Shower

[machone]

I'd like to install a shower in the boat during the refit.

Our head/wardrobe is in the 'usual' place for the age of boat, between the forecabin and saloon. I am hoping to install a shower that can be used in the heads space.

I know solar showers/bucket/marina showers will do fine but we're hoping to go South at some point and I know what a difference it can make.

The question is what is the best plumbing solution wrt hot water tanks and showers for a) most efficient water usage and b) effectiveness.

The sump pump/drainage etc is not a problem(I don't think).

Do I install a calorifier and accept the long run of cold forward or do I install a separate tank forward for hot(electrical/ebersbascher heating)? The current water system is as simple as they come with water bags in the bilge and a whale foot pump. I'm looking for the elusive simple and effective fix!

 

[vyv_cox]

In a boat of your size (860?) don't even think about it. Just not worth the trouble it will cause. Once you get south you will be perfectly happy to shower outside like everyone else. We have had a number of different sytems, solar bags, black plastic bottles, etc, but now have as follows.

In the aft locker we keep the reservoir, which is a 25 litre container. This is a totally separate supply from the boat's domestic water so when it's gone, it's gone, but we can still cook and drink. We use a caravan immersed pump with a Whale pressure switch and a pistol type shower head mounted in the transom. We shower on the aft platform, using water at sea temperature in summer but putting some warm water in a bucket, then dipping the pump in it, when it is cooler. Used water falls in the sea, so no messing with shower trays and bilge pumps that clog up with hair.

I am experimenting with means of using waste heat from the refrigerator to warm the reservoir but have not made much progress yet. It might also be possible to use waste engine heat but that would require the engine to be run regularly, which we often do not want to do.

Using a separate reservoir means you can take it ashore to fill it, usually possible throughout the Med, whereas getting the boat in to fill its tanks can be more of a problem.

We did make up a shower curtain to surround the platform but it was just too much hassle and I think we only ever used it once.

 

[machone]

Sounds like a good system. Do you have a special water efficient shower head? If so, where do I get one?

 

[Kukri]

When I rebuilt the boat's insides I included a shower compartment, but did not add the shower; it has never been used as such, but is a handy cupboard.

I sometimes think of finishing it off with calorifier, pressure water, sump drain pump, grey water tank, etc.

Garden sprayer type works extremely well in s/d cockpit.

 

[vyv_cox]

Sounds like a good system. Do you have a special water efficient shower head? If so, where do I get one?

One of these http://www.force4.co.uk/7594/Force-4-Shower-Head---White-ABS-1-2-.html It also comes as part of a housing that fits into the transom. It is not this one http://www.force4.co.uk/8702/Force-4-Concealed-Shower-Unit.html which is a hot and cold version and far too expensive, but a similar housing. It makes a neat job but of course needs a hole for it to fit into.

I seem to remember that I blocked half the holes which gave a perfectly adequate flow.