We have a problem concerning the fluctuations in the temperature of water in our showers.
The issue is that when someone takes a shower, another person uses the water in the house (other showers, sinks, WCs etc) the temperature fluctuates wildly.
We are expecting a full house at Christmas.
Given that accommodation is on 3 levels it is impractical to shout out warnings.
Our hot water cylinder is in the cellar - which is where the mains water enters the house.
There aren’t any water manifolds - water just branches off to the various rooms.
Any suggestions how to address this issue without completely re-doing the plumbing?
That’s what one of ours is and it certainly makes a difference. What also made a difference, but I can see that it would probably be too big a job for @Nigel-at-BUF-House at the moment, was putting in a manifold where the pipes left the chauffe-eau. However, he was rerouting things anyway to correct what the bodge-it-and-scarper Brit had left us with
Unfortunately that would mean replacing our current showers, one of which is only a few years old.
Not sure that these are available for non-electric showers.
Looks like I’ll have to install a manifold as @AngelaR has done.
Certainly are, I refused to fit anything else as the water could go from 35-38c to scalding 55-60c just by nudging the shower mixer in some properties. Minimum would be a thermostic mixer valve as fitted in schools and care homes which limits the temp to 41c so you could keep your newish old tap
Agreed. And easy to replace and fix new ones. We have five of them across two properties. A couple we’ve had to replace over the years - we did our restoration about 13 years ago. The thermostatic control side of the shower can get stuck after a few years - calcified I guess - if you don’t move it from time to time - eg between summer and winter. Which has just made me realise I ought to go and increase / decrease my shower thermostat to see if it’s still functioning properly. I tend to always leave mine - hot, hot.
We’ve replaced complete showers - usually the worst thing is a small screw hole left in the tiling behind the shower because the new one has its supports in slightly different places. Fill the hole with a dab of grouting and I promise you no one will notice.
As mentioned, the width of shower mixers is standard, 150mm. Whip one off replace with a new thermo, BUT, remember to make sure that it is suitable for your heating source.
This is a genuine question as I’m probably being thick - how does the source of heating the hot water come into it? I thought that, once it arrived at the shower, hot water was just hot water?
