Electric showers are common (since the 80s) here in Ireland too following the UK trend. Where possible they're not fed from the non-pressurised head tank system. This isn't always possible in older areas of cities where water pressure would be relatively low but in most places it's quite ok to connect it directly to a mains water supply, aslong as it's not simply branched off the same narrow guage pipe feeding the kitchen sink, dishwasher and washing machine as it risks over-heating and scalding!
So overall, they do provide a decent pressure. It's also quite common to have a pumped electric shower feeding from the head tank in the attic in older houses to ensure a decent pressure.
Technically, under the regulations it's illegal to install a shower yourself here. Same with a cooker, however, DIY stores (mainly UK ones) do sell them to anyone who wants one and I have come across really strange installations.
Interestingly UK DIY chains here also often sell BT type phone sockets (?!?), BS546 outlets (no longer legal here), fuse wire (no idea where you would even put it as rewirable fuses are pretty much unheard of)
The legal requirment here is for a specifically rated individual RCD for the shower unit, isloation switch either on the ceiling, or more commonly flush on the wall outside the bathroom door. If more than one electric shower's used they must also be interlocked to prevent them operating simultaniously depending on the rating of the supply to the premisis.
DIY shower installs often blow the main 63amp fuse on the consumer unit when someone decides to run two of them and the oven, grill, 4 hobs simultaniously (something the designer never thought of in 1960!)
I've seen all sorts of dodgy DIY or cowboy jobs (usually cowboy)... e.g. in an old house the shower was simply connected via surface mounted cable (in badly fitted conduit) from the distribution board up along the stairwell and through the bathroom wall. They'd only installed an extra diazed fuse on the board for it and hadn't bothered adding an RCD. It would be normal practice on an old board like if it had DIN rails to simply snap in an RCD or add on on on an extra board along side.
The system in the house had been installed way back in the 1940/50s and had never been designed to cope with electric cooking or large scale heaters.
(cooking would have been gas, heating was gas fired too.. would have been a solid fuel range originally!)
6 X 16 amp socket circuits
4 X 10 amp lighting circuits
He removed the main fuse unit and replaced it with a 63amp one!! The result was the cables running from the meter to the board got quite warm when the shower was running along with a few heavy appliences like the washing machine, dishwasher and lighting.
The ESB actually disconnected the supply to the house when they arrived when the customer reported a strange smell near the meter (burning insulation!)
[This message has been edited by djk (edited 07-15-2003).]
