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Cost To Have Someone Install Hot Water Shower In The Boonies ?


torrenova
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One of the other half's outlaw relatives has reached such seniority that they are (only) now worried that cold will kill her off. The missus desires to have a hot water shower installed somewhere in rural Buriram.

 

Now the last one I put into our house was a huge 15kw monster so my ideas on prices for something more constrained are out of date.

 

So potentially:

 

Circa 6kw heater

Wiring, grounding and plumbing

Potentially water tank and pump

Tiling (walls and floor) of bathroom

 

Any ideas on costs ?

 

Someone half sensible could buy the bits and pieces but Somchai to install.

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I bought one at Big C, maybe 3500W? cost 1800 ~ 2500 Baht. Japanese maybe a Sharp? I would not go with the Chinese ones.

 

Easy to install so the cost is nil...maybe 500 Baht?

 

My small heater does only the one shower and it is fine and yes, in Isaan taking a shower in the winter (Dec and Jan) is

not fun! Temps at night can be 10 C and lower!!

 

In the real world, such a device would be on a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter Circuit Breaker), as I did hear of an incident

where someone was electrocuted about five years ago.

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We had issues with a 3.5kw one in Buriram in a bad winter where the inward water was so cold that the shower hardly had enough power to warm the water, hence my thinking of a 4.5kw / 6kw model. I guess a few baht more than the price you mention. Thanks for the post.

 

I had ours run to a grounding rod, the cost of which seemed out of all proportion to its content, simply a metal rod. High wattage dictated a thickness of cabling which the local Somchai sparky thought wholly unnecessary even when shown the watts / volts / amps triangle. We put it on its own circuit through a PCB and circuit breaker (63A I think) had to upgrade the electric meter as well !

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Take extreme care when fitting showers, many people are accidentally electrocuted each year, due to a lack of proper grounding. As you are fitting floor tiles I would pay extra for non slip.

Shower reasonable quality approx 3,900 baht

Dependant on floor area, non slip tiles a box of 36 approx 180 baht

Dependant on wall area a box of 36 approx 80 baht

Labour to fit shower approx 500 baht

Labour dependant on area to lay floor tiles upwards 2,500 baht ( if anyone quotes cheaper they will not be a professional )

Labour dependant on wall area to fit upwards 3000 baht

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A ground rod is good but you need the GFI to remove the voltage in a few milliseconds to prevent electrocution.

 

They sell GFIs in Thailand. The GFI is referenced to earth ground, hence, the ground rod.

 

If you measure from the neutral line and the ground rod, you may have 80 Vac, which can be enough

for a shock.

 

Since the power coming in to a house is usually one phase of the 3-phase and the neutral, you seldom

see a ground rod but for safety, you need it.

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A ground rod is good but you need the GFI to remove the voltage in a few milliseconds to prevent electrocution.

 

They sell GFIs in Thailand. The GFI is referenced to earth ground, hence, the ground rod.

 

If you measure from the neutral line and the ground rod, you may have 80 Vac, which can be enough

for a shock.

 

Since the power coming in to a house is usually one phase of the 3-phase and the neutral, you seldom

see a ground rod but for safety, you need it.

 

Cavanami my friend, it is not the Voltage that Kills but the current, come on linesmen work on live 220kv UHV (Ultra High Voltage) overhead lines but don't die, why because of the resistance, basic ohms law, Current = Voltage / Resistance there fore infinity resistance = minimum current. Conversely a 12VDC Cell thru a resistance path of 150 ohms will produce 80 mA which is above the 76mA level where one cannot let go.

 

For VAC RCD's (or GFI's as my American Cousins call them) are set at 30mA which is above the pain threshold of 23mA but well below the 100mA level where it causes fibrillation,aka heart seizure. Sorry for being a prick but it is my job :neener: (Electrical Safety I mean not being a prick)

 

Anyway back to the OP, a 6000W Instantaneous water heater such as a Stiebel http://www.stiebel.com.au/water-heating is available from Homepro for about 7,400THB, I had one installed about 4 weeks ago into my new place. Stiebel have inbuilt RCD which will work OK as long as unit earth bonding and supplementary bonding from the pipes is installed correctly, 6mm Earth is IEEE standard.

 

A 6KW will draw 25 Amp so a 32 Amp Breaker in the Distribution Board will be required and I recommend a 45A DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) pull cord switch to be installed within reaching distance of the shower bowl.

 

Tiles can be cheap or expensive depends on what one wishes to pay to be honest

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