I have a really random question, which I wish I could work out myself...but can't!
There are 5 people in our house, and we all use an electric shower every day. It is probably used for about 10 minutes each and is a 7.5 kW shower.
I am considering changing to a standard shower running off the water supply using the hot water tank. The gas boiler is quite new (2 years old and quite efficient) and the water tank is also new and therefore well insulated.
My question is what is the cost of using the electric shower compared to the other method, assuming I had to put the water heater (via the boiler not an immersion) on for an extra hour per day to cover the shower usage?
If anyone can help, I would be very grateful, I did see one figure quoted that a 7.5 kW shower costs around 19 pence for a 10 minute shower. I just don't know how to estimate the cost of heating the water via the boiler.
------------- Greenhill Leisure Park, Oxon - Apr 2016
Gunvenna, St Minver, Cornwall - July 2016
Lincoln Farm, Standlake, Oxon - Sept 2016
Do you have the head pressure to run a shower without installing a pump in the system?
Running the shower from a gas boiler would undoubtedly be cheaper than electric, but only coppers so it would be a long time before you recovered the cost of replacing the shower,
You can easily work out the cost per shower using electric, but it is not so simple with gas as you would have to know the amount of water consumed and would also have to take into account the efficiency of the boiler.
I would assume you have a combi boiler as its only a couple of years old but you also have a hot water tank (immersion heated) if I read correctly. Can't understand why you need the hot water tank as surely all water is heated via gas combi boiler?? apart from the electric shower which heats instantly from its own unit.
If you get a set of taps (or single mixer tap dependent on type of bath) with shower connection this will run direct from combi boiler and give excellent pressure and will work out cheaper than electric shower.
We did this and also removed both cold water storage and hot water tank and electric shower.
You could of course fit a more expensive thermostatically controlled shower rather than a set of taps with shower connection but it is more expensive and you would want to hide the pipes etc. The tap method is simple to do and a lot less expensive and does the same job.
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It is a fool who has to say something.
Thanks for the replies. It is a condensing boiler and there is no electric immersion heater. We have noticed a massive difference in our gas usage since we replaced what was a 30 year year old back boiler type! Due to living in a hard water area, our electric showers last about two years, so I was thinking that hopefully the combined cost of not having to replace the electric shower frequently and the (hopefully) reduced cost of showers using a mixer shower running of the hot water system would result in significant savings overall.
------------- Greenhill Leisure Park, Oxon - Apr 2016
Gunvenna, St Minver, Cornwall - July 2016
Lincoln Farm, Standlake, Oxon - Sept 2016
In general, gas is cheaper than electric to heat a given amount of water so the showers will cost less.
New boilers don't have to be combi and it's perfectly in order to have a stored water system. The only thing I would suggest is to install a shower pump to boost the pressure.
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A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Water heating costs?
