What is a combi shower?

Quite different to the other two types of boiler discussed, a combi system features a boiler with no tanks or water cylinders, designed to heat water as and when you need it, rather than storing the hot water before you're ready to use it.

How does a combi shower work?

Combi boiler shower pressure

The appliances heat water directly from the mains and deliver it to your taps and showers at mains pressure. So, if you have strong mains pressure in your home and you don't have too many demands on your hot water, they can provide powerful showers without the need for a pump.

Is combi shower better than electric?

Combi boilers are quite efficient as it is, and you'll probably save money by just letting your combi boiler heat water from the moment you switch your shower on, rather than using your electricity to heat water.

Can you have a normal shower with a combi boiler?

CAN YOU USE A THERMOSTATIC SHOWER WITH A COMBI BOILER? The simple answer is – yes. It's possible to fit a thermostatic shower with a combi boiler and they're reliable across most thermostatic showers. Mini valve, maxi valve, bar valve and concealed valve showers are all compatible with combi boilers.

Can you run a rain shower off a combi boiler?

Power showers are designed to work with low-pressure boiler systems and therefore will not work with a combi boiler, which is a high-pressure system. They include a pump to help increase the water pressure. However, this can over pressurise a combi boiler system and become quite dangerous.

What shower is best with a combi boiler?

Do I need an electric shower with a combi boiler?

Combi boilers are incompatible with boiler pumps, which means that power showers cannot be installed with a combi boiler system. Electric showers can, however, help improve the water pressure in a shower slightly. System boilers and regular boilers can be connected to power showers.

Can you have 2 showers on a combi boiler?

Whilst large combis are available that provide lots of hot water, they can be very inefficient on the heating system side. Some combi boiler manufacturers have found the right balance of providing lots of hot water without compromising efficiency, but the maximum they can do is still only two bathrooms.

What are the disadvantages of a combi boiler?

Can you run a shower off a combi?

Combi boilers produce hot water at mains pressure, which means they are compatible to either a mains pressure balanced or thermostatically controlled shower.

Will a combi boiler improve shower pressure?

Low pressure in your hot taps and shower could be caused by your boiler. Combi boilers are great for saving space (there's no hot water tank) but they can struggle with more than one shower at a time. They heat the water as it comes through the boiler, which is great for instant hot water.

How much does it cost to run a combi shower?

Based on a 8kW shower vs a 37kW combi with electric at 9p/unit and gas at 3p/unit a 10 minute shower would cost 12p for the electric and 19p for the combi.

What type of shower can you have with a combi boiler?

However, mixer showers, digital showers and electric showers are all ideal for use with a combi boiler system. Thermostatic mixer showers are traditionally considered the best type of shower to pair with combi boilers.

Do electric showers run off the boiler?

As mixer showers and power showers rely on your boiler for hot water, those with smaller tanks sometimes find they don't have enough hot water to serve the whole household come shower time.

Which is cheaper to run electric or mixer shower?

Considering the price of gas is generally around 40% that of electricity, a mixer shower would theoretically appear to be cheaper to run than an electric shower system.

What is the difference between a mixer shower and a thermostatic shower?

A manual mixer shower will mix hot and cold water to a set temperature but, unlike a thermostatic shower, it cannot react to sudden changes in temperature. A thermostatic shower instantly reacts to a change in water temperature and adjusts the water accordingly to get it back to the pre-set temperature.

Which shower is best for low water pressure?

What is a power shower? Power showers mix hot and cold water to the optimum temperature. They have an inbuilt pump so are able to significantly increase the water flow rate from a gravity fed system. This is a great option if you have low water pressure.

Does a combi boiler add value to a house?

A new boiler adds value to their home

According to research by Safe Store, a new boiler can increase the value of their home by 1.9%.

What's the difference between an electric shower and a power shower?

There is often some confusion over whether a power shower is the same as an electric shower. A power shower doesn't have an electric element like an electric shower, instead, it takes hot water from a cylinder that's heated usually by a boiler, and cold water from your standard cold feed.

Can a combi boiler fill a bath?

Nearly all combination boilers can cope with heating systems in larger houses. You can fill a bath almost twice as quick with a 42kw Worcester than a 24i Junior model. A 100 litre bath would take about 5 and a half minutes to fill with the larger boiler, but just over ten minutes for the smaller model.

Can you have a water softener with a combi boiler?

A water softener will work with a combi boiler and remove all the scale in the heat exchanger of your existing system. This restores the system to its original efficiency and improves performance.

Why do I have a hot water tank and a combi boiler?

One of the many benefits of a combi boiler is that you don't need a separate water tank to store hot water. A combi will only heat water as and when it's needed, making it an efficient and practical solution.

Can a combi boiler run hot water and heating at the same time?

Combi boilers provide a “combination” of instantaneous hot water and effective central heating.

Why does my shower go cold when I turn another tap on?

Sometimes when someone uses another tap in your kitchen or laundry or even flushes the toilet, you may experience a loss of heating in your shower. This is due to the water supply from the hot water tank and the water pipes working together simultaneously.

What is the best heating system for a large house?

In most cases, heat pumps are the most efficient way to heat your older home. They work by transferring heat from outside your home to the inside of your home and they also double as an air conditioning system in the warmer months—a win-win.

Why does the UK have electric showers?

Before combination boilers became commonplace in British bathrooms, electric showers were often installed. The reason being was that homes didn't require extensive plumbing alterations to use them, so they were a cheap and simple alternative.