[clueless in caribbean]

We recently moved to a place that has an electric shower head. Twice when my husband has used it, there has been no warm or hot water, and he resolved this by clicking the switch on and off a few times. He is very paranoid about electrocuting himself, and is worried that the occasional lapse in warm water is due to faulty circuiting. Is it normal to have fluctuations in water temperature with an electric shower head, or should we get ready for a jolt?

Any help putting his mind at ease (i.e. shutting him up) would be greatly appreciated.

[bhayne]

If you have it plugged into the bathroom receptacle and it is a GFCI receptacle (has a 'test' and 'reset' button on it) then you will not get a jolt.

If it is a normal receptacle, check the bathroom breaker in the main circuit breaker box. If it has a 'test' button on it then you are also safe.

If neither, your in trouble.

Also, some bathroom receptacles are limited in the amount of power the can deliver. This will cause the shower head to act as you describe. An easy way to check is to plug a hair dryer into it and check if it gets hot.

[speedball1]

we recently moved to a place that has an electric shower head. twice when my husband has used it, there has been no warm or hot water, and he resolved this by clicking the switch on and off a few times. he is very paranoid about electrocuting himself, and is worried that the occasional lapse in warm water is due to faulty circuiting. is it normal to have fluctuations in water temperature with an electric shower head, or should we get ready for a jolt?

any help putting his mind at ease (i.e. shutting him up) would be greatly appreciated.

Let's talk Electric Showers.
ELECTRIC SHOWERS:
Electric showers can be used within any domestic water system. They, in most cases, are connected to the mains cold water and an element within the shower heats the water as it passes through the unit. If you can arrange a clearance of 10 metres from your shower spray to the underside of the cold water tank, you can fit an electric shower to this. In this situation the shower must have an independent cold supply from the tank.

The water at your mains entry must have a running pressure of min 1 bar, must flow at a rate of 8 liters per minute and have a maximum static pressure of 10 bar. Most electric showers will be configured for these water bye law stipulations but it is as well to check with the manufactures instructions.

Your shower must be connected to the mains via a 15mm water pipe and it is just as well to install an isolation valve in this run. The valve can be turned off if and when maintenance is required to the shower and this removes the need for water to be turned off at the mains, disrupting all other water uses. A description and installation of isolating valves can be found in our bathroom project page.

The electrical connections to an electric shower are covered by many regulations. An electric shower must be installed on its own circuit and not spurred from any other connections or appliance. First you must check that your fuse board is capable of providing the current necessary and must be rated above 60 amps. An RCD (residual current device) must be installed as, either part of your existing fuse board, or separately, interrupting the circuit to the shower. Connection to the fuse board should be by means of a MCB (miniature circuit breaker). Fuse, switch and cable ratings are also vital and we would suggest that 10mm cable is used for all installations. This makes upgrading your shower much easier in the future.

Showers up to 7kw may carry a 6mm cable as long as the shower unit is within 18 metres of the fuseboard. Fuses and switches should be rated at 32 amps.

Showers up to 8.5kw may carry a 6mm cable as long as the shower unit is within 18 meters of the fuse board. Fuses and switches should be rated at 40 amps.

Showers up to 9.5kw carry a 10mm cable to units within 35 metres of the fuse board. Fuses and switches should be rated at 45amp

Showers up to 12.5kw should carry a 10mm cable to units within 35 metres of the fuse board. Fuses and switches should be rated at 50 amps.

In all cases the circuit should be interrupted by a double pole pull cord switch with a neon on/off indicator and a mechanical indicator should the neon fail.

It is essential, in all cases, that the shower supply pipes are independently cross bonded to earth.

Hope this helps, Tom

[aptdwellers]

I have an electric showerhead at home and I've used when when vacationing in South America. The only thing I wanted to add to this thread is the fact that in most cases the showerhead turns on once water is running through it. If you are running too much water through the showerhead, the water will not be hot. Try decreasing the amount of water running through the showerhead. The less water you use, the warmer the water will be. Good luck!