showers in new build

Hi
Our plumber asked us to decide on what showers we want in our new build. Its all a bit confusing. We want 2 power showers (run off the hot water tank) and 1 electric shower.

We also like the concealed showers (do we need more room for these) as opposed to a regualar one(with a hose)?
Whats the difference between thermostatic and manual?
We will be getting a large water tank(300litres). And putting in a 3 bar pump to run the power showers)
All suggestions welcome.
Thanks

I would have thought that a good plumber would be able to help you decide or advise you?
We got Mira Gem 88 - fo use with our pump. These are kind of "semi concealed" - not fully - I like to be able to take the shower head down to wash the hard to reach bits!
We were advised to keep away from thermostatic controlled showers because our water is very hard and apparently the scale can affect them.
We got one electric shower too - but it is never ever used (waste of space and money).

poppy1 said:

We also like the concealed showers (do we need more room for these) as opposed to a regualar one(with a hose)?
Whats the difference between thermostatic and manual?

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Concealed anything is a problem when something goes wrong. You cant simply replace the unit or parts cos you cant get to it.

Thermostatic means that as the water cools in the tank as you use it, the thermostat should adjust the mix automatically so you dont feel the water getting colder. With manual, you set the mix. Not sure that thermostatic one work quite as well as one might expect. Have both a manual & thermostatic one at home and cant say I notice the T one being a great advantage.

thanks for the replies, the lady in the shop advised we get
thermostatic ones
concealed valves
1 shower will have a fixed head and the other will have a sliding rail kit. the reason we want one concealed is because we are also putting an electric shower in the same shower unit, so there will be more space with a concealed one.
mmmm all so difficult on what to decide on.........

Poppy, just a suggestion, with a tank that size heating all that water can be expensive. If you could stretch to solar panels on the roof this would help with the water heating bills!

What shop gave you advice? Just asking as we sourced all of our sanitary and shower fittings in a well known chain of shops (B*W) and they were a complete disaster - incomplere deliveries; missing parts; incorrectly sized sanitary ware, etc. In fact they still owe me money for unusable stuff that they said was the best for my needs but ended up being completely wrong.

hi cruchan09
we are getting a wood pellet boiler - hence the large tank, not going with solars this time but wont rule it out for a few yrs down the line, the bathroom shop is owned by a friend of mine, no problems with them so far, thank god!

We have just got our bathroom re-done and installed a Trevi shower (similar to the picture), driven by a Monsooon 2-bar pump in the hot press. The shower valve is concealed in the bathroom wall and fits into the normal partition depth. Our plumber says the pump will be be powerful enough to service another shower if we wanted to install one elsewhere later on. We also have en electric shower in the ensuite.


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Just my tuppence worth as I'm actually re-doing an ensuite at the moment. I originally wanted to go for a concealed/ fixed head option but was advised against it as the flexible hose arrangement is better if you have small children, for washing hair etc. If you have hard water you should consider getting a softener installed and this will also help with keeping shower enclosures clean. I went for an Aqualisa Thermo (something or other!)- this is a concealed mixing valve with thermostatic valves. The previous shower was an Aqualisa too, but surface mounted. They are a great brand and well liked in the trade as parts are easy to come by and the product is top notch in terms of quality and easy of fitting. The thermostatic valve is self cleaning anyway and should not be adversely affect by limescale, the head itself is also self cleaning. As already advised try and consider the solar heating option, especially where you are going for a pumped arrangement, as you'll need lots of water! A few other things to consider are the actual plumbing itself- your plumber should take a new dedicated 3/4" cold feed from the cold ex. storage tank (via a new tank connection) and the supply to your shower should be run in 3/4" pipe as close as possible to the shower before reducing to 1/2", to ensure adequate volume of water is available. When taking the new hot supply from the cylinder fit a special cylinder flange (Warfix is one brand) which is specially designed to provide separate shoer and domestic water feeds- ensuring you won't suffer sudden pressure drops if another appliance is used elsewhere in the house.

Something to bear in mind is that the pumps make a bit of a racket when the taps are turned on. This may or may not bother you. For my part, I'm a light sleeper and the sound of the pump is enough to wake me.

You might also consider the positioning of the tank. We made the mistake of putting it directly over the bedroom and given the amount of water used in power showers, the sound of it constantly refilling can be a nuisance if you're trying to sleep.

Staples said:

Something to bear in mind is that the pumps make a bit of a racket when the taps are turned on. This may or may not bother you. For my part, I'm a light sleeper and the sound of the pump is enough to wake me.

You might also consider the positioning of the tank. We made the mistake of putting it directly over the bedroom and given the amount of water used in power showers, the sound of it constantly refilling can be a nuisance if you're trying to sleep.

Click to expand...

You could replace a conventional ball valve with a silent fill one, might help.

If you have your own well, you could have a pressurised system this will do away with the need for extra pumps. This will give you equal pressure at hot & cold taps. I would go with themostatic shower mixer valves (less risk of scalding especially if you have small kids)(Grohe, Aqualisa & Mira are recognosed brands and usually reliable).
If you are fiiting a 300 Litre cylinder and not getting the solar done at the minute make sure the cylinder is dual coil and suitable for a solar connection in the future this will save you having to get a new cylinder.
Your plumbing contractor should really be going through the options with you and be able to give you the pros & cons of each type of system.