Electric Shower Pressure & Cost FAQ

Electric showers include a lot of complicated features that differ greatly from their non-electric counterparts. The water pressure in your home is vital to understanding how and why an electric shower may or may not work for you. So let’s answer a few questions today, shall we? The largest of which is whether or not a pump can be fitted to an electric shower (and why/why not).

Today’s Topics Include:

• Can a Pump be Fitted to an Electric Shower?
• Will Low Water Pressure Affect My Electric Shower?
• Does Leaving My Electric Shower On Cost Money?

There’s quite a bit to break down here, so let’s hop right in, yeah?

Common Electric Shower Questions

As I mentioned above, there are a lot of questions revolving around the new electric shower phenomenon. Let’s start with the easy ones, and then we can move into more complicated answers as we get into things.

Now without further ado, let’s get going!

Can a Pump be Fitted to an Electric Shower?

On one hand, yes, you technically can attach a pump to an electric shower. However, if you feel you need a pump to increase water flow, it’s likely that something is wrong with your electric shower.

This is because electric showers only take water from your main cold water supply. Because it’s coming directly from your main supply, the water pressure should be at the ideal level already. If it’s not, that’s a sign that something is wrong with your shower, or worse, your main water supply.

You realistically are more likely to need a pump for a power shower than for an electric shower. According to Mira Showers, this is because a power shower is essentially a boosted mixer. Power showers combine hot and cold water and then use a pump to increase pressure to where you want it, whereas an electric shower should do all of the pumping on its own.

In short, yes – you can fit a pump into an electric shower. However, installing a pump is highly complicated and generally, if you need a pump, that indicates a flaw somewhere in your system.

Will Low Water Pressure Affect My Electric Shower?

The whole idea behind electric showers is that they use your main cold water supply to bring water to the shower. As such, the pressure of your electric shower should remain static. While this is not a hard-and-fast rule, it’s generally a good rule of thumb to keep in mind.

As we mentioned above, though, it is entirely possible to attach a pump to an electric shower. With that said, there are situations where boosting your water pressure may be beneficial. If your main water supply starts to act up and you don’t have the cash to get it fixed, a pump is often a good stopgap measure. While a pump won’t solve the entire issue, it’ll get you to a point where you can still shower while getting things sorted.

At the end of the day, low water pressure shouldn’t affect your electric shower – but it can. If you notice a drastic drop in water pressure, look at your water main. There could be an underlying issue that you haven’t found yet.

Does Leaving My Electric Shower On Cost Money?

And we’ve finally made it to the last question – and it’s a good one! Does leaving your electric shower on cost money? The answer may (and by may, I mean it won’t) surprise you!

Leaving an electric shower on will absolutely cost you money. Let me ask you a couple of questions right quick. Do you pay for electricity? Yes? Okay – what about water?

If the answer to both (or just one) of these was yes, then yes, you will pay for leaving your electric shower running. While a few extra minutes will be a negligible difference, leaving it running overnight will do two things.

First, you’ll get a painfully-large bill next month. And second, you’ll likely end up with an overheated heating element. That second one also costs money, so the best advice I can provide is to just… not leave your electric shower running.

In short, yes – leaving an electric shower running will cost money, assuming you pay for water and/or electricity.

Conclusion

We’ve covered a lot today. Namely, we discussed whether or not electric showers work with low-pressure systems, how to remedy that (with a pump), and what the cost of leaving an electric shower on is. The long and short of it is that electric showers generally thrive in low-pressure systems, and if they don’t, that’s a sign that something larger is at play in your home’s plumbing.

Be sure to check out our other related articles on electric shower basics, the best electric showers on the market, and various troubleshooting articles if you’re having issues.