Any electricians on here?
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Thinking about fitting an electric shower in my house, theres nothing there at the moment, so would need to run a cable. However the bathroom and fusebox are pretty much at opposite ends of the house, so what is an acceptable way of running the cable? I was thinking, from shower, bury it in wall up into loft, then run it along in the loft to other side, then two options, 1) try to run it down a pipe void to the upstairs, then run it under the floor and thru the ceiling to the fuseboard, or 2) try to feed it down the cavity to the fuseboard.

Also what is the crack with this part P bollocks, can I run the cable and then get a sparky in to connect up? Think I may also need a new consumer unit as the one I have is the old wired fuses type.

Any thoughts welcome!

you could link it off another feed into a fused switch, just remeber a shower uses a hugh amount of power therefore you will need a thicker cable feed.
I have do most of my own electric now, you just don't say anything

dont worry about part P, you installed it years ago when you got the house right

do you want to have a power shower, i.e. use your hot and cold water supply, or an electric one that only uses cold?

Electric one's need a seperate breaker if there is space in your consumer unit.

all then depends on the rating, but i think they need something like a 10mm cable if its a high power one.

Fortunately the last one i did had an electric heater in the bathroom, ripped that out and used its supply for the power shower.

On 28th Dec, 2008 iain said:
dont worry about part P, you installed it years ago when you got the house right

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Sounds like old style cable is the way to go then, I've done a bit of net reading and it seems 10mm is the stuff I need, will have to try and find somewhere that has some in the old colours then.

hi tom i know a few sparky's in rotherham could give you a few numbers if needed

I fitted my shower, its not hard to do you just need a spair breaker in your consumer unit and goo/ correct wattage cable for the appliance a switch out side the bathroom is good and a valve on the water inlet so you can turn the water off should you need to.
Run the cable above the shower, and try not to use compresion fittings i know they are easyier but not the best.
Fit the shower so you dont get water on the unit all the time or any of the time!

Electric shower??

internationally known as "big" swede

you dont have to use the old type cable as the regs changed before the cable colours did, however there is only a small change over period so the old colours would be best

I would consider a GFI as well, Its wise when electicity is anywhere near water. A GFI is a device that looks at the current and will trip the cicuit if it sees any imbalance between the current going in and the current returning, i.e if any of it is leaking through you!!

Terry

website:- http://www.terryhunt.co.uk

I am a sparky by trade but no longer do it for a living, however, I do try to keep up with the regulations for my own benefit.

I think you will find any new electric shower installation must be protected by an RCD. (if you have a wired fuse the chances are high you haven't got one). 17th edition regulations just introduced insist on split load consumer units both with RCD's.

10mm is the only cable to run really especially it isn't going to be in free air (not in insulation etc.) - it would future proof any size shower. In addition to the fusebox trip you also need a isolation switch to be fitted either on a pull cord inside the bathroom or a switch outside the room. Earthing is another consideration, bathrooms now have to completely be earth bonded.

To be totally honest I have fitted a lot of these things and I don't rate them, never seem to get very good pressure. (I know you can fit a pump as well, but it is a lot of work, it is all personal preference really!)

In my place I fitted a mixer shower that you just feed hot and cold to and the combi boiler does the rest - assuming you have a combi of course - no electrics to worry about so no part P

There is nothing wrong with doing your electrics yourself, you just need to notify the council - at a cost no doubt, or get a qualified electrician to certify your work afterwards. (or just keep quiet as people suggest )

Edited by mlarj on 28th Dec, 2008.

i agree with mlarj i binned my electric shower for a mira combi, the electric ones died at least once a year usually just out of the 12 months

Got to agree, a combi, is the way to go.
As the water in and aroun here has some crap in it.

Well I had a new boiler 2 yrs ago and its not a combi, so its a seperate shower for me, I did think about just a booster pump but it would mean serious bathroom bashing, whereas a electric shower isn't too much bashing to fit.

The life of electric showers is down primarily to your water quality, it's as simple as that. If you are in a soft water area (or use a water softener) they should have a reasonable life. If you have hard water, the heating element will get plated with limescale very quickly and because their output is so high (3-4 times a kettle element), once the limescale is thick enough, they will overheat and fail.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

when at uni, in 1 year alone we went through 3 showers, our landlady wasnt pleased, but they just cruded up within months, those were the £100 mira ones

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

10mm cable off a 30 amp breaker, then just take the easiest root possible to the shower as 10mm is a bitch to work with.

as for the consumer unit, i done mine myself, and got no paperwork. We then had an electrician do my dads rented house, and got no paperwork, so its swings and roundabouts imo.

Yeah u can just get away with 6mm with some showers but 10mm is the way to go. If i was u i wud fit a 30ma RCD aswell. This basicly is additional protection for electrical safety. They disconnect the supply much quicker than a fuse or mcb in the event of a fault to earth. I would always fit 1 just to make the install that much safer.

I looked into the cost, and it was hundreds of pounds to the council to approve and inspect your installation. Hardly worth legitimately doing it yourself unless it is a big job.

On 28th Dec, 2008 mlarj said:
There is nothing wrong with doing your electrics yourself, you just need to notify the council - at a cost no doubt, or get a qualified electrician to certify your work afterwards. (or just keep quiet as people suggest )

Also realisticly it needs to be in one run, as awkard as that is!