How To Choose And Understand Your Shower
Posted by Aston Matthews on 19th Feb 2016
Before you invest in new shower fittings you need to be familiar with your water pressure. Power showers require a high-pressure system in order to give a decent performance. Most new houses have combi boilers, which heat water on demand drawn from the mains supply, the mains pressure is usually sufficient for a power shower. Older properties, however, tend to have low-pressure gravity fed systems (tank in the loft). Without pressure it is impossible to deliver a really good shower so you will need to install a pump.
Once you've ascertained the type of water system you have it is time to choose the shower control. Thermostatic mixers take water from the hot and cold supply and mix them to a pre-selected temperature. The thermostat automatically compensates for variations in water temperature. A manual mixer, mixes hot and cold water but does not compensate for variations in water temperature and pressure so your shower can run too hot or cold if someone else in the house turns on a tap. Both thermostatic and manual mixers can be combined with a pump to provide suitable pressure for power showers and they can either be concealed (with the valve built into the wall) or exposed (with the valve surface mounted) like the Tradition range of shower fittings.
