Power Shower Installation Cost

What is a Power Shower?

The defining feature of a power shower is its in-built pump to boost water pressure, which makes it an ideal choice for homes with poor water pressure. It uses hot water from your boiler and mixes it with the cold supply to achieve a variable temperature, rather than heating water by itself.

How Much to Fit a Power Shower?

The average cost to install a new power shower is typically around £500. The typical price may vary greatly depending on location, cost of the shower and if any extra pipework is required. If looking to replace an existing power shower, prices can be around £300.

The standard plumber will often charge £150-£200 a day. The shower installation will usually take one day to complete but may take two days depending on if any extra pipework is needed.

Power Shower Prices

Below are some estimated costs of hiring a tradesman a power shower installation:

A new power shower fitted will require extra plumbing and power supply work. Hot and cold pipework plus a suitable electrical supply to the bathroom will be required. As most bathroom walls are tiled, there will likely be a small amount of tiling also required to make good any damage caused during the installation process.

Typical costs for this work are around £500 (assuming a typical mid-range power shower unit). The price includes supply and fit of the power shower unit, but excludes VAT. Replacing an existing power shower would be slightly cheaper as all the pipework and electrics are already in place, so a straight swap, one product for the other. Say around £250 including labour.

Additional Costs

When the time comes to install your power shower, you may discover there are some other essential (or just nice to have) jobs that arise at the same time. It is likely these will affect the overall cost of installing your new shower, but they're still worth taking into consideration.

Installing Other Shower Items

This could include items such as a shower screen or curtain, a simple storage space to stand your shampoo or an enclosure that needs to be installed separately.

Replacing Bathroom Tiles

If it's a few replacement tiles that have become damaged during the installation of your power shower, you may decide to do these yourself. However, hiring a professional to retile your shower will cost around £250.

By comparison, tiling a whole bathroom can cost on average between £500 and £800 depending on the size and design.

Extractor Fan Installation

To prevent moisture and condensation build-up, installing an extractor fan could be necessary (costing around £200) in order to stop mold and damp issues occurring, especially in bathrooms without adequate ventilation.

Replacing Entire Bathroom Suite

It might not just be your shower that you wish to update, it could be a good time to consider replacing your entire bathroom suite. Although this will come at a price, with the average refurb costing £2,000 to £5,000.

Installing a New Boiler

If your current boiler is outdated or not compatible with your new power shower system, it may be time to upgrade. On average installing a new boiler can cost around £2,000 to £3,000 depending on the type of boiler you need.

Cost Affecting Factors of Installing a Power Shower

There are a few factors that can affect the overall cost of installing a new shower, some more significant than others, so be sure to consider these details when planning your installation:

• Design and features of your new power shower
• Quality and subsequent price of the shower unit
• Regional contractor pricing in your area
• Supply cost if you are purchasing it directly
• Any additional plumbing required

The cost of plumber is particularly important, as while most charge around £40 and £60 per hour this price can as much as double if you are located in London or the South-East. If you are having additional plumbing work done at the same time, day rates vary from £200 to £500 or you may be charged a set rate for a specific job.

Understanding Power and Electric Showers

This article is part of our series on bathroom, plumbing and electrical prices you can expect to be charged for work in the UK. A power shower uses both hot and cold water, plus an electrical pump to increase the water flow.

This gives you more control over temperature and water pressure, whereas an electric shower is usually just fed by cold water, which is then heated by a coil internally. Electric showers often suffer from lower water pressure as there’s no pump in the system so they rely 100% on the mains water pressure.

The most important thing to realise about power showers is that they do not heat the water, they merely pump it. They are basically pumps with an integral mixer valve. Power showers are suitable for installation with low pressure stored hot and cold water, but not combination boilers or un-vented high pressure storage systems.

They should ideally be fed by their own dedicated hot and cold pipes to ensure the flow of water to the pump is constant and not affected by other appliances calling on the supply. There will be a minimum head required by the shower manufacturers which usually means that the supply tanks need to be in the attic.

Another consideration when choosing between electric and power showers, is that modern electric showers have a very heavy duty power supply cable as they use a lot of juice, too much in fact for most old type fuse boxes and even some modern consumer units. Be aware that if fitting a high power electric shower, you may also have to upgrade the consumer unit.

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Manual vs Automatic Controls

When you install a power shower, one of the considerations that will impact the cost is deciding on the type of control system.

Manual controls tend to be the norm for most power shower installations, however, you can always invest a little in automatic controls that help maintain a steady temperature - below we take a look at both options in more detail.

Manual Power Shower Controls

Pros

• ✔ Usually cheaper to buy and install
• ✔ Straightforward and reliable design
• ✔ Easy to repair or replace parts

Cons

• ✖ Temperature needs adjusting manually
• ✖ Can be affected by changes in water pressure
• ✖ Potential fluctuations in water temperature

Automatic Power Shower Controls

Pros

• ✔ Maintains a consistent, comfortable temperature
• ✔ Ideal for households with varying hot water demands
• ✔ More convenient and user-friendly

Cons

• ✖ Higher supply and installation costs
• ✖ May require additional plumbing or electrical work
• ✖ Potentially more complicated to repair

Energy Efficiency and Water Pressure

Electric showers are very efficient in terms of water heating, as they only heat the water which is used. Plus, the flow rates are generally lower, whereas pump-assisted power showers have to use water from a domestic hot water tank heated by the household boiler (or directly from a condensing boiler).

In terms of energy consumption, a power shower which uses a modern gas central heating boiler is very efficient, though an efficient electric shower is still slightly more economical. Still, the difference in running costs is hardly worth mentioning.

Be wary of those recommending booster pumps to enhance water pressure:

• A shower booster pump may only be used on a gravity-fed system, where the supply comes from a header tank (usually located in the loft).


• It is in contravention of Water Bye Laws to try to increase the pressure of a system that is directly fed from the incoming mains water supply.

Therefore, if you have a mains pressure water system you cannot add a pump in an attempt to make it more powerful. You specifically must not attempt to increase performance by adding a pump ahead of the boiler to increase incoming water pressure and flow directly from the main.

What Are Booster Pumps?

Booster pumps are designed to take a low pressure feed and boost it to a more meaningful and useful pressure, pressures can build up in a mains supply and are likely to blow seals, so connecting your booster pump to a mains supply will invalidate its warranty.

A gravity water system is really the only type of water system to which you may fit a booster pump, in this application it will normally increase the water pressure substantially. Modern combi boilers are not compatible with pumped power showers.

Combi boilers heat water from cold as it flows through the heat exchanger and the water temperature is regulated by controlling the flow-rate of water through the boiler.

If you pump water faster through a combi boiler, then it will flow too fast to be heated up to the required temperature. So you can’t have a pumped shower with a combi boiler.

Electrical Installation and Building Requirements

Power showers are secured to the wall and connected to the main consumer unit (fuse box). For safety reasons, it is vital the power shower has its own direct connection to the consumer unit and not just connected to an existing circuit.

Usually a ceiling mounted cord switch is fitted so you can cut power to the shower unit from the bathroom (in accordance with BS7671, the wiring regulations and part P of the building regulations state that a means of electrical isolation is required for all electrical showers).

This is normally via a ceiling mounted double pole isolation switch (which must not be reachable whilst using the shower) and can only be installed by a qualified electrician.

The water supply is then simply taken from the existing pipework to the existing bath or shower.

Be very careful when gathering quotes, as cowboy tradesmen are often known to insist that it is "OK" to just connect the power shower electrical supply to the ceiling ring, rather than creating a new circuit from the fuse box.

If the shower were to be connected directly to the ceiling ring, the installation cost will be cheaper, but it wouldn't meet current building regulation requirements (Part P).