Gym plumbing! 4 showers and system need to suit.

[David7321]

A friend of mine is moving to a larger gym premises, he needs 4 seperate showers to be run, at the same time but not always. There is currently no gas in the building but he can get it if need be.

Im unsure of the system required, i thought a cylinder but not sure if it can recover in time, he reckons 3/4 people use the showers early morning maybe 1-3 people over a 3 hour period, say between 9 and 11, and 1 or 2 after 4pm.

The thing is, the new place means he can essentially double the customer size, its more a fitness studio and not a gym where showers are run constantly but what do you guys think?

Ive thought about electric showers for each one, hoping the cold main will hold up flow rate wise but have'nt been to measure it yet. Possibly even adding on the salamander home boost.

Any help and advice/thoughts to spit ball would be appreciated.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Sorry to say best get a commercial plumber to design it for you

Best option go for gas worst option 3 phase elecy

 

[David7321]

Thanks for your reply. I thought that might be the answer id get to be honest.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

If you don't mind where's the project located?

 

[David7321]

If you don't mind where's the project located?

its located just near glasgow town centre. why?

 

[king of pipes]

I did a liesure centre 8 showers 4, ladies 4 gents push button controls 30 seconds on each push , joined three pressurised 180 litre unvented cylinder together heated by a 60kw gas boiler put all the supply water through a commercial water softner first worked a treat , dont think electric would be very successfull to be honest you could add solar panels but its quite costly , this liesure centre coverd the whole south facing roof with panels cost thousands but long term it will pay back the majority of it , work out a budget and go from there . cheers kop

 

[David7321]

wow nice. thanks for the insight, good idea there. yeah i think you could be right about the electric. this is more luxury fitness studio and didnt want the push button ones, might have to though

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Pir and a solenoid valve could have normal showers then

 

[David7321]

yeah true, thats an interesting take on it actually. just worried about maybe 3 people going in and the cold main drops flow rate wise, i really need to go measure it. im supposed to go this saturday to have a look. really appreciate the replies

 

[king of pipes]

Saves water bud? all that softened water going down the drain people tend to spend longer in there if its not controlled your choice though you need 32mm minimum incoming and a good pressure 3bar+. cheers kop

 

[hammers4spanner]

Go tankless install a rinnai they will spec everything you need job done.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Go tankless install a rinnai they will spec everything you need job done.

but you need to be commercially to install one but agree if you dont have the space rinnai or Worcester

 

[justlead1]

One thing to add is the choice of shower rose. Some will discharge as much as a bath tap. If your working off mains or pumped supply a finer rose will atomise the water more and gives the impression there is plenty of it, without waste.
The push button times on individual showers is almost a must as people on some occasions just walk out leaving shower running. Providing a nicely written notice "Saving the world sort of thing" is well supported and understood by middle class punters.
Good Luck

 

[Last Plumber]

A friend of mine is moving to a larger gym premises, he needs 4 seperate showers to be run, at the same time but not always. There is currently no gas in the building but he can get it if need be.

Im unsure of the system required, i thought a cylinder but not sure if it can recover in time, he reckons 3/4 people use the showers early morning maybe 1-3 people over a 3 hour period, say between 9 and 11, and 1 or 2 after 4pm.

The thing is, the new place means he can essentially double the customer size, its more a fitness studio and not a gym where showers are run constantly but what do you guys think?

Ive thought about electric showers for each one, hoping the cold main will hold up flow rate wise but have'nt been to measure it yet. Possibly even adding on the salamander home boost.

Any help and advice/thoughts to spit ball would be appreciated.

I would suggest you get a Commercial Heating Engineer with experience in sizing Hot water systems. A lot, guess or use daft rule of thumb methods and either under estimate it or over estimate. It needs looking at and weighing up properly. To be honest it doesn’t sound like a major task but it needs to be right.

 

[king of pipes]

I took 4 rinnai water heaters out on the install i did just didnt last and expensive to maintain i would not go down that route personally not rocket sience to come up with a system that will be cost effective and economical to run . cheers kop

 

[MOSSEP]

If incoming flow rate is too low then correctly sized accumulators could resolve that issue.