Triton T80z for area with low water pressure?

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minilegend

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So basically we recently bought a house that needed no work except for a bathroom remodel. We decided to go all out on this as it was the only work to do and we figured do it right the first time and it'd never need to be done again. We got someone to install a whole new suite, do tiling and install an electric shower as there was no electric shower in the house prior to this. We asked for an electric shower but didn't specify anythign else as we didn't know about the different ones and trusted this professional. There is a water pressure issue in the area but we only know this as it was mentioned by the guy doing the work at the time. Anyway, he put a Triton T80z in and we assumed this was the best for us. As it was our first house, we didn't know much about electric showers, etc which is why we paid a premium to go with this professional. After 4 months the shower stopped working and we've had various hassles since, in the course of which I have seen online that a T80z is not great in areas of low water pressure. As a total novice with this kind of thing, I need clarification on a couple of things. So, my questions are: 1. is a T80z suitable for an area that is known to have low water pressure?; and 2. would it have been better to get a pumped electric shower (like a T90) in? As there was a whole bathroom refit being done, I don't think it would have made much difference what was being done at the time as we weren't living in the house.
 
A tank fed shower would have been better in those circumstances.

You could get a single impeller [broken link removed] installed and take a feed from the attic instead to feed the T80z. Of course that'll mean a new water connection from the attic tank to the shower. Might be tricky without disturbing tiles depending on the shower feed route.

Where is this shower in relation to the rest of the house? Is it downstairs in a 2 story house? I'm just wondering was the mains fed option chosen out of convenience in terms of proximity to the mains supply.
 
Hiya, this is the master bathroom and it is upstairs in a two storey house, at the back of the house. The electric shower was installed on the interior wall that backs onto the hot press, so to me (a complete lay person in this respect) it seems like it was easiest to just connect to the mains. There is a water tank in the attic but it is not directly above the master bathroom. It's more in the centre of the house to the right (as you're looking at the house from outside). I hope that helps. It just seems to me that if the house was unoccupied and we were trying to get a proper job done, that it would have been better to have it tank fed. Or can that not be done if the water tank isn't directly over the master bathroom? My main issue is that we paid a lot for this job and if it wasn't the best option because of the low water pressure then I would rather he fix it now and upset the tiling, etc while we are within our guarantee with him. However if there was no other option, then that's fine. Is it a big job to go from mains fed to tank fed?
 
minilegend said:
Hiya, this is the master bathroom and it is upstairs in a two storey house, at the back of the house. The electric shower was installed on the interior wall that backs onto the hot press, so to me (a complete lay person in this respect) it seems like it was easiest to just connect to the mains. There is a water tank in the attic but it is not directly above the master bathroom. It's more in the centre of the house to the right (as you're looking at the house from outside). I hope that helps. It just seems to me that if the house was unoccupied and we were trying to get a proper job done, that it would have been better to have it tank fed. Or can that not be done if the water tank isn't directly over the master bathroom? My main issue is that we paid a lot for this job and if it wasn't the best option because of the low water pressure then I would rather he fix it now and upset the tiling, etc while we are within our guarantee with him. However if there was no other option, then that's fine. Is it a big job to go from mains fed to tank fed?
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I would imagine that as the existing shower backs onto the hot press that it is a relatively simple job to get a feed from the header tank. NB. Impossible to be certain obviously without seeing the set-up.
I would assume that he took a feed from the rising mains close to the HD (header tank) and therefore that could be disconnected and a new feed (hopefully using the exiting pipework, but not a big job if not) taken from the HD.

Remember the T80z is meant to be mains fed, but as Leo pointed out a pump could be utilised to maintain a steady flow from the HD but IMHO this is messy and a way better solution is to change the shower to T90 variant.
 
The hot water cylinder in the hot press is almost exclusively fed from the attic tank, as would the cold water tap in the bathroom.

Water tank not being directly over is no problem. Given the shower/hot press location, it should be an easy job change that to take the feed from the tank without touching the tiling. You'd then need either to replace the shower with a tank-fed one, or put a pump like the one linked above between the tank and the existing shower.

Sounds like he was aware of the water pressure at the time, but then the shower has worked fine for 4 months. There is a pressure sensor in that shower, and it will alert you if the pressure is too low. Did the low pressure indicator light up much? What other problems did you have?

Edit- Beaten to the punch by SparkRite - he's far more expert in this field than I am, but looks like we're in agreement on this one :D
 
Thanks. I'm kinda thinking,from everything I'm seeing, that a tank fed T90 would be better than what he's done. But this only came to my attention when I was looking up other stuff because of hassle I had with the T80. He warned us we had low water pressure but we assumed that because he wasn't offering anything that we would just have to live with it, and not shower at peak times in the neighbourhood! TBH, he's probably not going to want to do it for me and I don't think I'd like him back in my house after our other troubles. We are calling another guy in to have a look and give us his opinion on what would have been the best option, can it/should it be fixed and how much it would cost to fix it to a better option. It just galls me that this guy charged a huge fee and from what I see now, he didn't do the best job and I can foresee troubles. I just now want to know more about it so I don't get caught again. My OH is reluctant to take it further but I'm really annoyed by all this.

P.S. We do have another shower in the house in the en suite which works off the heating so we can shower if the electric one shows low pressure. Just to clarify :)
 
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