Any plumbers about? water pressure

I recently installed a new shower in the spare bathroom - went from two down pipes into a tub and put a mixer tap in that has a shower head - probably the wrong terminology but hey I aint no expert

Now the pressure has always been poor in our main shower but we have just lived with it, but in this 2nd shower the pressure is really bad.

So what’s the cheapest way to increase the water pressure in the house to get a better shower pressure?

Can you just get an in-line water pump or something?

I will be ringing plumbers over the next few days but would rather talk to someone who will tell me what I need on here and not try and sell me something I might not really want, and as i don’t really know anything about plumbing I don’t want to get stung.

Yes, you can buy different sort of in line pumps, fit a power shower that has a built in pump, raise the height of you header tank or fit a pumped electric shower. Either way you'll be looking at a bill of £200-£300 all in. Or fit a mains pressure hot water cylinder.

You could DIY but be aware of bylaws......even a plumber doing any sort electrical installation will need to be 17th edition regulation certified.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think there is a balancing pump that requires no electric. It uses the force of the cold feed to help pump the hot.

Hope this helps.

[tigersaw]

Just a consideration, but I had a rubbish gravity fed shower in this house. Checked the hose, has the smallest of bore - changed for a more expensive large bore hose and it became a pretty good shower.

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by BigBaddad

Yes, you can buy different sort of in line pumps, fit a power shower that has a built in pump, raise the height of you header tank or fit a pumped electric shower. Either way you'll be looking at a bill of £200-£300 all in. Or fit a mains pressure hot water cylinder.

As BBD says you can get shower pumps and that may well be the easiest option. You could also fit a power shower, I wouldn't bother trying to raise your header tank as a small rise isn't going to make much difference. You could also fit an eletric shower but that means you'll need to run a pipe from the mains supply plus you'lll need a sparks to fit an extra fuse to youre fuse box.

A pump to run both showers will set you back about £170 and will more than likely be installed in the airing cupboard
A cheap power shower will cost about £150 but means running more pipes in your bathroom
An electric shower will cost about £100 but will need an extra pipe running into your bathroom
(prices are from somewhere like screwfix but will be cheaper at trade places)

all will need an electrical connection so need to factor that in as well


A mains pressure/unvented cylinder is a good but expensive way to go, any plumber who fits or works on them has to be certified to do so and they are meant to be safety checked every year as well I think

a pump sounds better as i want to upgrade both showers at the same time and 2x power or electric showers seems to be more than just the pump, both showers will never really be run at the same time so I would hope a small pump would work,
thanks for all the input

Originally Posted by dirtydog

A mains pressure/unvented cylinder is a good but expensive way to go, any plumber who fits or works on them has to be certified to do so and they are meant to be safety checked every year as well I think

Not so, as no electrical or gas connections have been made.

An electric shower will take a cold feed from your existing pipework, but will require min 10mm electrical feed, double pole isolator and and additional breaker.

Prices I gave where including labour. Pump will be £50-£60 trade plus a half day to fit.

last thing, is there any concern that if I increase the psi that the exisiting pipe work will not be able to sustain the extra pressure?

Originally Posted by BigBaddad

Not so, as no electrical or gas connections have been made.

Eh, dirtydog was correct.

Originally Posted by nik_nunez

last thing, is there any concern that if I increase the psi that the exisiting pipe work will not be able to sustain the extra pressure?

this is possible, depends how much you increase it, and what state the pipework is in, but fitting a pump should not be a problem.

Originally Posted by bluefishman

Eh, dirtydog was correct.

How so. I know of no requirements to have a ho****er cylinder annually checked