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barbelhunter · Joined: 24 Apr 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Leigh, England

My old electric Triton T80 shower has served me well but the water pressure (mains) has never been great. I don't really want to have to upgrade the electric shower & install 10mm cable etc etc just for a slight improvement in results.

I'd far prefer to fit a new fancy Thermostatic Mixer and pump the indirect hot and cold supplies. There's always plenty of hot water in the tank when we need it so may as well use it.

Most people seem to use a twin impeller pump but I was thinking of a high quality single impeller pump on the outlet side of the mixer which feeds the shower head.

Are there any serious drawbacks to this method? Am I missing something?

Many thanks in advance.

thescruff · Moderator Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 4164 Location: Bath

Am I missing something Rolling Eyes

Quite a lot I would think.

If you are suppling the shower from the storage tank and cylinder, why not get an shower with a built in pump

barbelhunter · Joined: 24 Apr 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Leigh, England

To be honest I think I just assumed these were less reliable, less effective than having a separate sturdy pump as i have no experience of them.....but if you reckon they are worth considering then I will definately have a closer look. Cheers

thescruff · Moderator Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 4164 Location: Bath

I have not heard anything bad about them, and they seem to be reliable.

Obviously an Stuart Turner 3 bar pump cannot be compared provided it is installed right, it really depends what you are looking for.

Big pumps are great for power showers and the like, but they use a lot of water, so you may have to increase the cold and hot water storage to accommodate.

cleverdick · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 41

Hi,
Without wishing to butt into somebody else's conversation, I recently installed a Stuart Turner Monsoon 1 bar twin pump and it's absolutely fantastic. It's brass-bodied and looks like it'll go the distance. The shower is a Bristan Chill with surface valve. The flow rate is more than adequate - Bristan actually recommend (on this shower) that if pressure exceeds 1 bar, that the flow restrictors are fitted to the valve inlets. I was originally going to get a 2 bar pump, but with this in mind I thought that the end result might be worse than the 1 bar without the restrictors. Another thing, a single impeller pump is of course only suitable for built-in (recessed) valves. The Stuart Turner website has a lot of very useful technical information, and I had no trouble reaching somebody with technical knowledge when I rang them with a query. OK, they're not cheap, but it's an investment that should pay off long-term. Do shop around though as prices vary considerably.