I don't think it will supply both at the same time

,

It's highly unlikely I will run both showers at the same time, it's just annoying my bathroom shower doesn't work! Lol

 

[jojo]

Combi's only have pumps for the central heating circuit, the hot water at the tap is governed by your mains pressure.

If you have decent mains pressure and your combi has a good flow rate I would have it running both showers. I put a combi in afew years back (which I've just changed for a condenser), it gave a really good shower upstairs but I decided to put an electric shower in downstairs. Electric one (9kw) is crap in comparison and consequently never gets used!

If it's running on mains pressure, then the output is as good as when I had it running the shower pump! Actually, it feel a bit stronger with the combi installed!

 

[newbster]

depends o how good your mains pressure is and what shower pump was fitted

it is entirely possible for the mains fed unit to be more powerful than a shower pump, and vica versa

if your happy with the shower running of the combi, and that you can't run both showers at the same time, I see no reason not to plumb in the second one with the proviso
an electric one will give you some hot water if combi fails,
the shower is suitable for mains pressure - most modern showers are