electric shower

[woody2122]

How easy is it to install an electric shower in bathroom in france ie how much do they cost or is it cheaper to buy one from argos from the uk, what size cable ie twin and earth 2.5mm, and do I need a seperate braker and what size like 8amp or 16 amp

[Chancer]

Not a good idea unless you are willing to pay a much higher standing charge for your electricity, most houses have a 6KW supply with a disjoncteur that will trip as soon as it is exceeded.

Most UK electric showers are 8 or 9 KW and require a 10mm or larger suppy cable.

Actually reflecting on your question re 2.5T+E and "like" 8amp or 16amp, is this a wind-up perhaps?

If so I fell for it[:)]

If not no offence intended and someone will probably explain why T+E cable is not a good idea.

[Jonzjob]

The base reason that twin and earth is not allowed here is because the earth has to be the same size as the line and neutral and it has to be insulated. If you do use twin and earth and are unfortunate enough to have a fire that 'could' be put to it then you will find that the insurance company will walk away from you. Also you will have difficulty when you come to sell, because it isn't legal...

[powerdesal]

[quote user="Jonzjob"]The base reason that twin and earth is not allowed here is because the earth has to be the same size as the line and neutral and it has to be insulated. If you do use twin and earth and are unfortunate enough to have a fire that 'could' be put to it then you will find that the insurance company will walk away from you. Also you will have difficulty when you come to sell, because it isn't legal...[/quote]

Just to expand on JJs post, in case you are not aware. UK 2.5 T&E. the earth lead is 1.0 mm sqr not the 2.5 mm sqr that the live and neutral are.(as JJ said, its not insulated either)

[woody2122]

No its not a wind up and im not an electrician that fits showers in france and the uk, I know my french plumber said they dont do electric showers in france but that was 4 years ago, is this true, my supply is 32amp and I run a boiler and washing machine and microwave and  two tv's and 2kw  confecter heaters and lights and fridge and that was okay but when i used the extension lead to run the swimmingpool pump it did used to trip the electrics in the summer, so if my supply is 32amp what is my KWsupply, and how much does a french standard shower cost from maybe mr bricolage or does no one in france have an electric shower

[Anton Redman]

Assuming 220 Volts and 32 amps 7.04 Kwatts.

[Ford Anglia]

AFAIK, electric showers don't exist in France.

 

[Gluestick]

Woody:

See if you can buy some punctuation and capital letters for your keyboard!

It would make your posts much easier to read!

The reason that no one has electric showers in France is firstly the high current (they are what are called instant surface heaters) and that both hot and cold water are at the same pressure, since both Central Heating and electric water heaters are like a combi boiler back in the UK, thus it's far easier to obtain a proportionate Hot/Cold water mix to arrived at the same temperature.

And since French water mains are at a far higher delivery pressure, power shower pumps are not necessary, either.

Daytime electricity is also horrendously expensive, in most cases: storage electric water heaters (Ballons) run on cheap rate between 12.00 midnight and 08.00AM.

Shower cabinets range from € 250 to 1.000 depending on what you want.

Worrying that you need an extension lead to run your pool pump! Highy dangerous!

Have it correctly wired in by a French qualified and registered plumber, ASAP!

 

[Rob Roy]

Leaving aside the problems with electrical supply I have been told that due to the absence of header tanks in French houses, and therefore the water coming straight off the mains, even with a pressure reducer the electric showers can't heat the water sufficiently quickly enough. Whatever the reasons you can't buy them here.

[Jonzjob]

RR I don't really see what it is about a header tank. Ours in the U.K. only had a header for the hot, the shower came straight off of the mains pressure and we had no problems. But going back to here, as has been said because the hot and cold are mains pressure it's not necessary to go to the trouble of upping your power rating or paying out for an elect shower.

I also agree that if you are running your pool pump off an extention then that is bad news big time. Get it wired properly, it's bloody dangerous! Even if it's a small rubber above ground pool it still needs a proper supply...

Edit :- I forgot to say that we were the first house after a 300 foot fall of the mains pipe and the PRV was none too good so our pressure could be quite high. Still no problems with the shower though.

[Gluestick]

[quote user="Rob Roy"]Leaving aside the problems with electrical supply I have been told that due to the absence of header tanks in French houses, and therefore the water coming straight off the mains, even with a pressure reducer the electric showers can't heat the water sufficiently quickly enough. Whatever the reasons you can't buy them here.[/quote]

Instant Surface Heaters are quite happy with higher pressures.

Header tanks, as Jonz stated are for the Hot Water Supply in a Gravity Fed as against Fully pumped System, such as a combi.

In a conventional gravity fed system, there are two header tanks: one small tank for topping up the Secondary Circuit (Central Heating) and a larger tank to supply sufficient "Head" to the Domestic Hot Water Heating and Supply Tank, which is an indirect tank: i.e. the main portion of the tank stores hot water: and the inner heat exchanger (Caloroifier), which is connected to the boiler Primary Circuit, heats the water around it.

Electric showers use only cold water, fed straight from the mains: they first became popular, since there was no need to fit a second cold water header tank to supply the shower only, as used to be required for a shower which mixed the hot and cold water from the usual domestic supply. This secondary tank supplies cold water at an identical head of pressure (if it's elevated to the same level as the hot water supply tank) as the hot water. The main hot water supply tank isn't usually of sufficient capacity to supply both the shower and the hot water supply, simultaneously.

Pressure Equalising Valves can minimise this and allow a shower to be installed which operates from Domestic Hot Water and Mains Cold Water; expensive route to take, though!

In the case of higher pressure, simply set the temp higher. Even with UK mains pressure, as the temp control is wound back the water becomes colder and colder, since the flow rate over the heating plates is faster and the ability for heat exchange reduced.

There is absolutely no reason why one could not fit a surface flow electric shower in France, technically: it's simply very expensive to run and pointless if one already has regular hot water from either a boiler or a ballon.

Additionally, in a practical sense, unless such a shower complies to the "Norm", then it would be against French regulations to install one.