Types Of Shower Fitting
Introduction
Shower fittings can be categorised in two distinct ways;
- Mixer Showers – These combine the hot and cold water supply to provide warm water at the temperature you require.
- Electric Showers – These run off the cold water supply only, and heat the water themselves.
Mixer showers
Mixer showers work by mixing together the hot and cold water supply to the desired temperature, they are usually quite easy to install and unlike electric showers they require no electrical connections.
Electric showers
As a means of supply hot water these showers have one clear advantage to mixers and that is that they do not require a stored hot water supply to work, this makes them ideal for small flats or for bathrooms, in for example a loft conversion, where the shower is at the same level as the hot water supply and thus a gravity fed heating system cannot feed the water.
It must also be noted, that as far as these things go, electric showers are really quite easy to install, which is a genuine plus point if one is considering adding an en-suite bathroom or dedicated shower room.
The main downside is purely an aesthetical one, in that all electric showers consist of a large box attached to the wall which may not always go with ones chosen tile scheme! Also if you are after a powerful showering experience, electric showers can often be lacking in this regard.
If you are thinking of the electric shower option, consider the following points;
- Power output – this is measured in kW (Kilo Watts) and usually varies from 7.5kW to 10.5kW. The higher the kW rating the more the shower is able to heat the water supply, thus the greater the flow of water through the rose. As a guide, a 10.5 kW shower can provide up to a 40% higher water flow than a 7.5kW.
- With or without pump – Some electric showers are also available with a built in pump, which is ideal if your cold water pressure is quite low, and can to some degree overcome the problem mentioned above. Be careful however not to confuse pumped electric showers with Power Showers, as the latter is a mixer type shower and thus does not heat the water itself.
- Electric showers are a high wattage appliance, therefore they must be connected to a 45amp electricity supply via it's own dedicated ring main.
Further information and useful links
- Find a Bathroom Showroom near to you
- Find a Bathroom Fitter near you
- Find a Bathroom Fixtures & Fittings supplier near you
- Find a Bathroom Taps & Shower supplier near you
- Find a Plumber near you
- Find an APHC registered plumber (licensedplumber.co.uk)
- Find an IPHE registered plumber (iphe.org.uk)
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