Combi boiler shower advice

[denwyn]

I am a bit ashamed i have to ask this as i am a qualified plumber,although i took early retirment about 10 years ago. I have no real knowledge at all when it comes to combi boilers at all. Anyway my daughter has just moved into a new house,which has a Glow Worm Betacom combi boiler fitted. There is no shower in the house at all,they have an en suite room but to keep costs down they deceided not to have the en suite completed by the builders,all the services are there,it just needs the sanitary ware fitting and tiling.,thats a job for me next summer. For now i am thinking of changing the taps on the bath to a decent set of shower taps,its a quick and easy option for me,and as she lives some 5 hours drive away i can fit the taps and tile it over the weekend. My question is regarding the taps, i want to put a good set in,but am not sure what to buy,i have seen a nice theremostaic set by Aqualasia which are for combi boilers,quite expensive at around £270.Has anyone got any advice on what to buy,will any shower tap set do or do they have to be for combis, i would hate to buy something which was rubbish, are these tap sets any good with combis, any advice or recomendations would be most welcome

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

Thermostatic ones are generally for the aged so to not scald them sleves or for hotels as they have a requirement

Have a look around and try to avoid taps from Sheds, DIY outlets as you will be buying a piece of c*** from there usually imported from the far east

But as with most things you get what you pay for

 

[denwyn]

Thermostatic ones are generally for the aged so to not scald them sleves or for hotels as they have a requirement

Have a look around and try to avoid taps from Sheds, DIY outlets as you will be buying a piece of c*** from there usually imported from the far east

But as with most things you get what you pay for

Yes i do remember that the cheap bath shower taps were usually rubbish, if i can get away with a normal set it would be far cheaper,do they work ok on combi boilers,sorry if i am asking what may seem stupid questions but when i jacked the plumbing in combis were only just on the market,so i know next to nothing about them.

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

To be fair most showers and taps will work with a combi boiler but you will need to make sure that the cold mains pressure is not too high as it will be over powering the hot as that is slowed down by the combi to heat it up

This can be solved by a PRV on the incoming mains usually

 

[Centralheatking]

Surely you mean a prv on to the incoming cold main feed to the shower unit not the whole building.

Equamatic thermostatic showers are/were specifically for combi boilered systems and balance
the unequal pressure in the way p/star describes.

centralheatking

 

[denwyn]

Right i have deceided to buy a reasonable set of thermostaic bath shower taps,B&Q did do a set called Reef Thermostaic Shower bath taps for £90 ish,i say did do as they now don't sell them,the thermostaic ones they do now are three times the cost,and ugly looking. I have seen the reef ones on the net for about the same cost,anyone have any views on Reef taps. Local plumbers merchants don't have any thermostaic bath taps of any kind in stock,and are not really very helpfull,plus as i have no account with them its difficult to get any form of discount at all and the likes of screwfix, wicks and on occasions B7Q are much cheaper. The taps don't need to be to expensive as i will be fitting out there en suite next summer,they just need to work ok,and look normal,not over the top modern designer designs. I had a budget of about £120 - £150 for a set.