Lee Stones, senior product marketing manager for Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation, which includes Redring, explores how modern electric showers are helping to maximise bathroom refurbishments.
With more than half a million social housing properties failing to meet the Government’s Decent Homes Standard in 2016, according the English Housing Survey, providers need high-quality, versatile and long-lasting bathroom products that can be installed quickly and conveniently. Replacement shower installations make up a staggering 80% of electric shower sales within the UK and manufacturers have responded by developing refurbishment products which offer installation flexibility, universal capability and plumbing fitting compatibility.
Energy efficiency
For social housing providers, the correct specification of energy efficient products is now essential to meet government targets. As a result many showers, such as the Redring Selectronic range, come with a host of energy saving features suich as an ‘eco power’ function that automatically adjusts flow rates to reduce energy use. It also comprises smart technology that tracks, learns and predicts showering patterns to monitor usage and save energy.
Product innovation
Redring’s Bright and Glow, offer multiple plumbing and electrical entry point options when sitingthe unit, improving the speed of installation and minimising the impact on existing services and décor. Multi-entry showers 
reduce the need to re-engineer plumbing or the mains feed. In some cases, such as Bright and Glow, they can offer up to six or eight entry points for the ultimate convenience when replacing a range of differentlybranded showers.
Manufacturer support
Finally, not to be overlooked is the importance of choosing a manufacturer with additional services to offer, such as training and repair.
One of the best examples of this is the training support provided by Redring to Wakefield and District Housing (WDH), which over the last decade has installed the Selectronic in more than 15,000 of its properties. For older residents and those with disabilities, level access wetrooms with a shower unit is often the only means of bathing, so the ability to make repairs on the first visit has become a lifeline. Since 2016, Redringhas run a series of practical training workshops for WDH’s staff of maintenance engineers teaching them essential self-diagnostic and fault-finding techniques for a more efficient and speedier repair, that can often be made on the first visit.
This approach has not only resulted in significiant cost savings for the housing association by reducing the number of shower call-outs and repeat visits, but more importantly has succeeded in meeting the needs of residents.
https://www.glendimplex.com
Add new comment