Energy Upgrading for Shower Problems
#16
I believe Spanish electric boilers have TWO tanks with an isolated heating element 😉 We don't have a mixer shower bar, we have a thermostatically controlled bar which cost us 160 euros just a month ago 🙄 If we can find a cheaper alternative to changing that, then that will suit us !
#17
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No, they don't. They have one simple insulated tank with a heating element inside a tube that is immersed in the water. As the element is usually inserted from the bottom of the tank, it can easily be replaced without draining the tank. Why would it have two separate tanks?
#18
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Cheap low tech solution to try: add a water restrictor between the between the shower head and hose? Might not fix the problem completely, but showers could last for longer.
Last edited by DLC; May 9th 2025 at 8:31 am.
#19
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I was reading about them but I also read that all shower heads are already supposed to have them 🤔
#20
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Could it be that as you like your shower quite hot and the boiler temperature to me doesn't seem that hot ,that the the thermostatic mixer you have is sensing the water doesn't need mixing with cold water. Therefore it simply running straight on hot water using your tank capacity quickly? I would try putting boiler temperature much higher that way the thermostatic mixer will adjust temperature of water coming out by mixing and increase amounts of hot water you have available. That may resolve the issue certainly worth trying before going to more expense?
Last edited by bobd22; May 9th 2025 at 10:11 pm.
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#22
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Could it be that as you like your shower quite hot and the boiler temperature to me doesn't seem that hot ,that the the thermostatic mixer you have is sensing the water doesn't need mixing with cold water. Therefore it simply running straight on hot water using your tank capacity quickly? I would try putting boiler temperature much higher that way the thermostatic mixer will adjust temperature of water coming out by mixing and increase amounts of hot water you have available. That may resolve the issue certainly worth trying before going to more expense?
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#24
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If the issue is that you have very high water pressure which is pushing out all the hot water from the tank quickly why not just reduce that amount at the shower bar? Don't have it on full. When I converted our water to increase pressure as it was feeding into the deposito from mains and then feeding the house water from the deposito by gravity , the standard way most older Spanish properties work. I was advised by someone who was a plumber in the UK how to add a few pipes so that the mains fed direct to both the deposito and household water supply. He said the mains pressure would be too high and to put a water pressure reduction valve in the system more or less where the mains entered the house. I did that and all was fine until around 18 months ago when our household pressure reduced significantly. I thought it must be to do with actual supply maybe reducing pressure to conserve water as measures were being taken to conserve water in our area. It got really bad so we got on to the ayuntamiento who said town plumber out he dug up our pipes etc and said he had found no significant problem changed a few connections etc but no real difference. II then thought mmmm could it be the pressure reduction valve which I pointed out to the plumber. So he checked pressure before the valve and after and yes that was the issue. He asked me why I had it on as I didn't need it? He said if water pressure was too high just don't open the stop tap fully. I removed the water pressure reducing valve which had in fact simply calked up , I then opened stop tap to give sufficient water pressure to house taps and all has been fine since. In fact even now for the shower we don't have the shower control fully open as it's then like a power shower and would just waste our hot water, we just open it sufficient to give us a good shower without any issues and making our limited hot water last longer.
#25
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- Just reading up some more about how to install a restrictor and all the guidelines point to restrictors already being installed in the shower head between the shower head and the hose and it tells you how to install a new one !😮 Therefore, there should already be one installed which points to the fact that our shower head is designed to deliver 14L of water per minute, so we might be better advised to replace the shower head with one that delivers 9.5L water which are the ones they say save water.
#26
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If the issue is that you have very high water pressure which is pushing out all the hot water from the tank quickly why not just reduce that amount at the shower bar? Don't have it on full. When I converted our water to increase pressure as it was feeding into the deposito from mains and then feeding the house water from the deposito by gravity , the standard way most older Spanish properties work. I was advised by someone who was a plumber in the UK how to add a few pipes so that the mains fed direct to both the deposito and household water supply. He said the mains pressure would be too high and to put a water pressure reduction valve in the system more or less where the mains entered the house. I did that and all was fine until around 18 months ago when our household pressure reduced significantly. I thought it must be to do with actual supply maybe reducing pressure to conserve water as measures were being taken to conserve water in our area. It got really bad so we got on to the ayuntamiento who said town plumber out he dug up our pipes etc and said he had found no significant problem changed a few connections etc but no real difference. II then thought mmmm could it be the pressure reduction valve which I pointed out to the plumber. So he checked pressure before the valve and after and yet that was the issue. He asked me why I had it on as I didn't need it? He said if water pressure was too high just don't open the stop tap fully. I removed the water pressure reducing valve which had in fact simply calked up , I then opened stop tap to give sufficient water pressure to house taps and all has been fine since. In fact even now for the shower we don't have the shower control fully open as it's then like a power shower and would just waste our hot water, we just open it sufficient to give us a good shower without any issues and making our limited hot water last longer.
#27
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- Just reading up some more about how to install a restrictor and all the guidelines point to restrictors already being installed in the shower head between the shower head and the hose and it tells you how to install a new one !😮 Therefore, there should already be one installed which points to the fact that our shower head is designed to deliver 14L of water per minute, so we might be better advised to replace the shower head with one that delivers 9.5L water which are the ones they say save water.
#28
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Average. Shower temperature is around high 30s to mid 40s centigrade so you are running your boiler at average temperature to shower ? That would be fine with an instant heating system such as combi boiler but you only have 80 LTRs of hot water. If that hot water is much more than the heat you want to shower at the boiler then the thermostat at tap will introduce cold water possibly doubling the time you can draw hot water. As I say turn the boiler temperature right up to see how that works and adjust shower bar for both heat and pressure to suit both yourself and your husband , that's exactly how we do it my wife is 5ft 7 I am 6ft 2 so we adjust shower head to suit without issue.
#29
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We set the boiler to 55c but as I say it is too hot when you first get in but after half a minute it cools down, that is how fast the temperature drops at the boiler😮 To compensate we either have to wait for it to cool down and then you have about 3-3.5 mins to shower before it runs cold, or else reduce the temperature at the valve down to less than 45c which it is set on. Our shower head is at a fixed height so non-adjustable.
#30
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We set the boiler to 55c but as I say it is too hot when you first get in but after half a minute it cools down, that is how fast the temperature drops at the boiler😮 To compensate we either have to wait for it to cool down and then you have about 3-3.5 mins to shower before it runs cold, or else reduce the temperature at the valve down to less than 45c which it is set on. Our shower head is at a fixed height so non-adjustable.



