Group Heals vs Dedicated Healer

My level 27 group: 4 x shaman + Warrior finally stopped group healing the warrior. Now just one resto shaman is dedicated to healing and does not do dps. I am totally amazed at how I can now handle four and even six elite mobs near my level without dying. That heal button, number pad zero, is very very nice to press without having to interrupt the whole group. When the dps is out of mana the healer usually has some left and can keep the warrior alive while the dps regain their mana.

I have been trying to find information comparing group heals versus dedicated healer, but it seems to be a given people use one healer. From my experience after using group heals then switching to a dedicated healer; it works so much better!! My guess is that my wires get crossed trying switch between dps and healing. With the group heals it was often the case my warrior would die because a heal didn't get there in time. I was delighted when swarmed by five mobs in gnomeregan that the dedicated healer was keeping me alive inspite of massive damage. Normally that would have been a wipe.

I suspect if someone did the detailed math they might find a dedicated healer if far superior than group healing.:)

The math for a shaman group should be pretty simple: the length of the fight / instance. For me it depends on the instance (pally tank, 3 dps & 1 dps/resto shaman). It happens that i run my resto in dps spec and that i let my dps heal one by one (i.e. having a special key where B,C keep dps'ing and D,E heal and another one where BC heal and DE dps). This way i don't lose too much dps and i don't overheal. For trash it's way faster to have 4 dps instead of one. And as i gear up i take less and less damage from bosses, so a dedicated healer ain't longer necessary all the time. You also have to compare eat/drink times.

You are still leveling and probably dont have alot of mana regen. Starting off once you get to 80 and are doing heroics, having a dedicated healer is nice. Once you start to gear up a bit then you barely get hit as it is as a pally or warrior.
Having 4 dps then allows you to clear instances faster. I have 3 macros for healing when I run my 4 elementals. 1 button makes 2 of my shaman heal tank, 1 button makes the other 2 heal tank and 1 button makes all 4 heal tank. My last button is rarely used. 2 of my shamans is usually enough to heal my pally out of trouble. He can then go back to relying on healing totems.

The answer is: yes, dedicated healers are superior for some fights. 4 DPS with the occasional heals on the tank are superior for other fights.

In other words, It Depends(tm).

My instance clearing speed is limited to mana. Normal fights used about 50% dps mana hard fights all of it. Once I train for level 28 mana might be easier. If the healer also did dps I could wind up wiping because I suddenly have ads and my healer is out of mana. Slower but safer.

Heck I'm breaking out ALL of my totems before even one mob: 4 x magma, 4 x mana, 4 x accessories, so I'm not rushing.

I don't mind longer fights, it gives me time to practice my warrior rotations.