Electric shower??
 

Ran across this term while reading through descriptions of cottages/houses to rent in Ireland, and am unsure of its meaning.

Does "electric" refer to how the water is heated or is the spray powered by electricity rather than water pressure, or what? How does one of these things compare to a typical American shower?

(Come to think of it, I've taken a couple of showers with my wife that could be described as electric, but somehow I don't think that's what they're talking about here...)

Anyone have an explanation? Many thanks!

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/acb/show...9&CATID=11

You know-I learn something new everytime I come onto these boards! Who knew there were electric showers! Aside from the sort you and your wife enjoy:)

Google gave me this one!

Just so you can relax - many (probably most) showers you will encounter are electric.

They do not usually heat massive water heaters like we do in the States, but have a small electric instant water heater for the bath/shower. Very nice inventions they are too.

Typical arrangement in an Irish or British home is an instant electric shower that heats the water off the mains as it passes through heating elements. The water flow is moderate, though adequate and is nothing like a power shower you get in the States. Power showers do exist, with an extra pump, but they must be plumbed into the hot water system and are less common.

Hi

UK and Ireland has old style plumbing.
The mains water goes to a holding tank in the roof (and maybe a kitchen tap), and the other taps are fed by gravity from there.

So there is insufficient pressure for a proper shower.

The solution is to have a small pump / heater on the shower wall.

Typically this improves the pressure slightly, but not to European levels.

Peter
http://tlp.netfirms.com

mpprh
You are nearly right. I'm trying to install an electric shower myself at my home in UK, so I know a thing or two. Instant electric shower (the kind you'll see most often in self-catering cottages and flats, but not normally in larger hotels) must be fed directly off the rising mains, not off a cistern in the loft. The flow rate therefore depends on water pressure in your area, and normally it's not particularly high. You'll get sufficient flow of water, but not to the level of a power shower. A power shower comes in two types: cold-water fed from loft cistern and heated electrically, or hot-and-cold-water fed (off the boiler), and in each case there's an electric pump to boost the flow rate.